“Away with the humans!”

I imagined mean-looking, metallic robots holding placards with those words boldly written when the artificial intelligence hype began a while ago.

Rumour had it that artificial intelligence was here to steal the jobs of content marketers.

Truth be told, artificial intelligence is fascinating.

It can do a lot of things—a whole lot. 

It can churn out pages upon pages of content in minutes.

It can process and analyze data fast.

It can do a bunch of other stuff quicker than any human can. 

But as helpful as this can be, it lacks a very vital element:

The human touch. 

Sounds cliche, right? I know.

But it’s true.

As far as content marketing goes, artificial intelligence alone won’t cut it unless your brand’s content targets robots without feelings. 

In real life, your audience comprises humans with emotions and feelings, goals and interests, pain and struggles, and real-life experiences.

If your goal is to create content that resonates with them, it’ll have to have the touch of another human who has emotions and can empathize with their experiences. 

Is artificial intelligence bad? 

No! No!! A thousand times, no!!!

In and of itself, artificial intelligence is not bad. 

It has several advantages that help augment the content marketing process. 

Some of these advantages include:

• Automation of routine tasks: With artificial intelligence, you can automate specific tasks like keyword research, content idea generation, and grammar and spell checks. 
• Saves time: With some of your routine tasks out of the way, you’ll have more time to focus on other creative and hands-on tasks.
• Improved targeting: Artificial intelligence can analyze data like consumer behavior and demographics using cutting-edge technology for better laser-focused targeting. 

With all these advantages, how could it be bad, right?

Well, let’s say it only gets bad when you leave the fate of your content targeted at a human audience in its hands and its hands alone.

3 reasons your content still needs the human touch

News flash!

You can’t rid your content creation process of humans… yet. 

Maybe you could in the future—when AI has evolved to understand the nuances of human language or when it evolves to grasp the concept of empathy and human emotions.

Until then, you are stuck with humans, and with good reason.

Due to the efficiency and speed of artificial intelligence, it is okay to reduce the number of hands and cut down on costs. But by all means, you need a human at the helm of your content affairs. 

Let’s examine why you still need a human with a human touch on board.

1. Emotional resonance and empathy

Humans are emotional beings. 

We feel things deeply. 

We want to be loved, seen, heard, and understood. 

We feel joy, pain, anxiety, fear, among other emotions. These emotions drive our buying decisions and the way we relate with brands.

Unfortunately, even the most sophisticated Artificial Intelligence systems lack emotions or any semblance of it. With AI, you get out what you put in—nothing more.

A fellow human, on the other hand, can relate to the pain and struggles of a target audience. 

For instance, I don’t have to suffer insomnia to know how it can affect a person’s life and alter their productivity. I may have had sleepless nights a few times. So, I can relate to the struggles of an audience suffering from insomnia and, as such, be able to use my emotional resonance with their struggles to create content that would resonate more than any AI-generated content would.

Human emotional resonance helps create better content through shared experiences and empathy.

2. Authenticity

The content marketing landscape these days is awash with AI-generated content, most of which lacks authenticity. 

As expected, audiences hate this—According to statistics by Zendesk, 71% demand natural, conversational experiences.

It’ll only be a matter of time before brands begin to look and sound alike. 

Before long, audiences would learn to distinguish between robot-sounding brands and brands that employ natural human-like communications.

You don’t want this for your brand. 

Instead, you want originality. You want to give your audience content driven by genuine emotions and utmost reverence for their struggles. 

Your content feels more authentic and relatable when it has an emotional connection. 

As we have highlighted, no artificial intelligence has reached that point where it can establish emotional connections with humans. That leaves you with humans who can feel too and create authentic, human-centric content. 

3. Storytelling and creativity

Humans naturally gravitate towards stories, so much so that our brains light up when we hear stories. The brain also secrete oxytocin—a hormone that creates connections and builds trust— into the blood when people listen to stories. 

Stories are essential elements of brand building and marketing. Brand storytelling goes a long way in building strong connections with your audience. 

As a brand owner, I can tell my brand story better than any artificial intelligence can for several reasons including:

• Personal experiences.
• Having a creative and vivid mind. 
• Emotional understanding.

Can artificial intelligence come up with stories? Yes, they can.

But can it weave stories from personal use of a product or service? Absolutely not!

You still need humans to interact with everyday users of your products and services to gather success stories that will serve as social proof for your brand. 

Find your balance

Artificial intelligence is not the bad guy most people paint it to be. When used correctly, it can be a blessing to your brand—it can help speed up processes and free up time spent working on mundane, repetitive tasks and whatnot. 

That is not to say humans have lost their relevance in content marketing. Instead, thanks to technology, they can apply their emotional resonance and empathy, storytelling and creativity, and authenticity with a little help from artificial intelligence to produce more content quicker and more efficiently. 

All you need to do is find your balance. 

Are you looking for humans skilled at ethically making the best of artificial intelligence?

Then we are your humans.

At The Fourth Writers, we understand the importance of human touch and only use artificial intelligence where necessary to improve our efficiency. We can help you tell your brand story in authentic ways that resonate with your audience. 

Get in touch with us today.