How to Achieve Authenticity with Marketing Technology

Customers are likely to engage the most when they feel that a brand message resonates with them and that an offer is authentic. With the increasing use of Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT being used in marketing, questions should be raised to consider how marketers can maintain authenticity and, indeed, differentiation with them.

For example, interactive voice response (IVR) has often been used to cut costs from the corporate perspective, and while it can offer some reasonably decent self-service options, it has often been perceived as a barrier to speaking to a real human being by customers. The same can apply to AI-powered chatbots, and so it’s vital to use them in an intelligent rather than a lazy self-focused way. Without the use of human creativity and intelligence in marketing, customer could feel disengaged.

Finding the balance

Alina Dallal writes in her Oktopost article, ‘Balancing Generative AI with authenticity, can it be done?’: “As a content writer, I get it – truly embracing Generative AI can be challenging. We were educated throughout our lives not to plagiarize and to ensure our work was authentically ours. And then overnight, here came AI.”

“We’re no longer riding the wave and dabbling with AI for amusement. AI is here to stay, and it will only become more integrated into B2B marketing processes in the future. In fact, 65% of B2B content marketers will start using generative AI tools to develop content.”

With content creation being one of the key tools being used by many marketers, and creators, today for promoting their brands, and even themselves, AI can certainly help. She views it as one of the strongest tools for content creation, boosting productivity, saving research time, and she argues that it can make you more efficient at work. The trouble is, she admits, it can lack authenticity.

Creating a connection

While her focus is on B2B marketing, the same challenges apply to B2C marketing because authenticity is about creating a connection with customers – based on whether they trust what they are doing, and what they are being offered. Key to authenticity, and particularly in B2B markets, is the human touch where the development of genuine relationships can make the difference between customer engagement and marketing success or failure. Content therefore to resonate and be trustworthy.

Therefore, there it’s no good just asking a Generative AI solution to create some marketing content, and immediately put it up. Human insight and oversight are still much needed to ensure that the content is relevant, accurate, maintains your brand messages, and differentiates you from your competitors. Quality content and accuracy are two other considerations authenticity demands.

Collaborative tool

So, Generative AI isn’t about replacing the marketer. It can be a collaborative tool because there is not use in creating marketing content that’s too generic. It won’t set any brand apart from others who are using it to produce similar content. Adding brand identity, company tone and voice to it can show authenticity. Review whatever Generative AI produces, change it if necessary, and add human creativity to it to ensure that it’s reflects real life and that it doesn’t come across as being artificial.

Context is also vital. Generative AI needs to understand it to produce effective content. In light of that we’ll be drilling down into these exciting new areas and examining how you can implement new technologies to ultimately transform customer engagement and marketing at the Engage Martech, Marketing Engagement Summit 2024 in September.

Meanwhile, what’s your opinion on the use of Generative AI and how to be authentic to ensure customer engagement?

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By Graham Jarvis - Editor