18 AI-powered content creation tools to simplify your workflow

“I created this from scratch.” — a sentence marketers are saying less and less these days.

With 85% of marketers now using AI tools for content creation, AI has quickly become part of the modern content workflow.

In this guide, we’ve rounded up the best AI-powered content creation tools to simplify your workflow.

What are AI content creation tools?

AI content creation tools use artificial intelligence to generate visual or written content based on prompts, helping teams create content faster and at scale.

Common examples of AI content creation tools include ChatGPT, Midjourney, Jasper, and our very own, OwlyWriter AI, which helps marketers write knockout social media captions in seconds.

10 AI content creation tools that can make your life easier

The best AI content creation tools help social media marketers brainstorm ideas, generate content, design visuals, and create videos in minutes.

Let’s take a closer look at 10 content creation tools to simplify your workflow.

1. OwlyWriter

OwlyWriter AI is an AI-powered social media writing tool built into Hootsuite. You enter a prompt, and OwlyWriter turns it into winning social media captions, post ideas, and content variations.

How is OwlyWriter different from ChatGPT or other AI copywriting tools?

OwlyWriter uses ChatGPT’s language model, but it’s trained on Hootsuite’s social media playbook. That means it combines powerful AI with content formulas that come from a decade of social marketing experience.

In other words, you get the speed of AI, plus the strategy behind thousands of successful social posts.

OwlyWriter can:

• Write a new social media caption in a specific tone of voice
• Write a post based on a link (i.e., a blog post or a product page)
• Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
• Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
• Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays

If you can prompt it, OwlyWriter can write it. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to your Hootsuite account.

2. Go to the Inspiration section of the dashboard.

3. Choose the type of content you want to generate.

4. Enter a topic or keyword and click Get ideas.

5. Select the idea you like best.

6. Add captions and hashtags.

7. Click Create post to open it in Hootsuite Composer.

From there, you can edit the copy, add images or links, send the post for approval, and schedule it for publishing.

And that’s it!

OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full.

2. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a natural language processing (NLP) chatbot that can understand and produce human-style conversations and content, like social posts, blog articles, and more.

At this point, ChatGPT doesn’t really need an introduction. For many people, it has become almost synonymous with AI-generated content.

Source: ChatGPT

When ChatGPT first launched, it sparked a lot of panic among writers and marketers who worried it might replace their jobs.

In reality, the tool works best as a collaborator. While ChatGPT can help generate ideas and drafts, it still benefits from human editing, fact-checking, and strategic direction. Creativity, nuance, and brand voice still need a human touch.

Use ChatGPT for:

• Idea generation and brainstorming (for social media posts, ad copy, and more)
• Content generation
• Blog outlines
• Social media post ideas

Cons:

• Create full drafts from scratch
• Factual/historically accurate details (always double-check with verifiable sources)

3. Claude

Claude is an AI assistant developed by Anthropic that helps users generate ideas and create content via conversational prompts. It runs on a system called Constitutional AI, which is designed to prioritize safer, more reliable responses.

According to its website, Claude can “process large amounts of information, brainstorm ideas, generate text and code, help you understand subjects, coach you through difficult situations, [and] help simplify your busywork.”

Source: Claude

Claude comes with three different price points, including a free option to test it out.

Use Claude for:

• Generating code snippets for your website
• Coming up with new high-quality content ideas
• Transcribing videos or podcast episodes
• Understanding complex information

Cons:

• End-to-end content creation
• Asking to summarize information (like most chatbots, this simply isn’t sophisticated enough to fully rely on)

4. Midjourney

Midjourney is an AI graphics generation app. It’s easy to use and runs as a Discord bot, so you can create works of art anywhere, even on the go from your phone.

Source: Midjourney

Getting started with Midjourney is fairly simple. Anyone can write a prompt and generate an image. However, getting the results you want usually takes a bit more finesse. Advanced prompts let you control things like aspect ratio, art style, and even transparent backgrounds.

If you want to go deeper, check our AI art prompting guide.

