I once had a marketing director say to me – the copywriter he had hired for the project – that “nobody reads the words” in a marketing campaign. Of course, I immediately argued that he was wrong. After all, why bother hiring me if the words didn’t matter?! But now, with sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot programs like ChatGPT being used in marketing, I’m starting to think he might have had a point. But not for the reasons you think.
There’s no denying that good copy has immense value on a website and in a marketing campaign. Done well, it serves as the gateway to the client, accurately communicating the what of the product and the why of the need. It also plays a significant role in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Well-written, quality content that follows SEO best practices ranks higher during an internet search than those that ignore best practices – or ones that pile keywords into content created by sub-par programs. But what if the chatbot actually starts turning out quality content? Will the content writer become obsolete? Hardly.
WHAT IS IT?
ChatGPT (Chat Generated Paragraph Techniques) is an AI language model introduced in December 2022 by OpenAI. It was designed to spot patterns in the data it was trained on, predict next words, understand context, and create solid short-form content. Put simply, it can generate human-like text based on the user input it’s given. With the right prompting, ChatGPT can answer questions based on the research you don’t have time to do, summarize long texts, or, among other things, write an essay or blog post in your “language pattern” and lexicon.
While it’s not the only chatbot in existence, it is the second chatbot ever to pass the Turing Test, the current standard used for measuring AI sophistication and evaluating a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from a human. In other words, ChatGPT can turn out content that reads like it was actually written by a person – and that’s undeniably cool (and, admittedly, a little frightening, but we’ll let you decide for yourself).
WHAT IT ISN’T
While ChatGPT can do many things, the most significant thing it cannot do is replicate the human experience. Here are five areas of expertise ChatGPT doesn’t quite have a handle on.
1. Community building
The most successful brands are the ones that build community. They unite a base around a cause, a need, a service. To do this well, a brand must be relatable, offering a point of view and a unique perspective. ChatGPT doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to do this. It can’t accurately relay through emotional touchpoints how the service your brand offers can effect change. There’s also a problem of bias within AI-generated content. If the subject matter at hand is lacking in objectivity within the data ChatGPT was programmed with, then the content it generates will reflect that bias as well.
2. Creativity
To create a strong brand presence, you’ll need to continuously post fresh content that appeals to both familiar and new clientele. If you’re repeating the same sentiments over and over then your audience will tune out. And, while it’s important to keep your brand voice consistent, it’s just as important to inform, inspire, and engage with your base.
I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “there are no new ideas,” but when it comes to ChatGPT, this saying holds true. While it can create many things from a vast database of information, it can’t birth something out of nothing. One of the best parts about being creative is the ability to take a look at an old idea and make it new again. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective, a different tone, (extra strong coffee), and a compelling voice to put a fresh spin on a concept you’ve seen time and time again.
3. Proofreading
If authenticity and integrity are part of your brand’s core values then the last thing you want to do is unintentionally misinform by sharing inaccurate information or quoting an unreputable source. Unfortunately, if you rely solely on AI for your content, this is a very real (and likely) possibility. Currently, ChatGPT does not cite sources, account for bias, or fact-check the information it outputs to the user. The onus, therefore, is on the individual to ensure accuracy and check for copyright infringements before posting AI-generated copy and images.
4. SEO optimization
While ChatGPT can be helpful during the keyword research aspect of SEO – specifically for timely or long-tail keywords – it shouldn’t be the only tool you use for SEO ranking. Optimizing content for organic rank is much more involved than simply inputting keywords into a program. Well-thought-out SEO strategies involve research, analytics, creating quality content, and often rounds of testing before you learn what truly works.
5. Marketing strategy
When it comes to creating online content – whether blog posts, landing pages, newsletters, or ‘About Us’ pages – the goal is always conversion, or, simply put, converting clicks to customers. AI programs are not going to dig into all of the nuances of your services like someone who truly understands the value of what you’re offering. It’s not going to give the copy that touch of brand personality you’ve carefully crafted and protected over the years. And it’s also not going to know when you need to adjust a campaign and lean in another direction, or how to create a rollout plan for a big company milestone or rebrand effort.
UNEQUIVOCALLY HUMAN
After analyzing all of the expertise, strategy, and forethought that goes into making good content great, I am starting to see my previous employer’s point. While I still think (wholeheartedly!) that words matter (and that people do, in fact, “read” them), I’d rewrite his statement to something a bit more accurate: “nobody reads just the words.” Good copy offers so much more to a brand than just words. Good copy offers the human experience through voice, perspective, and inspiring calls to action that a “predictive text program” never could.
In the end, ChatGPT may be a good tool to have in your bag of tricks, but it should never replace your professional content writer. Unless, of course, that writer lives under a rock. And then maybe it has a chance.
