Why it’s more important than ever for your marketing and communications teams to understand AI and how they can use it…

Ferris Bueller was right: life moves pretty fast. AI has been around for decades, but the past year has seen an explosion in interest and investment, embedding this technology into aspects of our lives that were hard to imagine even a few years ago.

Today, more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies are working with ChatGPT, not to mention many other AI models and tools being created weekly. The Marketing AI Institute estimates that 80% of marketing and communications work will be impacted by AI, from strategy and planning to content creation and insights analysis.

If you lead or are part of a marketing and communications team – whether you’re an early adopter, a sceptic, or even if you don’t know your AI from your elbow…the ‘bot’ is here to stay.

Five (fast) reasons for your marketing and communications teams to get to grips with  AI…

1. Because knowing what you don’t know is a strategic advantage.

Put bluntly, if your markets, clients, and competitors care about AI, so should you. Understanding AI – and its possibilities – is now a critical aspect of how business works. The best marketing and communications teams will view change as a skill, invest in learning, and adapt to new technologies. And people are almost always more invested in a change they have had a hand in shaping.

‘AI won’t replace you, but someone adept at using AI will’, has quickly become the adage of 2024. Often, with a bird’s-eye view of entire organisations, their strategic ambitions and brand narrative, marketing and communications professionals are uniquely positioned to embrace AI, plug it in where it makes the most sense, and lead in human and ethical technology adoption.

2. Because this is a merger, not an acquisition.

Let’s get one thing clear – this is not about AI doing all the work of your marketing and communications teams. This is not a takeover. The greatest value of AI is to make our teams better, more efficient, and more creative. AI should be viewed as a tool that enhances your teams’ creative and strategic capabilities, not replaces them.

So, say hello to your new ally – an enthusiastic, speedy, diligent researcher and thought partner. By providing insights and suggesting new ideas, AI can act as a catalyst for innovation, inspiring marketing teams to develop creative campaigns that resonate with their audiences.

AI provides data-driven insights, helping make more informed decisions. However, interpreting these insights requires a team’s human touch. Experienced communicators discern which data points are most relevant and consider how to present them in a way that resonates with their audience. Research shows that merging AI with human decision-making improves success rates by nearly 20%, emphasising the importance of maintaining critical thinking skills that only your team of experts can bring.

However, these same data-driven tools can identify emerging trends and patterns, offering fresh and super-speedy perspectives that might be overlooked by human, tired marketers trying to come up with yet another…

3. Because you can do (almost) anything…but you can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything.

According to McKinsey, businesses that effectively integrate AI can increase productivity by up to 40%. The bad news? It can’t do it on its own. The good news? It can’t do it on its own. This integration can only happen with humans at the helm. Think of GPT-4 as your super-smart intern that’s learned from reading a lot, at pace, and tries its best to answer your requests in the most relevant way (which is another reason why some experts say you should always say please and thank you in your prompts, but that’s a whole other blog).

In terms of productivity and efficiency-boosting, the true value of AI is unlocked when it complements human intelligence, leveraging our deep understanding of context, culture, and nuance. And when you and your team get that right, it means:

• Speeding up the time from brief to first draft.
• Taking anchor content and quickly turning it into a first draft of multiple pieces for different channels and audiences.
• Tapping the combined knowledge of experts worldwide to create new ideas.
• Extracting insights from large, unstructured data sets that would take weeks to find otherwise and turning them into a first draft report you can easily digest.
• Reducing time spent on summaries and repetitive tasks so your team can focus on doing what they’re best at and enjoy.

Did you notice the words ‘first draft’ appeared three times there?

4. Because now is the time to tool up (whether you plan to use it or not)

64% of marketing and comms leaders see AI as very or critically important for their success this year. Yet only 23% say their companies have adequate resources to implement it successfully. The top barrier? Lack of education and training. This presents an opportunity for forward-thinking leaders to tool up and learn more about AI, whether you plan to use it day-to-day or not.

Learn about the misconceptions and risks and how they can be mitigated. Test it, trial it, and learn how to prepare better prompts and briefs. Understand polishing and hallucinations. Only when you understand the capabilities can you discern when it’s the best tool to use – and equally when it isn’t.

5. Because human-to-human is here to stay

Never has AI been so prevalent, and yet never have human creativity, authenticity, and care, been more necessary. Yes, Generative AI is transforming the landscape of marketing and communications. But there’s no substitute for the nuanced judgment, artistry, and strategic thinking that only humans bring to the PivotTable. Fortunately, the two are not mutually exclusive.

The future is bright for marketing and communications teams who can get to grips with AI and use it to future-proof their team. The trick is learning how and when to use the plethora of new AI tools. And – like all things marketing and communications – they are only as good as the brief you give them! Perhaps, for marketing leaders, the most crucial career skill in an AI-powered future is honing their generative briefing skills and using some of the time freed up to become even more exceptional at engaging stakeholders, listening to audiences and tailoring programmes to their needs.

Mastering AI might even free you up for a bonus day off … although we can’t promise it’ll be as eventful as Mr Bueller’s…

If you are interested in exploring how Generative AI can be integrated into the work of your B2B Marketing and Communications team, or if you would like to discuss tailored AI training for your team, please get in touch with paul@thelisteningpeople.com, helen@thelisteningpeople.com or kerry@thelisteningpeople.com.