If your company lacks a well-defined digital communications plan alongside traditional reputation strategies, you risk falling behind. Let’s explore why this matters, and how strategic digital communication can bridge the gap.
In this era, characterised by Zombie internet and synthetic content, where it can be cheaper and quicker than ever to pump out mediocre content, it’s easy to start to question, why bother?
After all, as comms professional we know people remember how we make them feel, more than any facts, figures or rationales we throw at them.
But making people feel something in a malaise of average digital content competing for our attention can be a challenge.
Over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of great comms professionals that have quietly said to me ‘Do I really need to learn about this digital comms? Isn’t that a job for someone else?’
Well, the answer is, it’s our job.
As the natural story tellers for our companies; as the people who understand the domino effect of word of mouth, it is our job.
But it’s not always easy and it fundamentally changes the disciplines we need in our communications teams. It also changes how we should measure success, what we should know about our target audiences and how we should be tailoring our messaging.
What is synthetic content? AI is everywhere these days, constantly appearing on our screens and social media feeds. It's a hot topic in the news and technology world, gaining more and more attention every day. Synthetic content is also known as AI-generated media or Artificial Intelligence.
The internet has become a vast, chaotic space — a ‘Zombie Internet’ teeming with mediocre content. Creating synthetic content is easier and cheaper than ever now.
However, the real challenge lies in making a significant impact that leads to business results.
So, what does this mean for our companies?
Well, when you couple the uptake of synthetically generated content with data around social media usage and the types of digital communications that are growing; it means plenty of people are looking for authentically human content online.
It means that statements we write for our execs need to be human, not corporate speak. It means audiences are much more comfortable watching lo-fi video content, than they used to be.
So, everything about creating magnetic content stands true, but it doesn’t have to be pristine to be magnetic. And that’s not to suggest that authentically human, relatable messaging and content needs to be created absolutely devoid of GenAI.
It’s the opposite advanced communications roles should be tasked with harnessing GenAI to achieve differentiated results from the malaise.
Looking at test scores of how AI systems compare to various comms-related capability relative to human performance is tracking, we can see that AI can already perform better than average human performance in language and image recognition in some test.
Credit: Test scores of AI systems on various capabilities relative to human performance
Just 10 years ago, no machine could reliably provide language or image recognition at a human level. However, AI systems have become much more capable and are now beating humans in some domains.
But this research sets the baseline as average human performance, and we know that most humans are average communicators.
So, there is still a clear role for communications professionals to be rising above average, synthetic content. It means that communications teams have clear responsibility to set digital communications strategies, if you are looking for anything other than mediocre performance.
In a fragmented digital landscape, companies must succeed across multiple echo chambers, not just a handful of demographics. When done right, storytelling becomes a catalyst for connection and business results.
So yes, the digital era means that we all have to keep up with a sea change of trends impacting the channels we operate in, and it means there are tasks we’re doing now that AI will be doing in years to come.
But it doesn’t change that storytelling is an indispensable tool.
It's not just about conveying information, but about telling a story that resonates, evokes emotion, and builds a bridge between our companies and our target audience.
Compelling narrative turn messaging into a living, breathing entities people form genuine connections with, giving us a leg up over competitors and holding attention.
We ruthlessly overlay what clients’ target audiences’ care about, with what our clients need to talk about – that’s how we find the sweet spot.
This magnetic content enables us to produce cost effective campaigns that deliver results – time and time again.
Our PR and digital marketing consultants work hand in hand on client work, as one team.
It means clients don’t need to brief in two teams and we deliver cost efficiencies.
It also means we naturally find ways to leverage PR, content and digital work to build more engaging 360º campaigns that deliver strong business results.
PR and digital marketing are a perfect combination for brands. That’s because mainstream media drives awareness and search behaviour, and digital content provides leads with context that motivates them to give us their details and convert.
This blog post is snapshot of a much larger presentation Louisa gave in May 2024. If you’re interested in finding out more about Strategic communications in the digital era, don’t hesitate to contact Louisa directly on louisa.kraitzick@pead.co.nz.
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