Getting real work done · for marketers
Finishing real marketing work with AI
A first draft is the easy part. Marketing work counts when it ships: the email is sent, the page is live, the campaign runs. Plenty of people use AI to produce drafts and then spend as long fixing them as writing from scratch would have taken.
Getting real work done means using AI to reach a finished result that meets the brief, survives review, and performs its job. It includes knowing when AI is the wrong tool for part of the task.
Where it comes up
A full landing page
Headline, sections, proof points, and call to action, all finished and on-brand. The proof points must be real customer evidence, which AI cannot supply.
A campaign brief for an agency
The brief has to be complete enough that the agency can work without a call. AI can structure it and spot gaps. You supply the strategy and the budget.
A quarterly marketing review
A document leadership reads and acts on. AI drafts sections from your notes and data. You own the conclusions and the recommendations.
What it looks like at each band
E1 · Foundational
Produces first drafts with AI, then finishes them mostly by hand. Final quality depends more on manual effort than on how AI was used. Sometimes ships drafts that still read as AI-written.
E2 · Proficient
Uses AI through to a finished piece that stands on its own with moderate editing. Meets the brief on routine work. Knows which parts of a task to write personally.
E3 · Distinguished
Delivers complete, polished work on complex jobs, such as a full launch kit or a strategy document. Uses AI for the parts it does well and their own judgment for positioning and priorities. The work shows no seams between the two.
E4 · Exceptional
Consistently delivers work that raises the team’s standard, under deadline. Is deliberate about where AI helps and where it does not. Can show others how a finished piece was built.
Common mistakes
Stopping at the draft
An AI draft that "just needs a polish" often needs restructuring. Judge it against the brief, not against a blank page.
Letting AI set the strategy
Ask for a campaign strategy without your own view and you get a textbook answer. AI should test and extend your strategy, not replace it.
Shipping copy that sounds machine-made
Readers notice generic phrasing and repeated sentence patterns. A final read aloud catches most of it.
A worked example
A one-page campaign brief for a spring promotion, due to the agency by end of day.
Ask AI to "write a campaign brief for our spring promotion" and send the result to the agency.
The brief is full of placeholders and generic objectives. The agency will either call with twenty questions or build the wrong campaign.
Write the objective, audience, offer, budget, and timeline yourself in rough notes. Ask AI to structure them into the agency’s brief template and list any gaps an agency would ask about. Fill the gaps, check the dates and budget figures, and read it once as the agency would before sending.
The strategy and facts come from the marketer. AI structures, finds gaps, and saves writing time. The agency receives a brief it can act on.
The full study guide for this skill, for every role, is Getting real work done. The other five skills for marketers are on the AI skills for marketers page. A one-page summary is in the AI-assisted work checklist.
See where you stand
The free check grades getting real work done and the other five skills in about fifteen minutes. Nobody sees the grade but you.
Then build the skills and prove it. The three steps for marketers list the courses and templates that fit the work.