AI has made some HUGE advancements in the last few years. From being able to chat with clients and schedule appointments to writing content in seconds! Seeing and testing its capabilities has helped us become more efficient than ever! 

But even with this smart technology at our fingertips, we still need marketers behind our campaigns. 

Why? 

#1: AI makes mistakes too! 

Just like humans, AI makes mistakes too! But if there’s no one to catch AI’s errors, then you have a problem. While AI is becoming a tool every marketer will want in their toolbox, it will also be something you should use with caution. Which means double-checking its work! Just because it presents a nice statistic that sounds right doesn’t make it accurate. AI is trained to surf the internet and find facts to back up your already existing biases a lot of the time. 

Here’s an example: we ask an AI bot to write us an essay on “Why Brandout Social is the BEST marketing agency on the planet.” An AI bot might report facts taken out of context or from years ago that are no longer relevant. So, while we know Brandout Social is the best social media marketing agency around, AI might create a narrative that makes it seem like we’re trying to spin facts to fit our agenda (the opposite of what we want)! 

In other words, it’s a fantastic tool for generating ideas and finding more information, but you still need to work on the backend to ensure that what you’re putting out into the world is 100% accurate. 

#2: AI lacks empathy — there’s zero personal relationship or connection. 

People connect to brands when they feel heard and can relate. There’s a reason why ads that use an emotional appeal get higher lead volumes. Just look at these statistics collected from Motista’s study:

“71% of customers recommend a brand based on their emotional connection to it.”

“Emotionally connected customers are more likely to spend double on their favorite brands.”

This shows just how much power emotions can have when it comes to building connections and your customer’s overall experience. Your brand is so much more than just your product or service. It’s the real live people who tend to your customers and the image you’re putting out in the world.

If you’ve ever heard AI speak or looked at how it writes, you can easily pick up on it. That’s because there’s something mechanical and automated about the whole thing. Your audience can pick up on a lot more than you think, and having robots write or speak to your customers is a sure way to lessen their overall experience. 

#3: AI is unable to generate new innovative ideas. 

While AI is an AMAZING tool for helping collect content in an easy-to-find place or get data, it can’t create new insights or ideas for campaigns based on this data. It can tell you what has been done in the past (again, an excellent tool for planning for the future), but if you truly want an innovative brand, AI isn’t capable of creativity. 

Humans are always going to be better at connecting to audiences and creating new ideas based on the experiences they’ve been through. AI can only do so much. 

#4: AI can’t “read between the lines” the way humans can. 

If you’re looking for a way to analyze user behavior and generate insights, AI is golden, buttt you’re NOT going to be able to interpret customer feedback the same way a marketer can. Humans can ask questions and truly understand customers’ wants, needs, and why they feel the way they do. This gives marketers the advantage when it comes to adapting marketing strategies for maximum results! 

Final Thoughts

The fact of the matter is that AI will be a game changer when it comes to being more effective and accurate in our marketing efforts, but it can’t replace the interpersonal skills and creativity of a real human being. So, let’s not think of AI as the enemy or the answer because it’s really neither — it’s a tool that will change how we market for the better!