Use Midjourney for:

• Social media graphics
• Generating logo concepts or project ideas for presentations that you plan to originally design later
• Elements to use within your original designs

Cons:

• The monthly subscription is only worth it if you have an ongoing need for AI graphics
• Super realistic results

5. Jasper

A popular ChatGPT alternative, Jasper specializes in content for articles, social media, scripts, and more. It’s even ventured into the world of AI image generation.

What sets Jasper apart is its focus on tone. The platform can generate or rewrite content that matches your brand voice.

Source: Jasper

In addition to content creation, you can use Jasper to translate content into 30 different languages. 

Jasper also integrates with Google Docs and other popular apps, or you can write your own integration with their API.

Use JasperAI for:

• Translating content to expand your global reach
• Content idea generation and outlines
• Generating images for social media posts

Cons:

• Writing high-stakes or “pillar” content. For sales collateral, landing pages, or big marketing campaigns, leave that to your human professionals.

6. Copy.ai

Copy.ai is an AI platform designed to help marketing and sales teams create content and move faster across their go-to-market workflow.

It goes beyond simple copy generation. Teams can use Copy.ai to research accounts, generate outreach messages, and analyze sales data to support campaigns and account-based marketing.

In short, it helps teams move faster while creating more personalized content for prospects.

Source: Copy.ai

Use Copy.ai for:

• Generating marketing and sales copy
• Researching accounts and contacts for sales outreach
• Supporting account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns
• Analyzing sales transcripts and using those insights to support email outreach, content marketing, and paid advertising

Cons:

• Primarily focused on sales and GTM workflows rather than social media content
• Full-scale content creation

7. Beautiful.ai

Beautiful.ai is an AI-powered presentation tool that helps you build polished slides quickly. 

This can be useful for a number of things in a social media marketer’s tasklist, like putting together social media reports to share with stakeholders, pitching new campaign ideas, or creating slides you can share online as a part of your marketing strategy.

There’s also a nice social media angle. LinkedIn now lets users post PDF documents directly in the feed, and Beautiful.ai lets you download your slides as PDFs. That means your presentation can easily double as a shareable LinkedIn post.

Source: Beautiful.ai

Enter a prompt to generate new slides, review the content, and then save or share your presentation. You can put together a polished, branded deck in just a few minutes.

Use Beautiful.ai for:

• Marketing slideshows
• Social media reports
• Designing presentation slides

Cons:

• In-depth, research-heavy presentations

8. Descript

Descript is an AI-powered audio and video editing tool that helps you edit long-form videos, podcast episodes, and short clips for social media.

One of its most useful features is transcript-based editing. You can edit the transcript to remove filler words, tighten sections, or cut entire clips.

Source: Descript

Use Descript for:

• Captioning
• Audio and video editing

Cons:

• Creating videos from scratch

9. Invideo

InVideo is an AI-powered video creation tool that generates short-form videos from text prompts. It’s a helpful option for small teams that don’t have the time or resources for full video production.

Just start with a prompt like “Short-form social media video about financial literacy,” and watch as your video comes to life.

From there, you can refine the result using additional prompts to adjust the video’s language, visuals, or content.

Source: Invideo

Use Invideo for:

• Producing quick video content without filming or editing

Cons:

• Not ideal for long-form or highly detailed informational videos
• Generated videos may require manual adjustments for brand tone or messaging

10. Canva

Canva is a popular graphic design platform that helps teams create presentations, documents, mini websites, and more using templates and AI-powered tools.

In recent years, Canva has expanded its AI-powered content features, which they call “Magic Design.”

Upload an image or piece of content and Magic Design will suggest matching templates, like social media posts, quote graphics, documents, and more. This makes it easy to repurpose existing content across multiple platforms while keeping everything visually consistent.

You can also start with a simple text prompt. Canva can generate things like presentation outlines, infographic designs, and other visual formats. On top of that, AI tools can help with quick edits like background removal or object cleanup.

