The one thing AI will never tell you

When David Bowie wanted to create an incredible stage show, he did an unusual thing.

He took his band members to the ballet.

As Bowie’s drummer, Woody Woodmansey, recalled in a recent interview with Virgin Radio, Bowie did it to find things that “had not really been in rock ’n’ roll before." And to see “how they use the stage”.

As Bowie knew back in the 70’s, captivating your audience requires inspired creativity.

And in a market where pipeline generation is getting ever-harder, the need to do something ‘not done before’ is – quite honestly – going to define your survival.

Job done. End of blog. Reaches for ChatGPT and types ‘create a unique marketing campaign.’

Now, I’m not about to launch into a ‘bash the Chat’ tirade. In fact, I think it’s one of the most exciting times to be in the marketing and creative industries. But I will say this.

Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial.

As in - not real.

Creativity doesn’t come from looking at the same old marketing funnel models and tactics. Nor does it come from trying to shoehorn vanilla ChatGPT spew into your marketing content.

In our game, true inspiration comes from one thing, and one thing only.

Real People.

To stand out from the crowd you need to tell stories about real people.

That’s you, your colleagues, your team, your customers. All different. All with their own wonderful and unique ideas and stories.

And there my friends is your unique content. Right there.

Whilst ChatGPT might be lending a hand to create your lead gen emails and landing pages, it absolutely sucks at telling stories.

How do I know? I put it to the test.

I simply asked the AI lord this…

Me: Write a factually based customer success story about our largest customer. Include what their compelling drivers for change were, why they chose to work with us, and what business outcomes they are seeing as a result. Include a unique perspective specific to their organisation, and emphasise what they can do differently for their own customers as a result of investing in our technology.

ChatGPT’s first response was to gush out a pretty decent B2B tech customer story. Nice structure, but completely fictitious and laced with benefit-babble. And zero human-interest or relevance to our business.

Now, I know this was a little unfair. ChatGPT had been given no context. But there’s a point here. And ChatGPT made the point beautifully all by itself when I replied:

Me: But this is not based on any facts about us or our customer.

ChatGPT: Apologies for the confusion. Since I don't have specific information about your company or your largest customer, I can provide a generic customer success story based on industry best practices. Please note that the details are fictional and not factually based on your organization or your customer.

(I actually felt a tad sorry for my AI buddy at this point but slapped myself hard.)

You might think you need ChatGPT. But don’t you see? No matter how many times you press the regenerate (read regurgitate) button, ChatGPT will NEVER be able to uncover real stories like you can.

So, take a breath from the blood, sweat, and tears of content-churning, pipeline-pommelling, and funnel-forcing, and ask yourself… what REAL stories, and REAL people can you tap into to help your lead generation campaigns?

Talk to your people, your teams, your partners, your customers. Get curious. Find out why they work for you or use your services. What makes them get up in the morning? What’s keeping them awake at night? What do they think makes your organisation special? Why did they choose you over others in the first place?

Then - just like Bowie did – ask yourself - how are you using your stage? Dad-dancing at a dimly lit wedding, or Uma and John-like brilliant improv?

Keep it real. Keep it unique. Then find your stage and dance.