Generative AI may be the magic potion small marketing agencies have been waiting for

Gartner recently released its list of 7 tech disruptions that will impact sales through 2027. One was Generative Artificial Intelligence. Gartner defined generative AI as AI that “learns from existing content artifacts to generate new, realistic artifacts that mirror characteristics of the training data, but do not repeat them.” Simply put, it can produce entirely new content like images, videos, text, and code with very simple inputs.

Generative AI will completely change the marketing landscape, among many other areas. For example, entering any combination of descriptors in OpenAI’s DALL·E 2 and AI creates realistic and/or artistic images. In fact, the title image for this piece was created using this technology, by simply typing the phrase: “How generative AI will help marketing teams around the world.” Suddenly, any business can become a creative one-stop shop with tools that can increase efficiency and creativity.

With nearly limitless possibilities, what does this mean for professionals and their job security?

Although new AI tools are changing marketing, they are not entirely replacing human marketers. In almost every AI company I represented in my communications business, computer intelligence was there to augment people’s capabilities, but not to completely supplant it. While the AI’s ability to make new things possible was unmistakable, these tasks were best executed with an expert’s touch at the end to make the final decisions.

Here are three ways to increase a company’s marketing reach using new AI tools while keeping professionals in the creative driver’s seat.

Foster limitless brainstorming potential with generative AI

Few things haunt a marketer like a blank page, and often the first step is the hardest. This is where generative AI can come to the rescue. According to a Sequoia Capital blog, this technology will help users “thrive from a tight iterative creative cycle between human and machine.” These accelerated cycles can be very beneficial at the start of any initiative.

If a visual project needs inspiration, programs like DALL-E 2 or Stable Diffusion can quickly generate images from text prompts. These distinctive works can either fuel new creative ideas or be the starting point that visual artists can build on. For the linguistically minded, products like Jasper and Copy.ai use generative AI to help get marketing copy ideas flowing. Not only can these increase anyone’s capacity for imagination, but Sequoia believes that generative AI can make workers at least 10% more efficient and/or creative.

Hack creative brains for new entries

Beyond simple brainstorming, these tools can literally expand business offerings. Now a business can create visuals to their writing or an enhanced copy of their visual images. It’s a game-changer for small businesses, like the one I run, where I can now add a new dimension to my work. However, people should proceed with caution. This technology is still in its infancy and requires guidance.

If someone is generally a visual artist, I suggest using AI-generated content sparingly at first and really paying attention to what the AI ​​comes up with. Or, if a marketer is better at writing copy, start by creating images to enrich an article, blog, or press release. The key is to start small and build as you get used to how these tools work. While they may generate the final product, starting slowly will help users define input processes, promoting unique, on-brand results.

Constantly iterate at high speed

One of the key elements of a marketer’s job is to create fundamental brand elements – from written messages and position to brand logos, colors and more – and to constantly modify the concepts in progress. road. Rowan Curran, Forrester AI/ML and Data Science Analyst, cites speed constraints as a reason to adopt generative AI. According to its report, “the creation of human-produced content will never be fast enough to meet the need for personalized content at scale, and next year we expect to see at least 10% of [Fortune 500] businesses are investing in AI-backed digital content creation. Like Curran, Gartner predicts that by 2025, 30% of outbound messages from large organizations will be synthetically generated. This means iterations can occur at much faster speeds.

Companies also have the ability to unlock new content from unlikely sources. For example, a marketing manager might ask their copywriters to create generative AI images, and their designers bring their visual minds to work on AI-assisted copy. Suddenly there will be entirely new concepts created by hacking creative minds through unusual media – all unlocked by generative AI.

So, does this mean the end of marketing? Not enough. Campaigns always require expert oversight at the end to ensure content is fully aligned with a brand’s ethos and deployed in the right place at the right time. However, make no mistake: these processes will soon be intertwined with human-powered content creation.

Peter Weltman is a public relations and communications specialist for Man of the World Media.