Every new technological development opens us new possibilities—as well as new fears. Social teams are naturally wondering in this new era of artificial intelligence (AI), "Is an AI social media manager about to take my seat?"
I'm hopeful about AI social media tools...And believe it or not, I regularly thank my Google Home to keep it content.
The use of AI in marketing has the potential to elevate human creativity and strategic thinking, as opposed to replacing social media experts. The more repetitive activities AI can perform for you, the more you can concentrate on developing your strategy and business and doing more of what you enjoy. Consider that.
The social team at Blog3world discussed the advantages and concerns of AI, such as job replacement, on Unread. To learn their opinions on AI and how we use it at Sprout, watch the video below:
Why you won't be replaced by a "AI social media manager"
The position of social media manager has always been quite future-proof; in fact, it was the third most sought-after marketing post in 2017. The way social media marketers operate has also always had to change. That means developing an Instagram strategy in the 2010s. In 2021, putting short-form video first meant completely overhauling your social media strategy. To keep everything whirling in the modern day, it takes combining your social media expertise with AI.
I spoke with Jeff MacDonald, Mekanism's Social Strategy Director and an AI enthusiast, to get his perspective on why AI won't be taking your job any time soon. According to Jeff, social media managers shouldn't be worried about AI taking their jobs. If you know how to utilize the tools properly, AI will, in my opinion, only help you speed up your job and cut down on the time it takes to complete routine activities.
That does not imply that social media managers won't see any effects. "Everyone's roles will be enhanced, and our jobs will change as a result. However, I believe, and I sincerely hope, that people will appreciate the difference and enjoy spending less time in front of screens and more time with others.
Therefore, let's argue that an AI social media manager is unlikely to take your place at the table.
AI control poses a risk.
A brand disaster can be caused by unregulated AI taking control of social media, from disseminating false information to posting content based on objectionable AI output—every communications leader's worst nightmare.
"From an ethical standpoint, I don't think you're ever going to put your social on autopilot," Jeff says.
You’re going to be steering the ship…I think that’s where the line will be. We’re going to see AI as an assistant.
People seek interpersonal connections.
The easiest way to describe it is by quoting Jeff: "I don't think anyone wants to hear a response from a computer."
Brands already struggle to establish human connections. On social media, people seek authenticity, and they are acutely aware of boilerplate, AI-generated posts and comments.
It takes more than just coming up with trendy postings to succeed on social media. AI simply can't fully imitate the human element of community formation and connection.
Everyone will continue to prefer that human-to-human engagement, which is crucial for fostering a sense of community, be led by a real person, according to Jeff.
From prompt to final product, AI still requires a human touch.
AI is only as good as the contributions made by humans in terms of creativity and editing skill, particularly when it comes to following brand requirements.
Additionally, there are other factors at work even if AI can be trained to replicate your brand's voice or tone. "Many AI models are trained in the past," says Jeff. "ChatGPT now has the ability to search the internet for more recent information. However, most of it is outdated information. Therefore, if there is anyone in any industry who needs the most recent information, they won't be aware of the most recent developments.
AI can't always understand human nuance, even when it does study the most recent data from your channels, comments, or greater social sphere. It might not be aware that the 50K scathing mentions of your brand are all coming from people who are unhappy with what your company is doing or the course a campaign is taking.
Without a human touch, this might provide you incorrect insights and influence your choice of company strategies.
Why AI should be incorporated into social media workflows
The advantages of these tools are already being realized by social teams. A Q2 2023 Blog3world pulse poll of 255 social marketers revealed that 71% had already begun incorporating AI and automation solutions into their daily tasks. And 82% of that group claim that the tools already produced fruitful outcomes.
AI is not just advantageous for social media marketers; in the long run, it might be necessary to future-proof your knowledge and save the time of your team as your work becomes more complex. I'll explain why now.