Source: Canva

Use Canva for:

• All your business graphic template needs (here are 50 free social media templates to get you started)
• Repurposing existing content
• Keeping visuals on brand across teams

Cons:

• Branding from the ground up (it’s still best to work with human designers)

8 free AI tools for content creation

Tired of everything having a paid subscription requirement? Not to fear, Hootsuite has free AI content creation tools you can use right now.

1. Caption generator

Curious about OwlyWriter AI or other AI writing tools? Try our caption generator for free.

This tool isn’t as advanced as OwlyWriter, but unlike ChatGPT, it’s built specifically for social media. It creates captions tailored to your chosen platform and supports five different languages.

Pro tip 💡: Make your description specific for best results.

2. Hashtag generator

Like the caption generator, the free hashtag generator tailors its suggestions to your chosen social platform. It works for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and X (formerly Twitter).

Use it to quickly find relevant hashtags for your next post and help more people discover your content.

3. YouTube video description generator

Hootsuite’s YouTube video description generator is like your very own content assistant.

The tool helps you write a fully optimized YouTube description which can help you reach your target audience by using the right keywords — as well as drive traffic through your CTAs.

As always, give the description a quick proofread before publishing. A final human touch goes a long way.

4. YouTube video title generator

Use our YouTube video title generator to come up with catchy video titles that grab attention and stand out in YouTube search and recommendations.

5. Username generator

Identity crisis? No problem with Hootsuite’s username generator. Reinvent yourself in a few seconds flat.

6. Social media bio generator

Need a social media refresh? Use our bio generator to create a new “about” section for your social media platforms.

It will tailor each suggestion to the platform you choose, so your bio fits the right tone and character limits for social networks like Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and more.

7. Blog ideas generator

Struggling to come up with ideas for your next blog post? Our blog ideas generator can seamlessly help you come up with a month’s worth of content ideas.

8. Content ideas generator

Just like our blog ideas generator, the content ideas generator is perfect for fleshing out your social media content calendar with some fresh, new ideas.

What are the benefits of using AI content creation tools?

AI content creation tools help marketers create, optimize, and scale content with less manual effort. They can assist with brainstorming, drafting, and managing everyday content tasks.

Here are five major benefits AI-powered tools can offer.

1. Save time

AI can take over smaller, more menial tasks, helping your team to save time and focus on the bigger picture. Some use cases include:

• Proofreading for spelling and grammar
• Batch content creation (like generating product descriptions or summaries)
• Research (like summarizing reports or analyzing vast amounts of data)
• Captioning and other accessibility needs, like voiceovers
• Basic graphic design help

Chelse Hensley, Social Media Strategist at graphic design software Visme (a tool with its own AI-powered features), uses AI to streamline her workflow.

“I use AI to help me batch tweets from my company’s blog articles,” she shares. “For a volume-based platform like X/Twitter or Threads, it’s extremely helpful to repurpose already-written (and approved by our team!) content into short-form tweets and threads.”

2. Generate ideas

Even the best brainstormers can hit a creative block. AI can help jumpstart the brainstorming process, so your team doesn’t slow down.

You still bring the strategy and creativity. AI simply gives you a starting point, generating prompts, angles, or post ideas you can mold or build on. 

Sometimes, that first batch of suggestions is all it takes to spark ideas you might not have considered otherwise.

3. Optimize for social SEO

Just like Google and other search engines, social media platforms often come with their own SEO rules. So if you’re still learning how to properly optimize your content across platforms, AI tools can help.

AI tools can suggest keywords, hashtags, and caption structures that improve how social algorithms surface your content in feeds and search results. The result: posts that are easier for the right social media users to find.

4. Scale content

AI helps teams produce more content without dramatically increasing workload. 

Instead of starting from scratch every time, marketers can use AI to repurpose existing content into multiple formats. For example, a single blog post can quickly become a Twitter thread, or a video script for Snapchat. 

This makes it easier for brands to amplify their social media presence and test which content performs best.

AI tools can also translate content in minutes, making it easier for global marketing teams to adapt campaigns for different languages and regions.

