We are all getting used to using ChatGPT and other AI tools to write or at least help write social posts and other content. Even though the grammar is perfect and the structure makes sense, a lot of the time the actual content can feel a little bit hollow and generic. It can sound more like a pre-written public statement or a press release written by a committee, and it doesn’t sound like you or your brand at all.
More businesses than ever are using AI tools to speed up the production of their content and the appeal is obvious. The problem is that speed often comes at the cost of personality. However, it doesn’t have to. With the right approach, you can get all the time-saving benefits of AI without sounding like everyone else.
Why AI content sounds robotic
To use AI well, it helps to understand why it sounds the way it does. Tools like ChatGPT work by predicting the most statistically likely next word, based on enormous amounts of text from across the internet. A bit like predictive text on your phone. Unfortunately, a lot of that text is corporate filler and jargon, which means AI is more likely to use it and find the safe, bland middle ground.
That’s a problem, because when your brand sounds like every other brand, you become invisible. And for a growing or small business, being forgettable is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make. You need to stand out from the crowd; that’s one of the oldest rules of marketing.
The benefits of using AI (the right way)
AI is brilliant at doing the heavy lifting. It’s perfect for first drafts, outlines, brainstorming ideas, repurposing content, and getting you started when you’re drawing a blank.
The real benefit of AI is freeing up time to focus on those on the more complex or crucial tasks, the ones you know you should be spending more time on, and the things you need a human for, like strategy, relationships and genuine creativity.
AI handles the structure, you provide the personality
Chat GPT and AI isn’t a vending machine where you press a button and expect a finished product. You need to treat it more like a talented new, but inexperienced member of the team, who’s never met your customers. It needs training and guidance, as well as your knowledge and your point of view to produce something that sounds like your brand. Like a new starter, the more training and knowledge you give it, over time it becomes more clued up on the product and brand and can be more trusted.
Prompts that keep your brand voice
It’s no surprise but the key to better output is better input. Here are a few tips for creating the best
- Skip the jargon. AI loves words like “leverage”, “transformative”, “delve” and “landscape”. Tell it not to use them, it’s too corporate and a huge red flag that AI has been used.
- Feed it your voice. AI doesn’t know how you sound until you show it. Give it some previous examples of posts, blogs and other content so it can learn your style.
- Give it a stance. AI is naturally neutral, and neutral is forgettable. Tell it what you believe and your core values, so it knows how to position its content.
- Add real experience. Drop in something only you would know, like recently completed projects or business developments. A specific, real detail is something no bot can fake.
Where to be careful
AI is powerful and is becoming increasingly more intelligent. but it’s not perfect. Afterall that intelligence is ‘artificial’. So here are a few helpful things you can do to help safeguard yourselves.
- Always fact-check. AI can state things confidently that simply aren’t true, know and ‘hallucinations. Verify any facts, figures and statistics before they go live.
- Watch for outdated information. Tools don’t always have the latest data, so double-check anything time sensitive.
- Protect your data. Never paste sensitive client or company information into public AI tools.
- Keep a human in the loop. Read everything aloud before publishing. If you’d feel awkward saying a sentence to a real person, rewrite it.
Your voice is what sets you apart
Using AI is a great way to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page or social platform. However, the technology can only take you so far. AI can handle the structure, but you have to provide the soul and personality.
At Blue Bee, we help businesses build AI into their marketing in a way that saves time without sacrificing the personality that makes them, them. If you’d like a hand getting the balance right, then get in touch with our expert marketing team today.
