How marketers can balance human insight and AI to deliver both speed and personalisation for returns

Full disclosure, we used both ChatGPT and our own marketing content writer to develop and finalise this blog post.

AI is everywhere! If you haven’t heard someone in your business say, ‘Just ChatGPT it’, then are you even working in 2024? In the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, with the constant demand for more content, it is only natural that the marketing team leverages AI as a powerful tool to speed up content development and related processes.

Where once things would take days or weeks, AI can generate content ideas, draft blog posts, and even personalise marketing campaigns at a pace that no human can match. However, while AI significantly enhances efficiency and scalability in content creation, it is not a complete substitute for human involvement. As AI continues to develop ways to drive deeper personalisation businesses that manage the balance between leveraging AI for efficiency and their marketing teams to finesse the personal touch, will reap the rewards of both the demands of digital marketing and the expectations of their audience. But how do you manage the balance?

AI in content development: the speed advantage

The most obvious and useful area for marketers to use AI in is to increase the speed of content creation. Tools powered by AI can analyse data at an unprecedented scale, identify trends and insights that can inform content strategies. Using AI to draft articles, social posts and marketing copy takes the heavy lifting out of content development and allows teams to do more with less people and maintain a consistent content output with reduced effort.

With such an appetite for content in the digital age this efficiency is a huge help for marketers to be able to respond and stay relevant to emerging trends and demands.

Using AI to draft content from marketing’s content strategy, is the most effective way to build out the right content for your audience. Having the marketing team then personalise this content and align this with your own ICP and marketing objectives will help deliver the right message at the right time to your audience.

The limitations of AI in personalisation

Understanding the limitations of AI in the areas of personalisation is critical in making sure your content resonates with your audience. We know that today’s buyers need a level of personalisation deeper than just inserting a prospect’s name into an email to cut through the noise. There is a tangible difference when content is purely AI-generated, and audiences can often tell when the language lacks the subtle human touch.

While AI can mimic some aspects, true personalisation lies in conveying the emotional undertones that deliver compelling content which requires a human touch. If you have tried using AI to create personalised content, then you will see a pattern of language use or word use within its content that clearly shows the use of AI in copy. AI can’t bring in the use of colloquial or emotional content that is the magic of a marketing message that just can’t be rivalled. Check out this 2024, Australian Lamb ad, Generation Gap Video, to show the clear value of a personalised marketing message that still resonates with a broad audience.

To ensure deeper engagement, it’s essential to incorporate human oversight in the final stages of content creation. Using AI-generated drafts as a base is a start, but adding human elements that reflect understanding and empathy towards the audience’s needs is key. This might involve adjusting the tone, style, and storytelling elements to make the content feel more authentic and personal, such as using local slang or aligning messages with current cultural moments -tasks that AI might overlook.

Navigating the challenges of AI-generated content

The proliferation of AI in content creation has not gone unnoticed by major digital platforms either. Google and other search engines have developed increasingly sophisticated algorithms to differentiate between content created by humans for humans and content generated by AI for the sake of SEO or to spam users. Although Google has continued to maintain that no matter if content is AI or human generated, if it’s helpful, original, and relevant then you have a green light with Google.

Similarly, email platforms are becoming better at identifying and filtering out spam messages, including those generated by AI tools without proper personalisation. This evolution underscores the importance of using AI responsible in content creation – focusing on enhancing human efforts rather than attempting to replace them.

AI platforms are developing ways to further improve these language elements with platforms like Grammarly using AI to suggest tonal adjustments and other improvements, As AI continues to develop ways to improve the personalisation and further value to marketing teams it is important to understand how the use of AI can be managed to not be detrimental to any existing marketing strategies like SEO.

Best practices for balancing AI and human creativity

To effectively leverage AI in content marketing while maintaining the personal touch essential for engagement, marketers should consider the following practices:

1. Use AI for ideation and drafting: Let AI tools help with content ideation, keyword research, and initial drafts, but ensure final content is reviewed and refined by human.

2. Focus on deep personalisation: Employ AI to handle basic personalisation tasks but rely on human insights for deeper segmentation and messaging that resonates on a personal level.

3. Monitor platform guidelines: Stay informed about how platforms like Google and email service providers view AI-generated content, adjusting strategies to avoid penalties.

4. Test, learn, evolve: Experiment with various messages and AI-generated content prompts to discover the most effective ones Then, use these successful prompts as templates to optimise your content development.

Conclusion

AI has undoubtedly transformed content marketing, offering tools to accelerate content development and personalise marketing messages at scale. However, the most effective content strategies balance the efficiency of AI with the irreplaceable insights and emotional intelligence of human creators. By using AI as a tool to augment rather than replace human efforts, marketers can create personalised content that not only captures attention but also fosters genuine connections with their audience. In a world increasingly aware of the distinction between authentic engagement and automated messaging, this balance between technology and personal connection is more crucial than ever.