Today, I interviewed a marketing professional for an article that I am writing for a magazine. Like many freelance writers, I also work a day job as a marketing manager. This professional had a communications background as well. We got to talking about storytelling in marketing.
My approach to marketing has always been communications focused. For one, content that is written only for the algorithm doesn’t connect to people. Two, the people making the algorithms are starting to design them to prioritize human-centered content.
I’m less interested in keyword targets than I am in creating helpful content, a direction that search engine algorithms are beginning to favor as well. Well written content is just a better user experience. It’s more relatable and gives you more credibility.
When I told the professional that I was interviewing that I thought marketing professionals should also study communications, she agreed and also pointed out that artificial intelligence will cement this. AI might not replace marketers, but it likely will weed out the marketers who don’t know how to leverage communications and technology together.
She’s right about that. AI can certainly spit out marketing copy that contains the right keywords. But it can’t add that oomph, especially when the user doesn’t know how to communicate with the machines. Getting good content from the AI requires prompting skills as well as the ability to discern what good content should look like.
Like good design, good content is human-centered. The machines aren’t ready to take the reins yet.
I’m Nia Springer-Norris and this is my perspective.
