A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at five options for obtaining content for use by members of the commercial printing industry. One of them was using an AI writing engine like Jasper. AI writing engines offer the enticing promise of being able to input a few words and pop out articles that are both well written and credible. But is the process as simple as it is portrayed? What is the actual quality of the output and how difficult is it to create?

Here we will craft an article using Jasper. For this experiment, I used Jasper to rewrite last week’s article on this very topic. This way, readers can have a side-by-side comparison between copy written by a human writer and one written using AI.

Here’s how the experiment went:

Step one was to open a new document in Jasper and give the engine instructions. Jasper does best when you give him very detailed instructions, so in this case, the instructions were as follows: “Write an article about five ways that commercial printers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts, including [the five ways listed above].” This is the level of specificity that Jasper likes. However, in this case, Jasper spit back an error that the instructions were too long. Commands can have a maximum of 200 characters.

Therefore, the command was broken into parts. First, Jasper was asked to write an introductory paragraph. Then Jasper was given the five options separately and asked to write the content to fill out each one.

Jasper allows you to choose the tone of voice for your writing. In this case, “professional” was selected.

How did Jasper do? Here is the introductory paragraph he wrote:

The printing industry is one that has been around for centuries, and it is still going strong today. However, in order to stay afloat in such a competitive market, businesses within the printing industry need to find new and innovative ways to reach their target consumers. One of the most effective methods of reaching consumers these days is through content marketing. Content marketing can take many different forms, but at its core, it is the process of creating and distributing valuable content with the goal of attracting and retaining customers. There are many different ways that businesses within the printing industry can get content for their marketing efforts. In this article, we will explore five of those ways.

Next, each of the five options from the original article was pasted into the document. The cursor was placed at the end of each item in the list, and Jasper was asked to continue composing from there. Here are the results.

1. Third-party content providers that specialize in the printing industry.

This is what Jasper wrote:

These providers typically offer a variety of content services, such as blog writing, press releases, and white papers. The content they produce is usually tailored to the specific needs of their clients. Content creation tools like Canva or Adobe Spark that allow users to create professional-looking visuals for their content campaigns at no cost. These tools can be used to. . .

Here, Jasper clearly focused on visual content rather than written content. If the time had been taken, the output could have been tweaked by modifying “content” to “written content like articles and blogs” or something similar in the instructions for the introductory paragraph.

2. Purchase pre-written content from a content aggregator.

This is what Jasper wrote:

This can save businesses time, as they don’t have to go through the process of generating their own content. Social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to promote their business and distribute content. Content curation services that collect relevant information from multiple sources and compile it into one comprehensive article or visual. This is a great way for businesses within the

This output isn’t particularly useful and would require the content creator to modify the request and experiment with different outputs until an acceptable output was achieved.

3. Hire a freelancer that specializes in the printing industry.

This is what Jasper wrote:

Freelancers can be a great option for businesses that need content quickly and don’t have the time or resources to create it themselves.

Short and sweet without details. This, again, would require the person giving instructions to play around with the inputs to see whether Jasper could come up with something more useful.

4. Hire a freelancer that is a generalist writer that will cost less but doesn’t have the industry expertise and whom you can train.

Here Jasper then skipped the fourth and fifth points entirely and jumped right to writing the concluding paragraph:

Here is what Jasper wrote:

By leveraging these five methods, businesses within the printing industry can create content that is both informative and engaging for their target audience. Content marketing can be a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness and driving sales, so it’s important to make sure you are taking full advantage of all the resources available to you. By investing in content marketing strategies what content marketing has in store for…

Jasper was not asked to continue composing at this point.

Next was to try to have the fifth bullet point addressed. “Using AI-generated copy to write to your specifications” was inserted before the concluding paragraph and Jasper was, once again, asked to compose the follow-up to this item in the list.

This is what Jasper wrote:

By leveraging these five methods, businesses within the printing industry can create content that is both informative and engaging for their target audience. Content marketing can be a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness and driving sales, so it’s important to make sure you are taking full advantage of all the resources available to you. By investing in content marketing strategies what content marketing has in store for

Does it look the same as the concluding paragraph? It is. Jasper was asked to regenerate the copy. It again repeated the concluding paragraph.

