Stewart Hillhouse on the AI Playbook for Tomorrow’s Content Teams

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Mar 13, 2025

Stewart Hillhouse, VP of Content at StoryArb and former Head of Content at Mutiny, shares his innovative strategies for leveraging AI in content marketing. He discusses the evolution of content creation, emphasizing the need for shorter planning horizons and integrated campaigns. Stewart introduces the concept of a 'second brain' powered by AI, enhancing creativity and learning. He advocates for personalized marketing to drive engagement, and highlights the balance of speed and creativity for future content teams, positioning humans as strategic innovators.

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ADVICE

Integrated Campaigns

Create integrated quarterly campaigns where all marketing channels focus on the same topic.
This amplifies reach and impact, creating a synergistic effect greater than individual channels.

ANECDOTE

Mutiny's "Survivor" Campaign

Mutiny's "Survivor" campaign engaged marketers with ChatGPT use cases, driving significant pipeline.
This campaign, structured like a game show with prizes, demonstrated the effectiveness of timely, integrated campaigns.

ADVICE

Short-Term Planning

Focus on shorter planning horizons (e.g., 90-100 days) in the current fast-paced environment.
Longer timelines risk irrelevancy due to rapid shifts in conversation and competitor actions.

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In this episode, Stewart Hillhouse shares a refreshingly practical perspective on how content teams can thrive in an AI-accelerated environment. Fresh from a three-year run as Head of Content at Mutiny and now heading to StoryArb as VP of Content, Stewart offers concrete workflows, AI prompting techniques, and a clear vision for how content teams should restructure for maximum impact.

His approach emphasizes both speed and creativity—advocating for shorter planning horizons, integrated quarterly campaigns, and transparent marketing that acknowledges the audience's sophistication. Most importantly, he provides a framework for the "content team of the future" that leverages AI for operational tasks while positioning humans as strategic directors and personality-driven marketers.

About Our Guest: Stewart Hillhouse

Stewart Hillhouse has just completed a three-year tenure as Head of Content at Mutiny, where he developed campaigns that generated millions in pipeline while witnessing the company's growth from Series A through the emergence of generative AI. His background is unconventional — he started his career in forestry before making a pivot into content marketing through a self-initiated podcast where he interviewed marketing leaders.

Stewart is now beginning a new chapter as VP of Content at storyarb, where he'll focus on newsletter and narrative editorial content. Throughout his career, he has maintained a commitment to experimentation and knowledge-sharing, regularly publishing his techniques and insights for the broader marketing community.

About This Season of the Animalz Podcast: AI & Content

Hello... is there anybody out there creating real value with AI?

The AI conversation in content marketing has become deafening — skeptics shouting from one side, shallow tips from enthusiasts on the other. But somewhere in this noise, there must be pioneers who've actually figured something out, right?

We've gone on a search for the real pioneers — the ones who've ventured beyond the hype to succeed (or fail) spectacularly. Through their hard-won insights, we'll discover if there's actually something of value hiding in the noise, or if we're all just shouting into the void.

Timestamps

00:00 "You can't think more than 90 days ahead in today's environment"
02:00 From forestry to content marketing through podcasting
05:00 Building integrated campaigns at Mutiny
07:00 The "Survivor" campaign: 10,000 participants, millions in pipeline
09:00 Why timeliness trumps perfect execution
11:00 Joining StoryArb as VP of Content
13:00 "Don't write your own prompts" - The meta AI hack
16:00 Using AI but owning the final result
18:00 Feeding AI unexpected combinations for creative output
20:00 Three foundational guardrails for consistent AI content
24:00 "I'm no longer a better writer than AI"
26:00 From creation to operations: the changing content role
27:00 The future content team: personality marketers, operators, and directors
33:00 The open source target account list campaign
36:00 Breaking the fourth wall in B2B marketing
40:00 The AI research hack: finding relevant podcast segments

Mentioned Links & Resources

Mutiny (00:05:00): Stewart's previous company, a personalization platform.
Survivor Campaign (00:07:00): Stewart's AI-focused campaign that generated millions in pipeline.
Storyarb (00:11:00): The agency Stewart is joining as VP of Content.
95% Content (00:13:00): Podcast where Stewart previously shared AI content tips.
DeepSeek (00:20:00): A newer AI model Stewart mentions.
Claude and ChatGPT (00:22:00): AI tools Stewart uses with project/memory features.
Open Source Target Account List (00:33:00): A groundbreaking ABM campaign where Mutiny publicly shared their 5,000 target accounts and created personalized microsites for each one.

Follow Stewart Hillhouse on LinkedIn where he regularly shares content marketing insights.

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