AI is getting a lot of airtime but are we in danger of being blinded by the limitations of this shiny new toy to the detriment of how we communicate and develop relationships with current and future customers?
Humans are clever. We're ingenious at finding new solutions that will save us time and labour and that boundaries that we never thought could be passed. The philosophy of AI's impact on human evolution and society aside, we are now in the swell of a rapidly evolving digital landscape, Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolutionising numerous industries but with it the prospect of cutting humans out of the loop altogether.
One area where there has been a lot of chatter (and it hasn't passed me by while networking) is marketing and its potential impact on copywriters and creatives. Will we even be needed anymore? I've spoken to a number of business professionals who are now confident, that with the help of AI that they don't need to pay anyone to create their content anymore. Personally, I would disagree (no surprises there!) because while any computer can now create you an article within seconds, there are key things it cannot do and those are the things you pay the marketer, creative or copywriter for. It's the most important thing of all already gets missed by businesses, engaging content that creates connection. Without the connection, you might as well have written it on the side of a cereal packet. Here's why.
Blog Writing that Reflects the Complexities of Human Emotions and Experience
AI algorithms, although trained on extensive data, lack the innate understanding of human emotions and experiences. Great blog posts, social posts, your website and sales collateral, tap into these nuanced emotions, forging deeper connections and evoking a response. By infusing personal experiences, empathy, and authentic storytelling, human writers evoke emotions that truly resonate with the audience and is remembered. There is a reason why storytelling is as old as time.
AI is Not Designed to Provide Creative Thinking and Originality
Creativity is a distinctively human trait that allows for the generation of fresh ideas and unique perspectives. While AI algorithms excel at analysing patterns and extrapolating existing data (only up to 2021!) they are not designed for creative thinking. Exceptional blog posts and marketing content require a touch of originality and creative flair, which only human writers can provide. They possess the ability to think outside the box, develop innovative angles, and deliver content with a fresh voice.
AI Does Not Track or Understand the Impact of Changing Trends and Contexts
The world is in a constant state of flux, with new trends and events shaping our daily lives. AI algorithms, despite their efficiency, face challenges in keeping up with the rapid pace of change, or as we've already suggested, knowing what humans want and need. Engaging business content often addresses current events, evolving trends, and societal shifts. Human writers possess the flexibility and adaptability to stay attuned to these changes, enabling them to provide up-to-date and relevant content that captures the attention of readers.
AI Doesn't Know How to Tailor Content for Diverse Audiences or Needs
Understanding the needs and preferences of a target audience is essential for crafting engaging content and ideally content that incites a response such as an enquiry or download. While AI algorithms can analyse vast amounts of data to identify trends, they don't have the capacity to cater for the intricacies and nuances of specific audience demographics or to write to trigger a response. Human writers, however, have the capacity to empathise, engage, and tailor content to diverse audiences, adapting their writing style, tone, and language to resonate with different audience and groups to be your first step in a conversation with those target audiences.
The Human Touch: Building Trust and Authenticity
Selling demands more than just getting your name heard and seen. Effective content marketing demands more than just volume of content alone. What you actually need is content or writing that has a value to the read and then inspires recognition and TRUST. Trust forms the foundation of any successful marketing campaign, blog or website. Consciously or unconsciously, humans look for authenticity and reliability and signals that they can trust them and that comes from a unique voice, human experience and expertise. AI can't write this into a blog.
Content marketing and blog writing excels with powerful, valuable content that leads its reader to an objective, learning or action. From what I've assessed from AI-created blogs, their scope is limited is best described as two-dimensional (and at worst, repetitive). Essentially, if you believe that investing time in content should be a part of your marketing activity (and as a B2B is a highly valuable tactic) make it worth your potential customer's time and invest that time and resource in blog posts, downloads and web copy that bring value. Value will bring you more links, more responses, recognition and longevity in your marketing every time.
Contact me for a chat if you want to explore how you can start delivering more bang for your buck and time with content marketing and blogging strategy. alison@thecontentmaven.co.uk. #iamnotarobot