Don’t Like It? Try, Try Again

The Golden Rule for Jasper is, if you don’t get output you like, tweak the inputs and try, try again. So another approach was tried. Use the “paragraph generator” and ask Jasper to go paragraph by paragraph using a “command” rather than “compose.”

Jasper was therefore asked to do the following: “Write a paragraph on how commercial print providers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts by purchasing it from third-party content providers specializing in the printing industry.” Since Great Reach Communications was used as an example in the original article, the name of this company was input as a keyword. Tone of voice: professional.

Jasper was asked to create two different outputs. Here they are:

Output 1: Commercial print providers who want to obtain content for their content marketing efforts can purchase it from Great Reach Communications, a third-party content provider that specializes in the printing industry. Great Reach Communications provides a wide range of content, including articles, blog posts, infographics, eBooks, and more. The company has a team of experienced writers who create high-quality, engaging content that is relevant to the printing industry. In addition, Great Reach Communications offers a variety of services to help commercial print providers promote their content and reach their target audience. As a result, commercial print providers who purchase content from Great Reach Communications can benefit from high-quality content that is both relevant and engaging.

This is fairly well written, but it doesn’t reflect the request: discuss obtaining content from companies like Great Reach Communications, not from Great Reach Communications itself. This is an important distinction that Jasper missed. The details of the company’s offerings are also inaccurate.

Output 2: Great Reach Communications is a leading provider of commercial printing content. We offer a wide range of print-related content, including articles, infographics, videos, and more. Our team of experts can help you to develop a content marketing strategy that will reach your target audience and help you to achieve your business goals. We have a long history of providing quality content to our clients, and our team is dedicated to providing the best possible service. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you to obtain the content you need for your content marketing efforts.

Jasper really missed the intent of the request on this one. Jasper was not asked to write a marketing pitch for this particular company. So this output was completely useless for creating the article.

Moving on to the next content-generation option, Jasper was given the command: “write a paragraph on how commercial print providers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts by purchasing pre-written content from a content provider like Constant Content.” Tone of voice: professional.

This is what Jasper wrote:

Output 1: Constant Content offers a wide range of high-quality, well-written content that can be customized to meet the needs of any business. In addition, Constant Content offers a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with your purchase. As a result, Constant Content is an ideal solution for businesses that need high-quality content but don’t have the time or resources to produce it themselves.

Output 2: Constant Content is a commercial print provider that offers a wide range of pre-written content. This includes articles, blog posts, ebooks, and more. Constant Content can help commercial print providers obtain the content they need for their content marketing efforts.

Very little of this is accurate, and again, it doesn’t really address the intent of the author. Clearly, the inclusion of specific companies’ names is confusing to Jasper, who wants to write marketing pitches for these companies rather than using them as examples of a larger concept. What happens when “Constant Content” is removed from the command? It does, in fact, yield a very different output.

This is what Jasper wrote:

Commercial print providers can save time and money by purchasing pre-written content from a content marketing company. The commercial print provider can select the topics they want to write about, and the content marketing company will provide a list of articles that are available for purchase. The articles are written by professional writers and are edited for grammar and style. In addition, the articles are typically keyword-optimized, making it easy for the commercial print provider to get their content noticed by potential customers. Best of all, purchasing pre-written content is a cost-effective way to obtain high-quality content for your content marketing efforts.

Next, Jasper was given the command: “write a paragraph about how commercial print providers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts by hiring a freelancer that specializes in writing for the printing industry.” Tone of voice, professional.

Jasper charges every word against a maximum of 10,000 words per month for the basic subscription price, so at this point, Jasper was asked for only one output each time.

This is what Jasper wrote:

As the demand for content marketing increases, commercial print providers are looking for ways to obtain high-quality content for their websites and other marketing materials. One way to do this is to hire a freelancer who specializes in writing for the printing industry. A freelance writer who is familiar with the printing industry can provide insightful and useful information that will help to educate and engage potential customers. In addition, a freelance writer can help to produce content that is targeted to the specific needs of the commercial print provider’s audience. By hiring a freelancer who specializes in writing for the printing industry, commercial print providers can ensure that they are able to obtain the quality content that they need to succeed in content marketing.

For bullet point #4, Jasper was given the command: “write an article about how commercial print providers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts by hiring a freelancer that does not specialize in the printing industry that will cost less but that needs to be trained to be able to write content that is appropriate for the industry.” Tone of voice—professional.

