Marketers are the office multi-taskers. They need to be adept at a variety of skills, which can include everything from graphic design and copywriting to customer service, research and analytics. It’s the combination of marketing skills that enables them to produce creative, engaging campaigns.
It’s easy to see how Artificial Intelligence can be of benefit to a marketing team. By taking on some of the routine tasks, it allows more time for creative brainstorming sessions and strategy planning. Successful marketers are already leveraging AI to test ideas more quickly and gain insights beyond what has been possible before.
But creativity is the key skill that a marketer needs – a very human quality that involves original thinking, connecting disparate ideas and generating new concepts. AI is not currently able to perform creative or innovative thinking. Instead, an AI tool follows rules. It can be taught how to vary word usage or how to use colour or creative techniques to present ‘art’, but it lacks the life experience, the world view and the passion that a human writer or artist can bring.
Successful marketing – whether through overt or more subtle, subliminal messaging – is something than can stir human emotions to the point at which the consumer of that marketing feels compelled to take action. Emotional intelligence is therefore a crucial ingredient of marketing to help build an emotional connection with consumers. Building trust and strong relationships through an empathetic understanding of customers’ needs and responding to feedback is fundamental. Because it lacks emotional awareness and empathy, AI may find it impossible to form authentic connections, and the customers, knowing they are dealing with a machine rather than a human, will be less likely to invest in a relationship with a brand.
AI cannot understand the human brain as another human can and lacks an understanding of how we, as humans, read between the lines and pick up subtle hints. Humans also have a natural ability to understand the cultural and social context in which marketing messages are delivered. Human marketers will adapt their communication style based on the differences in markets, regions, and demographics. AI may struggle to grasp the intricacies of cultural and contextual factors, and a marketing message that works well in one territory may fall flat or even offend elsewhere. Marketing decisions often involve ethical considerations and a deep understanding of cultural values. Humans are better equipped to navigate these complex ethical landscapes, taking into account the potential impact of marketing campaigns on various communities.
As trends change and culture shifts, consumer behaviour will inevitably alter. Marketers must adapt to this, and humans are likely to outperform machines in this area since they can learn from experience and be agile and flexible.
Given all the audience and market knowledge and emotional involvement required to produce marketing campaigns, it’s improbable that AI will entirely replace the role of a marketer. AI could go a long way towards transforming marketing roles and creating new ones, such as making AI the copywriter and the human the editor, but it won’t eliminate the need for the human touch.
Human marketers have deep industry knowledge and the ability to connect with other humans in an empathetic way. They can turn AI insights into effective marketing strategies that resonate with their target audiences, and create inspiring content that calls their target market to action. They can certainly benefit from the automated technology that enables them to learn more about their audiences faster, but what they do with that information and how they present it to the world is best left to humans.