That means one piece of content can go a lot further — across platforms, formats, and regions.

5. Support smaller teams

Small businesses and entrepreneurs have a lot on their plates, and AI can help them manage more in less time.

When asked how AI helps her do more as a team of one, Hensley says, “THIS is the right question. As so many social media managers are a one-person band, having AI to help draft and repurpose content is crucial.”

Social media managers have to create engaging content en masse while also managing admin work and ideation. And sometimes, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything.

Hensley continues, “With the help of AI, I’m able to take tedious, time-consuming tasks and turn them into fast solutions.”

6. Boost productivity

By speeding up routine tasks and providing real-time support, AI tools make it easier for marketers to move projects forward. This can make a big difference, whether you’re a team of one or part of a larger content operation.

Hensley points to formatting as one of the easiest productivity wins.

“I can input my existing content or ideas, and ask AI to formulate it into a bulleted list, or even a cleanly formatted table, which on my own might take hours (especially if you’re Excel challenged like me),” she shares. “Formatting is a great way for a SMM to leverage AI.”

How can marketers maximize AI content creation tools? [Expert insights]

Marketers can maximize AI content creation tools by using them to support creative work, while understanding their limitations.

Here are three expert-backed tips for getting the most out of AI content creation tools.

1. How can AI help streamline my content creation process?

AI can streamline content creation by taking care of repetitive tasks.

But AI should support your workflow, not replace your creativity. As Hensley puts it: “Don’t use AI as an excuse to get lazy creatively.” 

Instead, think of AI as an admin assistant, she explains.

“Let AI do the tedious work for you like cleaning up your notes from a marketing meeting, formatting ideas into tables, repurposing blogs into tweets, and so on. Let your ideas remain original, and use AI to free up more time to keep creating awesomeness,” Hensley shares.

By leveraging AI in this way, you aren’t handing over the thinking. You’re offloading the busywork so you can spend more energy on the creative parts of the job. Your ideas stay human. AI just helps you execute them faster.

TL;DR: Treat AI like an assistant. Let it handle routine tasks while you focus on strategy and creative ideas.

2. What are AI’s limitations in content creation?

AI’s main limitation in content creation is that it relies on existing information, which means it can’t consistently produce up-to-date research, original insights, or human-level creativity.

As Freelancer Writer Tracy Rawlinson explains, “Many content creators use ChatGPT for outlining (including me). But relying on this alone can leave out a whole heap of important info, like the latest research, expert insights, current trends/demographics, and recent industry case studies.”

In other words, AI works best as a starting point, not the final word.

Rawlinson puts it simply: “AI is great for getting started, but knowing its limitations will help make sure your relevant content is current and well-rounded.” 

TL;DR: AI can speed up content creation, but human expertise is still essential for context, creativity, and accuracy.

3. How can AI improve brand consistency in my content?

AI can help keep your content consistent by applying your brand voice, tone, and style guidelines across different formats.

Emily K. Schwartz, Head of Content + Comms at marketing incrementality platform Haus, says giving AI the right guardrails makes a big difference.

“By feeding an AI tool our style guide, voice, tone, and verbiage that is unique to our industry, product, and business, AI makes it easy for our brand voice to come through clearly and consistently, no matter the writer, context, or medium,” she observes.

The good news? Getting AI on the right path isn’t too complicated. Most AI tools rely on prompts, so including brand guidelines, messaging notes, or style preferences can help ensure the output stays aligned with your brand.

Schwartz adds that AI can also help catch small details that keep content on-brand.

 “Whether it’s flagging punctuation that’s misaligned with the brand or suggesting alternate language for a specific context, using AI tools for brand consistency gives everyone on the team a little more confidence that what they’re writing fits the bill, and can be especially helpful with new hires or contractors.”

TL;DR: AI can help keep your brand voice consistent when it has clear guidelines to follow. This keeps your voice consistent across teams, social media channels, and formats.

Save time managing your social media marketing strategy with Hootsuite. Publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, measure results, and more — all from one dashboard. Try it free today.