By Jamie Kightley
Now is not the time to worship AI but reinforce the most powerful tool in any PR and Marketing professional’s arsenal, the human brain!
At a time when the use of AI for content creation is on the rise, PR and Marketing professionals mustn’t forget that the most powerful content creation tool is the human brain. In this article, Jamie Kightley, Head of Client Services at IBA International, explains how new technologies are side-tracking PR professionals into forgetting the creative driving force behind B2B sales and how PR 5.0 will reharness the power of the human touch.
2023 has seen the AI boom soar and have a significant impact on most industries, causing the AI market to reach a staggering $100 billion. Despite the main bulk of the Mainstream Media (MSM) coverage being focused upon ChatGPT, other technologies have impacted other industries such as automation scheduling optimization in service provision, fraud prevention in mobile and banking payments, and predictive maintenance in the aviation industry.
It’s not just these industries struggling to keep up with the AI boom, hardware is too! As seen with the growth in the global AI chip market, which by the end of the decade is expected to reach $305 billion, even the biggest companies such as Microsoft are worried there may be a shortage in GPUs, which are crucial for AI-driven applications underpinned by data centers.
PR 5.0 is here to stay
The PR and Marketing sector are following many other industries in trying to work out the best way to adopt and utilize this generative technology to help optimize workflows. Already the adoption of AI by PR professionals is rising, with 67.8% implementing AI into their work and 52% stated they are happy using AI amongst their other PR tools, as found out in a recent Prowly State of PR Technology report. However, what will be the impact of this uptick in new technologies for PR and Marketing professionals in the future?
Look no further than the manufacturing industry, when at the end of 2002 over 70% of manufacturers had already adopted technologies such as IIoT, digital twins, and more as a part of Industry 4.0. However, with the recent introduction of Industry 5.0 it has left many manufacturers with differing opinions on how to merge the Industry 4.0 technologies with human skillsets. Added to this headache is figuring out how the Industry 5.0 movement will compliment and assist the worklife of humans and aid Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) aims.
When and when not to use AI – Industry experts have their say
Some of the big PR and marketing players have been looking at the impact of AI in the sector. A recent Cision webinar had a panel of experts assess the use of AI in PR activity and highlighted its ability to help digest trends and shape strategy so often lacking from a PR agency’s repertoire. One of the main topics that the panel discussed was when to use AI and when not to use AI. The overall feeling which came from the panel was that it should be used to help prompt ideas and training over time to extract the correct data. But it should not be used for quantitative and contextualised inferences from trends.
HubSpot has produced a report on AI Trends for Marketers to gauge the state of AI adoption across marketing and its CEO’s conclusions were in line with ours:
“AI will never replace human creativity and connection. Lived experiences and opinions will never be able to be generated by a machine, and an employee can’t be mentored and managed by AI. … AI is a great tool for marketers to use, but would be useless without human knowledge, strategy, and implementation.”
The power of the human touch – one factor AI does not and will never have
Buried within these reports are some eye-opening stats, none more so than a recent Hubspot report which found that 48% of marketers’ top use for generative AI is for content creation. However, the most effective companies will continue to utilize industry pain points for their content creation and thought leadership. This can be reinforced by research which states that 72% of marketers see relevant content creation as the most effective SEO tactic, so focusing your content on hot topics and industry pain points will peak the interest of consumers the most.
There’s no doubt that AI is getting smarter and more creative, but it often doesn’t have that personalized human element to its content creation. The most effective content creation copies are from the perspective of a human with their views, written by a human with acknowledgment that it must be fit for consumption by a human, so it must be around a topic that is within the industry at that moment. This is where the main downfalls of ChatGPT and marketing speak for thought leadership come from, as a key element of true thought leadership is that it’s written from the perspective of industry experts and aimed at industry experts.
Hyper-personalization – tailoring and targeting individual consumers in Industry 5.0
One of Industry 5.0 key elements is hyper-personalization and its ability to be tailored and targeted towards individual consumers and we’re seeing it reflected in B2B buyer behavior and the mental cues that are influencing the latest approaches to PR content creation and delivery. This is evident in a McKinsey survey which found 71% of consumers expect a personalized experience and 61% are frustrated when they don’t have a personalized experience. This all points back to the strengths that can be gained through adopting industry 5.0 to utilize its hyper-personalization powers.
Mental cues can be identified by looking at key pain points within the target industry and how the product can resolve these issues. These mental cues need to be woven into all brand marketing for consistent messaging. Reinforcing the importance of cognitive resonance in the sale and buying process to become more recognized and trustworthy among consumers and get your organizations message repeatedly trusted and valued.
When end-readers have personal experiences, such as those specific industry pain points or issues that come from a deep knowledge of their subject, it must be written from a human perspective to ensure it gives the consumer a personalized experience. And that’s before you even factor in that for earned media placements, where the copy will also have to get through a journalist pair of eyes or their peer review committee, all who will know the subject too. This level of personalization can’t be achieved by a robot – even if they are trained with the words of an individual subject matter expert.
Embrace PR 5.0 now to protect future PR pros
The impact on future generations and the job market is still unknow following the ongoing AI boom. Quantum computing and AI are viewed as crucial to establish global tech capital by several countries. Despite this view the UK fell from 38th to 64th place in the global skill proficiency rankings according to a recent report. Many countries are expected to follow suit.
Despite the uprise in new technologies coming into the PR and marketing world, the purchasing power will be in the hands of humans for the foreseeable future. The savvy PR professionals will embrace PR 5.0 and look at how other industries moved from 4.0 to 5.0 technologies and learn from how they used 5.0 technologies to assist their content creation, to ensure they are not replaced.
About the Author: Jamie Kightley is Head of Client Services at IBA International, a B2B PR agency serving global technology clients. Jamie has over 8 years experience in the PR industry and is responsible for designing, planning, and implementing social media and public relations strategy for the company’s business-to-business clients, spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.