Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto (Plus a Giveaway!)
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
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I'm back again, with another look at current marketing trends to help you understand what it takes to drive growth of your business or personal brand.
But First, A Gift
I tweeted a list of the some of the best marketing courses to help you learn about anything from audience building and demand generation to copywriting and content creation.
And the lovely folks over at Teal HQ are helping me give one of you a complimentary seat in one of these courses!
Marketing superstar and VP at SparkToro Amanda Natividad launches the next cohort of her Content Marketing 201 course next month. Amanda is brilliant at providing info on how to create a content engine that actually grows a business and makes money.
If you'd like to get a shot at the free seat in her course (which normally would run you $1,000 USD), either head to this tweet OR create a free account on the Teal HQ website.
You've got until midnight ET tonight!
The Machines Are Coming!
Artificial intelligence is the latest hot category of focus. I listened to an NPR interview recently that said all human jobs will eventually be able to be replaced by machines.
One of the more vulnerable areas of marketing is content creation.
AI marketing platforms gained increased attention for advancing marketing capabilities - from generating social media content to powering responsive chatbots to analyzing ad creative, and much more.
You'll likely hear more about this now because of the upcoming release of GPT-4.
If you haven't caught up on the hype, GPT-4 represents the next evolution in artificial intelligence becoming smarter than, or as smart as, humans at communicating and processing language. It's created by research lab OpenAI and their partner Microsoft.
So how far off are we from computers being on our level?
The Director of Engineering at Google predicts it could be as soon as 2029.
We need to ask ourselves what makes marketing human?
Why do we need a human touch in marketing?
My favorite brands and creators share more than just basic thought leadership and knowledge. They speak about their own unique experiences, they add personality and perspective to what they present.
Most of us easily spot content that only exists to grab engagement versus trying to genuinely create discussion or community connection.
What does Google think about AI-generated content for SEO and website growth?
Google’s John Mueller recently called AI-generated content “spam,” but Google algorithms don’t really care how you generate your content. What they care about is the quality.
Whether humans or machines create your content, garbage is garbage.
Google wants you to focus on quality – which means creating content with the goal of benefitting your audience and giving them the solutions they’re searching for.
That doesn’t mean publishing flimsy content that obviously only serves to try to rank in search results.
My best ranking website content doesn't just follow a formula. It's me sharing useful information, colored by my experiences, expert commentary, or other personalized touches.
Final recommendation would be for marketers to learn as much as possible about this innovation. When disruption happens, the best solution is never digging your heels into the ground or burying your head in the sand.
Being knowledgeable about how all of this works means you'll know how to make this new tech work for you, not against.
Takeaways:
Experts are predicting computers will eventually, sooner than we think, be as good as humans at the basic mechanics of content creation and copywriting.
Google doesn't penalize AI-generated content if the quality is good.
AI marketing tech tools can support your marketing needs, especially for resource-strapped teams. But again, the focus should be on quality and not trying to game any systems.
The best protection for human writers will be focusing on infusing more humanity into what we create.
Here's a review I did of AI copywriting tools after GPT-3.
Other Interesting Things From Around The Web:
Retailers are realizing it’s not so simple to just create an ecommerce site. Consumers are increasingly looking for an omnichannel brand strategy. Here’s a review of how Target is finding the right balance of offline and online CX.
Has your company pulled back on Facebook Ad spend with all the recent platform woes? If so, you’re not alone. Meta’s share of total digital ad spend hit a low the past few months in 2022. Meanwhile, Google secured a bigger chunk of spend. Here’s a report (pay wall warning).
Marketer Connor Skelly shared this handy freelancer’s survival guide with answers to some important FAQs.
Twitter announced plans to introduce more options for creating long-form content on the platform. Kushaan Shah, on the Grammarly marketing team, wrote an analysis about it.
Some of the most successful marketers follow non-linear career paths that lend to remarkable stories. Former actor and American Idol contestant-turned-marketer Johnas Smith published his story in Adweek.
As the war in Ukraine continues, it’s having an effect on social media user behavior within Russia. This article covers how content creators and social media users within the country are adjusting to some of the drastic changes.
And Lastly, Check Out These Job Opportunities:
Copywriter (The Content Queens)
Content Marketers/Writers (Clearscope)
Editor (Travel Noire)
Head of Social; Affiliate Manager; Project Manager (Jones Road Beauty)
Growth Marketer (On Deck)
Social Communications (Stripe)
Digital Marketing Manager (Messari Crypto)
Social Media Manager (360i)
PR Account Executive; Influencer Specialist; Social Media & Community Specialist (Evolve PR)
Manager of Community Engagement (Discord)
Social Media Manager (Forrester)
(Don't forget to mention that you saw the opportunity in this newsletter!)
Thanks again for sticking with me another week!
By the way, have you taken any good marketing courses? I'd love to know which you recommend.
Chantelle
P.S. And don't forget to join me on either YouTube or Instagram for more regular content.
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