How To Instantly Fix ChatGPT Content That Fails At Content Marketing
- Al Haywood
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
We see it all the time.
Someone opens ChatGPT, types in “Write an email to sell my product,” presses enter, and voilà, out comes a wall of text that sounds decent enough. They copy and paste it into their email platform, hit send… and then wait. No clicks. No engagement. No sales.
And the cycle repeats.
If this has happened to you, you’re not alone. But it’s not because AI doesn’t work. It’s because most people are using it wrong, treating ChatGPT like a magic wand instead of the assistant it was designed to be.
We know because… we made the same mistake.
The Misuse of ChatGPT: We’ve Been There Too
In the beginning, we misused ChatGPT the way most people do. We assumed it could replace the effort, strategy, and clarity we would normally bring to the table. But we quickly learned that generic prompts lead to generic results, and generic results don’t convert.
Because both of us came from the education world, teaching at the high school and college level, we naturally started approaching ChatGPT differently. We challenged it, coached it, refined its output, and gradually developed a repeatable way to turn its “meh” responses into message-driven, voice-matching, purpose-packed content.
That’s what led us to create the Haywood Digital Marketing AI Toolkits, not to replace the human side of marketing, but to help small teams and nonprofit leaders use AI with clarity, confidence, and direction.
The Most Common AI Mistakes (That Kill Conversions)
1. Using ChatGPT Like It’s a One-Stop Expert
Too many users expect AI to replace experience. But ChatGPT doesn’t understand your audience or your mission, it mimics patterns, not people. Without your insight and input, its content feels flat, robotic, and forgettable.
2. Providing Vague Prompts
When you tell ChatGPT, “Write an email” or “Create a blog post,” it does what it can, but it doesn’t know your voice, your goals, or your tone. The output feels like filler text. Unfocused prompts lead to unfocused content. This is why there are so many prompting templates to help you plug in your information and you come out with a better post or email.
3. Blindly Trusting AI Output
Copying and pasting ChatGPT’s first response without editing is where most creators go wrong. You end up with:
A generic tone that doesn’t sound like you
Repetitive or AI-sounding language
Inaccuracies that could hurt your brand credibility
It might save time in the moment, but it costs you long-term trust and engagement.
4. Skipping the Human Element
Your story, mission, and unique insights are what set you apart. AI can’t replicate that. Without your voice, your content becomes forgettable, and forgettable doesn’t convert. You still have to know who your audience is and what specifically they want to hear from you.
5. Not Iterating or Refining
ChatGPT is a first draft engine, not a final draft machine. It works best when you treat it as a collaborative tool, one that improves when you refine, redirect, and reframe. That takes time and structure, two things most users don’t bring to the table. Many people want the easy way, but if you want to build content that truly connects, you can't take shortcuts.
The Bigger Picture: SEO, Trust, and Conversion
AI content alone isn’t going to help your business or nonprofit grow if it’s missing three things:
Experience, expertise, and trust.
Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) are now critical to ranking in search results. That means the content you publish can’t just look good, it has to reflect real people, real voices, and real credibility.
And AI can’t give you that on its own.
What the Experts Say About Misusing AI
This isn’t just our opinion, industry leaders are saying the same thing:
HubSpot reminds marketers that AI is a tool, not a strategy, and warns that over-relying on it results in lackluster performance. → Read the article
Wired notes that the problem with AI isn’t the tech, it’s the people using it irresponsibly. → Read here
Forbes warns about the "death of originality" when creators lean too heavily on generative AI. Instead of standing out, businesses risk sounding the same, repeating content loops and losing their creative edge. → Read Forbes
MarTech warns that smarter AI requires stronger human guardrails, not less involvement. → Read MarTech
The Smarter Way to Use ChatGPT (Without Giving Away Your Brand Voice)
At Haywood Digital Marketing, we don’t believe in shortcuts. We believe in clarity.
Our AI Toolkits were built to help you stop guessing and start creating with purpose. They give you:
Strategic clarity for prompts, so you're never starting from scratch
Support for storytelling and tone, so your content sounds like you
Efficiency without sacrificing trust, so you save time and build credibility
We won’t hand over your voice to a robot. We’ll help you reclaim it.
Final Thought: Let AI Work for You, Not Replace You
Whether you’re a solopreneur trying to get traction or a nonprofit executive trying to reach your community, AI can help you, but only if you use it right.
You still need strategy.
You still need your story.
You still need your voice.
Let AI be your assistant, not your replacement.
Want to Use AI the Right Way?
Get your hands on the Haywood Digital Marketing AI Toolkit- created for entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and those growing a business alongside a 9–5 who want content that’s clear, purposeful, and true to their voice.
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