This is what Jasper wrote:

Nowadays, commercial print providers are focusing more on content marketing to attract new customers and keep their existing ones. However, they often lack the resources to produce high-quality content on a regular basis. This is where hiring a freelance writer can be beneficial. While it is important to find a freelancer that has some knowledge of the printing industry, it is not essential. With the right training, any freelance writer can produce content that is suitable for your needs. Not only will this save you money, but it will also allow you to tap into a new pool of talent. When looking for a freelancer, be sure to specify your content requirements and ensure that they are familiar with your brand voice. With a little effort, you can easily find a freelance writer who can help you take your content marketing efforts to the next level.

Moving on to bullet point #5, Jasper was given the command: “write a paragraph about how commercial print providers can obtain content for their content marketing efforts by using artificial intelligence to write articles to their specifications. Include benefits and drawbacks.”

This is what Jasper wrote:

Commercial print providers that are looking for content for their content marketing efforts can use artificial intelligence to write articles to their specifications. The benefits of using this approach include the ability to generate high-quality content quickly and efficiently. In addition, using artificial intelligence can help to ensure that the content is well researched and relevant to the target audience. However, there are some drawbacks to using this approach as well. First, it can be expensive to purchase the software needed to generate the articles. In addition, there is always the risk that the articles will not be well received by the target audience. Nevertheless, commercial print providers that use this approach can reap many benefits.

There are some clear inaccuracies here. The cost of Jasper is less than the cost of paying for a single article, whether written by an industry professional or not, so it’s not really expensive in light of the alternatives.

Following the instruction, “If you don’t like the results, tweak the inputs,” the next step was to change the tone of voice. Any change to the inputs in a Jasper command changes the output, so what happens if “witty” is chosen as the tone of voice rather than “professional”?

Here is what Jasper wrote:

In today’s competitive business landscape, it’s more important than ever to have a strong content marketing strategy. And one way to get the most out of your content marketing efforts is to use artificial intelligence to write articles to your specifications. By doing so, you can quickly and easily obtain high-quality content that’s relevant to your business and your audience.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to using artificial intelligence to write articles. For one, it can be difficult to find a provider that offers this service. Additionally, the quality of the articles can vary depending on the provider you use. And finally, you’ll likely have to pay a premium for this service. However, despite these drawbacks, using artificial intelligence to write articles can be a great way to obtain high-quality content for your content marketing efforts.

The first paragraph is better, but the second contains inaccuracies. Not only does it contain factual inaccuracies, but it misses the primary point of the human author—that AI engines require a steep learning curve. This is a pretty significant point to miss.

So what happens if we change the tone to “snarky”? How does the output change?

This is what Jasper wrote:

Commercial print providers looking for content for their content marketing efforts can take advantage of artificial intelligence to write articles to their specifications. That’s right—instead of spending hours researching and writing articles themselves, or paying someone else to do it, they can simply purchase a software program that will do it for them. The benefit of this approach is obvious: it saves time and money. The drawback is that the articles may not be quite as high-quality as those written by a human being, but hey, who’s Perfect? If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to obtain content for your content marketing efforts, artificial intelligence may be just what you need.

Jasper also allows you to input the tone of a particular person’s voice, such as James Earl Jones or Micky Mantle. In this case, tone of voice was changed to “Richard Romano.” [Wait, what? —Ed.]

This is what Jasper wrote:

It is no secret that content is the key to a successful content marketing effort. After all, without something to say, there is no reason for customers and prospects to pay attention to your brand. Traditionally, obtaining content has involved either writing it yourself or hiring someone to do it for you. However, there is a third option that is becoming increasingly popular: using artificial intelligence to write articles to your specifications.

There are a number of advantages to using AI-generated content. First of all, it can be produced very quickly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Additionally, because it is based on your specific requirements, there is a good chance that it will be highly relevant to your audience. Finally, depending on the quality of the AI platform you use, the results can be very impressive indeed.

Of course, there are also some potential drawbacks to consider. One is that, because AI-generated content is often quite concise, it may not always provide the depth and detail that your audience is looking for. Additionally, because it relies heavily on keyword input, there is a risk that your content may come across as somewhat “stuffed” or “spammy.” As with anything, therefore, it is important to weigh the pros and cons carefully before deciding whether AI-generated content is right for your business.

