8 AI tools that every content creator should know

If you’re a content manager or content creator who is finding it difficult to keep up with the rapid changes in generative AI, including the latest AI regulations, you’re not alone. Nevertheless, more and more marketers are beginning to use the technology so it’s important to catch up as quickly as possible.

According to Canva’s 2025 “The State of Marketing and AI” report, 94% of marketers surveyed allocated AI budgets in 2024, and 75% expect to increase their investment this year. Even amid economic uncertainty, 62% of marketers anticipate AI budgets will grow by at least 25%. This was based on insights from 2,400 global marketing and creative leaders from the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, and Spain.

So, it’s likely that the use of generative AI in content marketing will increase – but which tools should creators use? Here are some that have caught our eye at Wardour – including a few that are now in our own toolkit.

1. Canva Magic Studio

Canva now has a suite of AI-based design tools that aim to make content creation more accessible. Called Magic Studio, it provides a host of new tools for automating labour-intensive tasks, like converting designs into other media formats or instantly editing images.

Magic Studio allows you to, for example, convert a blog into an email or social media post without needing to manually change the layout or update the copy and it can automatically translate designs into more than 100 languages. Canva has also added a new text-to-video capability, which can generate short videos from text prompts, or an existing image uploaded from its image library. The text-to-image tool has also been updated to provide a range of style options and make it easier to create great content. Magic studio frees up creators to produce engaging content.

2. YouTube Shorts

Shorts, YouTube’s answer to short-form video app TikTok, enables users to create video content using AI. A new feature, called Dream Screen, allows content creators to make AI-generated video or backgrounds just by typing in what they want to see. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says that you can type in “something as crazy as a panda drinking a cup of coffee,” and then the video will appear on screen. The company has also suggested examples like underwater castles, dragons, or sci-fi moonrises.

The tool was initially trialled in the US with a select group of content creators who were producing quality content. It’s now being rolled out in the UK. The Shorts platform averages around 200 billion daily views, up from 70 billion in March 2024, which makes it excellent for promoting brand awareness.

3. MarketMuse

MarketMuse is an AI-powered tool that can optimise your content strategy to improve your SEO. Rather than the usual method of assessing how difficult a keyword is to rank for, MarketMuse identifies specific topics on your website where you have authority. It then helps you build out your content from there by identifying semantically similar topics that are likely to impress Google, therefore allowing you to spread your authority via internal links.

MarketMuse allows content creators to optimise every blog post by providing a target word count and score, and dozens of semantically connected words and phrases designed to attract Google's attention and propel you up the search engine's rankings. It’s a tool we use here at Wardour and would be happy to show you.

4. LinkedIn

LinkedIn has launched Accelerate, a generative AI tool designed to help an advertiser or social media content creator to automate all aspects of their campaign creation. The company says that in just five minutes Accelerate can design and optimise a campaign and ensure it reaches the ideal B2B audience.

• The tool can develop personalised campaigns using generative AI and LinkedIn data

• Accelerate includes real-time campaign optimisation

• It can propose targeting, creative and strategy options, all of which can be refined by marketers

• And it can also fine-tune audience creation, rather than marketers having to hunt for the right audience
  

The social media platform aims to not just target an individual but a diverse group of decision-makers, each with their own role in the purchasing process, such as a finance director looking at cost savings, or a security expert evaluating product safety features.

5. SparkToro

Conducting audience research can be a very complex and time-consuming process for a digital marketing content creator. SparkToro is an AI tool which simplifies this process by providing you with a collection of an individual’s online profiles and behaviours. It tells you who an individual follows, what they listen to and read, which podcasts they share and which YouTube channels they subscribe to. This is all without revealing any personal information, in line with the GDPR.

You can search for key words and phrases, such as for the word ‘founder’ in online profiles. There is the option to add your location, allowing you to identify how many founders there are in the London area. Using the SparkToro platform, you can identify where certain individuals spend their time online and can therefore work to form partnerships and sponsorships that amplify your content on these websites.

6. GPT-4o

Image generators have struggled to create pictures that are different from any existing image. If you asked for a picture of a bicycle with triangular wheels, it would struggle. But OpenAI’s new GPT-4o image generator is much smarter. Previously, ChatGPT relied on external models like DALL-E to create images. But GPT-4o features a native image generator built into its architecture, which can draw on everything ChatGPT has learned from the internet. If you describe a comic strip, for example, it can instantly generate an elaborate cartoon. The new version of ChatGPT will be available to people using both free and paid versions of the chatbot.

7. Jasper.ai

If you are a content editor who wants to save time and ensure that the digital content you are producing is of a high standard, Jasper AI will be beneficial for your company. Jasper AI is an AI tool which produces original, quality content such as blog posts, product descriptions and marketing copy, from just a simple input. The platform’s low price point and accessible layout make it popular among businesses of all sizes.

The Jasper Brand Voice feature allows users to incorporate the company’s brand identity, tone and style into any AI-generated content. The AI can learn about the company and will automatically include the brand’s tone in the content it generates, ensuring that you create content in line with your brand identity. Jasper AI also offers a chrome extension, allowing you to use the platform’s features directly from your browser.

8. Hootsuite

It can be difficult for companies to create a successful social media strategy. Hootsuite is an AI social media management platform which aids content creators with many of their daily tasks, providing them with limitless opportunity and flexibility.

On Hootsuite, you can use data to determine what content has been successful for your agency by viewing your social media ROI. You can quickly fill your content calendar with attractive posts for your social media feeds, allowing you to establish a brand identity. Furthermore, you can significantly boost the reach and engagement of your posts to grow your follower count on social media. The platform has a universal social media inbox with built in automations, allowing you to make connections and save time.

Hootsuite can be integrated with over 150 apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, X and Pinterest.

AI in digital marketing strategies

Marketers need to get to grips with tools like these. In a recent article on the Harvard website Christina Inge, author of Marketing Analytics: A Comprehensive Guide to Marketing Metrics, and an instructor at the Harvard Division for Continuing Education's Professional and Executive Developments said that AI was both a challenge and an opportunity for those in marketing.

She said: "There is a saying going around now – and it is very true – that your job will not be taken by AI. It will be taken by a person who knows how to use AI. So, it is very important for marketers to know how to use AI."

At present, many marketers are underutilising AI, but the impact of the technology in marketing is already changing the business landscape, helping leaders make data-informed decisions with greater efficiency and accuracy. AI tool like those above are redefining the way marketers handle repetitive tasks, make decisions and connect with customers.