One of the most rewarding aspects of being a marketer and leader is exploring new technologies and finding innovative ways to engage team members, partners and prospective and existing customers.
Over the past two years, my love of experimentation has been put to the test as generative AI upended the way we work. But while collaborating with my colleagues and teams at Stax, one thing has become clear at an organizational level: AI tools’ impact hinges (delicately) on whether or not they align with our business goals and customers’ needs.
For marketers, our greatest opportunity with AI is to scale personalized storytelling and automate the more “redundant” parts of our work so we do what we do best: build trust and affinity with our audiences through compelling brand stories and personalized experiences.
Acceleration alone is not progress
The marketing world of today is unlike any other moment in the industry’s history. We have new tools that promise to revolutionize every part of our job every week, but it’s important to remember: speed without clarity and intentionality risks chaos that could threaten the future.
Take content marketing, for example. We can produce content in seconds that could be published in a click, saving valuable time and resources. However, if we don’t build and prompt tools with intention and clear instructions, we’re just generating hundreds of pieces of noise, or “AI slop,” that will be ignored, or worse, damage our brand’s reputation.
The use of AI to better understand key audiences and tell more compelling stories, rather than simply chasing the latest shiny feature or solution, is what will separate good marketers from great ones.
The AI trust imperative
In a time of increased misinformation, trust has become one of the most important assets brands possess. AI is testing how we earn it. Consumers are skeptical of AI-generated content and its effects on society, and they are good at spotting content that feels robotic or “too perfect.”
I strongly believe that, regardless of which industry they are in, the best marketers tell strong, effective stories that build connections between their brand and key audiences.
Whether you’re selling software or kitchen knives, buyers want to know that there’s a real person with real values behind the brand.
Here are some principles I use when thinking about using AI to build trust:
View AI as a superpower, not a replacement
I’ve said it many times: AI is another tool in your toolbox, but not your entire toolshed. While AI can do many things, it can’t understand the nuance of your customers or make judgment calls about tone, context and timing. That’s still our job as marketers.
Always keep it real
Marketers are first and foremost storytellers for our brands. AI can help us craft stronger, more connected stories, but it’s critical that your brand voice originates from one place: you.
Security and data must be the first consideration
Every AI tool must be evaluated on how it handles and trains on data, the information it retains, and how it protects sensitive information. To that end, internal tools should be reviewed just as strictly as third-party tools to ensure responsible use.
Personalization: AI’s greatest marketing potential
AI’s best feature is that it can help with personalization on a large scale. But personalization that goes too far can quickly become intrusive or even creepy.
Figuring out how to have “AI with guardrails” is a difficult balance of automation and governance, but ultimately it’s one that helps marketers tell the right stories to the right people at the right time. This begins with managing data and while it’s not the most captivating subject for marketers, knowing everything possible about your data is critical in the age of AI.
Human creativity is what will keep us around
AI will never replace marketers, no matter how much more quickly we can work. Instead, we should be using it to come up with stories or strategies that are more finely tuned and connected to the narratives we’re trying to tell.
The greatest storytellers – those who can relate data to emotion and insight to creativity – will always have the biggest advantages with technology, because they are pushed by AI to interpret and inspire.
The marketer’s new mandate
As the industry moves into the next stage of AI adoption, our job as marketers is to promote the responsible use of AI. This means not using it as a shortcut, but as a way to get started on being creative, clear and connected.
As storytellers, we will never get our superpower from algorithms. Instead, we will get it from the connections and trust we build with people, one decision at a time.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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