How We Use AI at SmartAlpaca (2025 update)
At SmartAlpaca Marketing, we believe in being completely open about our processes and tools, so we want to share exactly how we incorporate AI into our work while staying true to our values of quality, authenticity, and client confidentiality.
Opportunities and challenges with AI tools
These days, AI is everywhere. From Siri and Alexa to your email client trying to finish your sentences, it's hard to find a digital platform that doesn't use some form of artificial intelligence. But not all AI tools are equally useful or functional, as illustrated by these hilarious famous AI disasters.
When it comes to using AI in marketing, we've watched the market get flooded with tools promising instant results and magical solutions. Many of these tools churn out generic, inaccurate, or poorly crafted content that simply doesn't meet our standards.
That doesn’t mean we don’t use AI at all: using the right tools in combination with our expertise (both in writing the right prompts, and recognising good output) has allowed us to deliver better results, faster. This is how we do it.
We use AI as one of the many tools in our toolkit; it’s a smart assistant that helps us work better and faster, but doesn't replace human creativity and expert judgment.
What we use AI for
The primary ways we incorporate AI include:
Generating initial ideas and exploring creative directions
Creating first drafts that we can refine and/or flesh out
Expanding strategic documents with relevant examples
Generating tentative research and gathering insights
After trying out numerous tools, we mainly use the following AI platforms:
HotGoss is a secure, platform we use for quick insights and research. HotGoss is built by ethical marketers, for ethical marketers.
Claude (Anthropic) is our go-to tool for initial content creation and creative exploration
We occasionally use ChatGPT for strategic brainstorming, help with coding, and other conversations.
We continuously try and test new tools for different purposes, as other tools keep getting better. If you’re a client and wondering what tools we use to support our work on your account, don’t hesitate to ask!
Quality Assurance
We never simply copy and paste AI-generated content into final deliverables.
Instead, every piece goes through rigorous fact-checking to ensure accuracy. Our team then edits and refines the content, adding expert insights and personalised stories when relevant.
Throughout this process, we carefully align everything with each client's brand voice and objectives. While we might occasionally share AI outputs with a client during our collaborative process, our final deliverables reflect the full value of our expertise and attention to detail.
Data security and client confidentiality
We don’t mess around when it comes to confidential information. We have strict protocols about what information goes into AI systems and what doesn't. Sensitive data only goes into enterprise-level tools with proven security track records - and if a tool doesn't meet security standards, we simply don't use it for that kind of information. We regularly review and update these practices to ensure we're always protecting your data with the latest security measures.
The results: better work, greater value
Integrating AI into our workflow has transformed how we work, and we're seeing amazing results.
Because AI helps us work through initial drafts and research faster, we can spend more time on the aspects of our work that require human expertise - like strategic thinking and creative problem-solving. We can explore more creative possibilities for each project without getting bogged down in time-consuming drafts. Even better, it allows us to maintain competitive pricing despite rising industry costs, because we're working smarter, not just harder.
AI allows us to deliver higher quality work than ever before, while keeping our services accessible to the organisations that need them.
Examples of how we use AI
Here's how we've successfully incorporated AI into recent projects:
Brand voice guidance
For Sunny Simple Living, we used AI to analyse years of existing blog posts and create a comprehensive brand voice guide. New content created using this guide – combined with our expertise and thorough review process – is spot-on: this allows us to batch-create more content and schedule it ahead of time.
Marketing roadmap
To wrap up our work on a fundraising consultancy’s website, they needed a clear roadmap for their future marketing efforts. We gave our AI tool a timeline to follow, and it fleshed out our recommendations into a clear document with instructions for every step.
While we would have needed to charge a premium price for this type of service in the past, AI allowed us to add this practical and actionable advice it to our offboarding package at no extra cost to the client.
Content writing
Our work with manta ray conservation articles demonstrates our balanced and process-driven approach.
The client shares their expert insights our article ideas via voice message or email
We use AI to create an initial draft
Our team conducts extensive fact-checking and fleshes out the article…
Before returning it for client approval.
This workflow ensures scientific accuracy while incorporating the client’s personal expertise and insights. Again, it allows us to batch-create quality content that keeps driving content to the website - and we can use the extra time to support the client in other ways.
Database development
For a chicken breed library project, we leveraged AI to generate an initial CSV including data about selected breeds. After uploading this CSV to the database, we can now manually review each record, add images, and publish each chicken breed record after extensive verification.
Having AI create a CSV that includes all the necessary information about the chicken breeds we selected saved us days, if not weeks of preliminary research. It is much easier to look up and fact-check existing information, than it is to find the right information in the first place.
Our AI philosophy: enhancement, not replacement
While some agencies proudly advertise "100% human-written content," we believe in using tools that help us serve our clients better. Our approach allows us to scale our work efficiently without compromising on quality and keep our services accessible through competitive pricing.
At its core, we believe good marketing is about connecting people with people. AI is simply one of many tools we use to create those connections for ourselves and for our clients. As AI technology continues to evolve, we will continue to thoughtful integrate tools that enhance our work while maintaining the human touch that makes working with us special.
We love talking about our tools and workflows. If you have questions about any of the above, don’t hesitate to reach out!
