The question that always arises when AI is in the conversation is, “what will happen to us?”. This isn’t necessarily posed in an existential “will AI dominate the world?” kind of way, but in more of an “are our jobs safe?” way. And it’s a reasonable question to ask. A lot of the new and “exciting” advancements we see AI making in areas like art, writing, and film have us wondering if eventually, humans will be out of the picture, and everything we engage with will be robot-made. However, we strongly believe that this isn’t the case – let’s explore why.
People connect best with people
Would you still use social media if you knew that every post you were going to see was entirely AI generated, and you weren’t going to see anything written or created by a real person? It would feel hollow, and perhaps quite lonely. And that’s because when we open a social media app or read an email, we’re expecting human-to-human communication. And communication is exactly what marketing is all about. It’s about building and maintaining meaningful connections with your audience to grow their trust and loyalty with your brand.
It’s impossible to speak for everyone, but generally, the messages that resonate best with audiences are ones that come from humans – rich with experiences, memories, opinions, beliefs, and values. These are things that AI can’t often convincingly replicate (or, at least, not currently). If a marketing message is devoid of any sincere demonstration that it understands the reader’s needs or relates to them in any way, it’s more likely to fall flat.
Audiences like the human touch
A 2023 study found that, interestingly, people didn’t have any problems with AI-generated content when they were unaware of how it was created. In essence, they thought it was perfectly fine and not too different from what they were used to reading from people.
However, when respondents were aware of how content was made, they displayed “human favouritism”, demonstrating that consumers generally prefer to be communicated to by people, and that “there’s great benefit in knowing that humans are involved somewhere along the line”. This shows that while AI-generated content is generally of good quality, people still favour and further trust being spoken to by other people.
Brands need personality to stand out
At the end of the day, to set yourself apart from the competition, you must be different. People aren’t as likely to remember a brand who speaks and behaves like a thousand others, than they are one that has a distinctive voice and character.
Think about some of the most memorable brands; think about their unique slogans, creative advertising, and their personalities. Chances are, you remember their marketing because it “feels” like them. Specsavers have their “should’ve gone to Specsavers” jokes, John Lewis are known for their heartwarming Christmas ads, and Disney’s magical and joyful persona has maintained the adoration of children worldwide for decades.
The point here is that the messaging of these brands all convey emotion and tap into the human spirit to relate to their audiences. That’s not to say that AI can’t help in this area, but as something that physically cannot feel emotions or have human experiences, it can’t be relied upon to take over entirely. And as the aforementioned study showed us, if audiences can sense that human experience – a personal touch – has influenced content (or at least played a part), then they’re more likely to react positively to it.
AI should aid content creators, not replace them
Now, this isn’t a completely anti-AI piece. It’s a sensational development in technology that has a plethora of uses, even in marketing where the human touch is vital. Real, breathing people are needed to do all the “feeling” – the emotive side of marketing through which you can connect with your audience on a deeper level – but something that AI can step in and help with is the “thinking” side.
You’re not going to come up with a million A+ gold standard marketing ideas all the time. Humans experience brain fog, writer’s block, and burnout. It happens. But software doesn’t. If you can figure out the feelings you want to express, and the meaningful message you want to send to your customers but can’t think of the best ways to do so, this is exactly where AI can really come in handy. As a brainstorming tool or ideas machine, AI is second to none. Sometimes, our brains just refuse to cooperate, and ideas just don’t flow. But on those days, you can turn to AI to give you a little nudge, and gift you a quick list of some ideas to get your mind going. Even if you don’t use any of its suggestions, the AI’s output will shift your brain into gear.
Find the right balance in your marketing
AI has its place in marketing, to be sure. But it’ll never replace people – not entirely. Audiences will always crave that human touch.
If you need a little help finding the right balance, or discovering the message your audience needs to hear, we’re only a few clicks away. Our marketing experts know exactly how to tap into your customers’ feelings and build their trust in your brand. Just get in touch with us and let us give you a hand in making your mark.