Now the content is starting to sound more like something more helpful. However, Jasper once again missed the most important point in the human author’s original piece: that AI has a significant learning curve and requires a real human being behind the keyboard to give the right commands, evaluate the quality of the content, tweak and regenerate if necessary, and ultimately, fact check and copy edit before use.

The Final Jasper Result

Because Jasper AI is very clear that its output needs to be fact-checked and reviewed by the human “author” to ensure accuracy, this experiment included this step, as well. Taking the best of these outputs and factchecking and cleaning it up (but without significant copy editing in order to evaluate the quality of Jasper’s output “as is”), here is how it all came together:

Need Content for Content Marketing Purposes? 5 Options for Commercial Printers

The printing industry is one that has been around for centuries, and it is still going strong today. However, in order to stay afloat in such a competitive market, businesses within the printing industry need to find new and innovative ways to reach their target consumers. One of the most effective methods is content marketing. Content marketing can take many different forms, but at its core, it is the process of creating and distributing valuable content with the goal of attracting and retaining customers. There are many different ways that commercial printers can obtain content for their marketing efforts. In this article, we will explore five of those ways.

1. Third-party content providers that specialize in the printing industry.

Commercial print providers who want to obtain content for their content marketing efforts can purchase it from third party content providers that specialize in the printing industry. As one example, Great Reach Communications provides a wide range of content, including print and email newsletters, blog posts, postcards, and social media posts. The company’s content is written by an industry-experienced professional who creates high-quality, engaging content that is directly relevant to the printing industry. Commercial print providers who purchase content such companies can benefit from high-quality content that is both relevant and engaging.

2. Purchase pre-written content from a content aggregator.

Constant Content is a great example of a third-party content aggregator. It, like many of its peers, offers a wide range of high-quality, well-written content that you can sift, filter, and choose for your content marketing needs. Content is relatively inexpensive compared to custom writing, but it may not be as industry-specific as you may be looking for. Third party providers offer an ideal solution for businesses that need high-quality content but don’t have the time or resources to produce it themselves.

3. Hire a freelancer that specializes in the printing industry.

A freelance writer familiar with the printing industry can provide insightful and useful information that will help to educate and engage potential customers. In addition, industry-knowledgeable freelance writers can help to produce content that is targeted to the specific needs of the commercial print provider’s audience. By hiring a freelancer who specializes in writing for the printing industry, commercial print providers can ensure that they are able to obtain the quality content that they need to succeed in content marketing.

4. Hire a generalist write who can be trained to cover print-industry-specific topics:

While it is important to find a freelancer who has some knowledge of the printing industry, it is not essential. With the right training, any freelance writer can produce content that is suitable for your needs. Not only will this save you money, but it will also allow you to tap into a new pool of talent. When looking for a freelancer, be sure to specify your content requirements and ensure that they are familiar with your brand voice. With a little effort, you can find a freelance writer who can help you take your content marketing efforts to the next level.

5. Use AI-generated content to write to your specifications.

There are a number of advantages to using AI-generated content. First, it can be produced very quickly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Additionally, because it is based on your specific requirements, there is a good chance that it will be highly relevant to your audience. Finally, depending on the quality of the AI platform you use, the results can be very impressive indeed.

Of course, there are also some potential drawbacks to consider. One is that, because AI-generated content is often quite concise, it may not always provide the depth and detail that your audience is looking for. Additionally, because it relies heavily on keyword input, there is a risk that your content may come across as somewhat “stuffed” or “spammy.” It also requires the expertise of a real, human writer familiar with your content to check for (and correct) factual accuracy and tweak for readability.

Conclusion

By leveraging these five methods, businesses within the printing industry can create content that is both informative and engaging for their target audience. Content marketing can be a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness and driving sales, so make sure you are taking full advantage of all the resources available to you.

This sounds fairly well-written, and it has a ring of authority to it. But it misses the main points and all of the nuances of a human being who truly knows the industry. It is also the result of several months of training on Jasper, an understanding of how the engine works, and knowledge of how to utilize the engine to improve the output. More time spent repeatedly tweaking the inputs could have improved the final result, but to some extent, this undermines the value that many commercial printers would be seeking: fast, accurate content completion that doesn’t require writing expertise or a huge time investment.