Takes over the manual tasks so you can focus on the big challenges
The more social media changes, the less bandwidth social teams with limited resources will have. AI in social media can be helpful in this situation because it will only become more important to effectively manage your limited time and complete your work.
For Jeff, that is the main advantage of AI. He explains, "It's about the chance to put that mental burden that every social media manager has on a computer. "AI is the ideal work partner who never tires, who always wants to come up with the next idea or try that next brief for a client project you've been putting off."
If you're stuck in a creative rut when it comes to content development, using AI for first ideas can help. And it can aid in your fight against social media exhaustion. Increasing the pace of content creation frees up more time for strategic priorities. Consider experimenting with novel content formats or studying performance metrics in greater detail.
With tips for content optimization, AI tools can also assist you in getting more from your material. The Blog3world Optimal Send Times and hashtag recommendations, for instance, increase your reach while saving you hours of manual interaction and performance analysis.
Shows your influence and assists you in making wiser business decisions.
You'll need more sophisticated insights as social media plays a more sophisticated function in an organization, which will help you make better business decisions.
Tools for automation and AI analytics vs the hours or days that would be required if this were done manually, mine enormous amounts of data at the speed of social.
You can look at large data sets and speak to numbers and data with more intelligence than we’ve ever had the ability to do before.
So that you have more time to examine those insights and apply them into your strategy, let AI handle the time-consuming chore of gathering data and producing reports. According to Jeff, "you can look at large data sets and speak to numbers and data with more intelligence than we've ever had the ability to do before."
51% of business leaders claim to utilize social media data and insights to inform their organization's business strategy, according to our 2023 State of Social Media survey. And 48% firmly concur that their company's main source of business intelligence going forward will be social media data and insights.
With AI, you can quickly gain the insights you require. You will spend less time gathering data and more time using it.
Enables you to be proactive vs. reactive
Finding and addressing emerging trends and adapting to changing algorithms are the top two problems for managing a brand's social presence, according to a Q2 2023 Sprout pulse poll.
Your team can overcome these obstacles by using AI. According to Jeff, "AI-driven analysis truly adds a special use case where all of the sudden you have the skills to be a true trend spotter."
One concrete way AI and automation provide you superpowers—and information—to help you be proactive—is through social listening. Using listening technologies, you may filter through countless data points to find trends, insights, and business intelligence that is essential for your company.
Trends in your audience can be found through social media listening. The Scout Agency utilized it to identify an intriguing pattern among Martell clients in Georgia: they were combining the cognac of the company with sweet tea. Incorporating a Martell and sweet tea cocktail at Atlanta Falcons games was made possible because to this realization. The concoction quickly rose at the top of sales for cognac at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Not every trend is advantageous. Before it develops into a brand crisis, social listening can help you spot a problem before it becomes widespread. In order to anticipate potential problems, Purdue University employed Sprout's Social Listening tools and alerts to identify spikes in particular themes.
Reclaim time for interpersonal interactions
There are often so many tasks to balance that you’re left with little time for the “social” part of social media.
AI tools can give social teams more time to communicate with one another and with other teams that could get insight from social media. According to Jeff, "social media teams can accomplish more of what they're interested about by leveraging an AI tool. When was the last time you had free time to discuss with teammates their goals and passions for their accounts?
This also applies to your efforts at providing social customer care. It frees you up to get creative with audience engagement and concentrate on high-level concerns when you use chatbots or AI-generated solutions for FAQs.
Additionally, social media marketers that are concerned about being exposed for using AI-generated responses should keep in mind that no human should ever drive alone. You are in control. Use AI to help you compose responses, but use your editing talents to give them a personal touch.
Where will AI social media skills take your social workflow?
AI will not go away. The social media teams that decide to use it will advance along with the technology.
We hope to have allayed your concerns and provided you with some suggestions on how to adapt AI to fit your workflow, abilities, and role.
Watch our webinar on "The State of Social Media & AI" right now to discover more about using AI in marketing.
