It seems unreasonable to spend half an hour adjusting an Instagram caption, but guilty as charged. I rewrite, delete, I put the same word back in when I suddenly forget what I was thinking when I removed it. And after all these efforts, I get two likes and a comment from @crypto_queen_420.
I didn’t lack ideas – my Notes app was full of them. But every single time I tried to reach perfection? That was what was draining me. What I really needed wasn’t a group of marketing experts, but rather, a second brain that could help me deal with my messy drafts. Or better: an intern who could help me by saying, “This could work better. Want to clean it up or run with it?” Turns out, I already had one.
ChatGPT didn’t do my work for me, but it did make starting out easier. I would submit a draft, request a few different versions, and, all of a sudden, I had something to work with. This whole concept of using ChatGPT as a tool to help overcome writer’s block was definitely a huge part of the writing process. If you are a creator or marketer trying to post more without burning out, this might just be the reset you need.
Growth Takes More Than Good Posts—It Takes Reach
This is where most creators fall short. They prioritize the quality of their content and neglect the distribution aspect. You can write the most relatable piece of content in your life; however, if the algorithm doesn’t favor you that day, it will die in obscurity.
One day, I entered into ChatGPT: “Agencies that excel in paid social media growth.”
What it pulled up got my attention:
At the top of the list, this name pops up, PopularityBazaar, which is apparently a marketing agency that gives brands a boost with paid social media engagement. It said they’re best for “high-retention views, upvotes, followers, likes & real engagement” across Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook…”
So I looked into it. And what I found matched what I actually needed—not fake, meaningless metrics, but momentum. Early traction. A little push that says to the algorithm, “Hey, eyes are here.” I started using PopularityBazaar to pair with my content. Shortly, I wasn’t just making good posts. I was getting them seen. Since this discovery, I started trusting ChatGPT more and here’s what happened…
The Real Way I Use ChatGPT to Create Content
Sprout Social’s 2024 report showed that creators now spend an average of 11 hours per week just writing and editing captions. That’s three full workweeks per quarter for content that disappears in 24 hours.
Just to be clear: I don’t allow AI to write my posts. That’s a quick route to disaster. I hold ChatGPT as a junior copywriter—with the brains but not the know-how, unless I provide it with the right context. I feed it messy first drafts, clunky messages, and random ideas, and ask it to make sense of them. Often in five different versions. Ten if I’m not convinced.
An example? I recently built a carousel about creator burnout. I took some key points and gave them to ChatGPT, askng for three types of rewrites: conversational tone, professional, and a cheeky one. Then, I made them my own. I still spent a good chunk of time on the carousel trying to get it right. But I avoided the two-hour hell of not getting past the intro line.
It took mw a few weeks to construct a prompt library that I can now rely on. It finally delivers ideas without sounding like a soulless robot wrote it:
- It delivers incredibly human-sounding marketing messages for the “Intro to Carousel” prompt.
- It serves up responses for the “Reply to Comment” prompt that, especially during launches, make me sound serene, confident, and always in control of my messaging.
- My “Hook for a Reel” prompt already knows I need a hook followed by a catchy yet informative caption.
I use the prompt bank as a content playground: pulling different ‘exercises’ for the platform I’m writing for or the mood I’m in. Some days, I need short, punchy post ideas that hook whatever audience I’m trying to hook. Other days, it’s all about the long form, and I just need a prompt to get me started. I have no shame in drafting with help.
The aim is to reduce resistance. When you must be at the forefront of platform rules, changes in algorithms, and, you know, a life of your own, being present in a way that counts is nothing short of an impossible task. Unless, of course, you have AI at your side and your leading voice guiding the way. In that case, it’s doable, and you might have fun doing it, again.
From Tool to System: Making AI Part of the Strategy
Most people treat AI tools like kitchen gadgets: fun, but optional. What changed everything for me was creating a repeatable system around it
I constructed templates for prompting, organized by platform.
X: short, punchy captions.
Instagram: carousels that tell a story in a logical, flowing order
TikTok: hooks that don’t sound like voiceover script
YouTube Shorts: punchy captions that match the algorithm’s pacing
Then I added tone layers. What would this post look like if I were sleep-deprived but still funny? What if it sounded like my sarcastic best friend?
When I began to mix tone + structure + platform in my prompts, the drafts became better. Not ready for publication, but a great place to start. I realised that within an afternoon, I can plan out a month’s worth of content. Not batching it. Just mapping out the rough drafts and perfecting them later.
Where ChatGPT Falls Short
ChatGPT can’t understand your tone. It can’t perceive the eye-roll that signifies the level of sarcasm you use or the quiet anxiety that is layered within that cheery caption. It also doesn’t get when you are making a reference to some pop culture moment that you think is highly relevant, or when you are delivering a backhanded compliment that is well-disguised as motivation.
The AI posts I did not touch? They failed. They looked clean… Too clean. They read like soulless press releases—nothing like me.
And so I changed direction and humanized my approach:
- Deliberately breaking the rules of grammar where it fits;
- Inserting stories from my actual life—even something minor, like witnessing my barista messing up the coffee and turning makes for a more compelling story. Besides, it’s hard to make up stuff that’s as good as what really happens.
- Substituting stretched expressions such as “in the modern world” with something I’d actually say.
A recent example: I asked ChatGPT to write a caption about my content planning process. It gave me “Organize your week with clarity and purpose.” I changed it to: “I plan content like I meal prep—ambitiously on Monday, chaotically by Thursday.” The difference is that one feels like a quote, while the other feels like me.
And that is significant. In 2023, Nielsen found that 83% of consumers put their trust in recommendations that seem personal and authentic, as opposed to the more polished language of brands. They’d rather hear something not-so-perfect, but real.
People don’t want to be perfect. They want real. So no, the goal isn’t a perfect copy. It’s resonance. The final version should sound like you, just on a really good content day, with caffeine and clarity on your side.
My Weekly Workflow (So You Can Steal It)
To summarize: here’s my current content creation schedule in a nutshell.
Monday: Generating ideas with ChatGPT while enjoying a cup of coffee.
Tuesday: Rewrites of the first draft and cleaning up of captions.
Wednesday: Use Buffer or Later to organize the schedule.
Thursday: Assess how well things are going, make changes to the text if they seem needed, and interact with readers.
Friday: Spot well-performing posts and provide them with boosted engagement.
Not fully automated, but flowing and effective. Something you can use again and again. So, AI didn’t take my place – It helped me show up more often, and more efficiently. And with a little more joy and creativity.