AI in Marketing and the Human Factor

Artificial intelligence is changing marketing, and almost every other industry, at a remarkable speed. Barely a week passes without another tool promising to write better copy, create images, analyze data, produce videos or somehow revolutionize the way businesses communicate.

As the owner of a local marketing agency, I see enormous potential in AI. We use it ourselves and used well, it can reduce time spent on routine work, help explore ideas and make large amounts of information easier to analyze.

But there is an important qualification: AI is only as useful as the people directing it.

A business still needs a clear strategy, a distinctive voice and someone with the experience to decide what will actually work with its customers — and what will not.

At Lesley Francis Public Relations, Marketing and Design (LFPR), we regard AI as another tool in the marketing toolkit. In some ways it is no different from professional design software, a sophisticated camera or an advertising platform. Each can significantly extend what we are able to do. Owning the tool, however, does not automatically give someone the expertise to use it well.

The quality of the brief matters. The judgment applied to the result matters. Most importantly, understanding the audience matters.

That distinction is particularly important for local businesses because marketing and reputation are closely connected. The people reading your Facebook post, seeing your advertisement or receiving your email may also be your neighbors, customers and fellow business owners. Every communication contributes to how they perceive you. Producing twice as much content in half the time is therefore not necessarily progress. It only helps if that content gives people a reason to pay attention, trust the business and take action.

AI might suggest headline alternatives, help organize a content calendar, turn an approved article into draft social media posts or identify patterns in campaign data. These are useful jobs. But each still needs a clear objective and human review. Imagine a local business preparing to open a new location. AI can quickly take verified facts and create several draft announcements or suggest questions customers may ask. But that is only one part of the campaign.

An experienced marketer decides which audiences matter, what makes the opening newsworthy, whether there is a bigger story behind it and how media outreach should connect with local organizations and community relationships. Knowing whom to approach, when to approach them and why they should care still requires judgment, contacts and experience.

AI is also a useful brainstorming partner. Anyone who has stared at a blank screen knows the value of a few fresh starting ideas. But some of the best marketing ideas still come from talking with a business owner, noticing something during a client visit, hearing a customer story or understanding what people in the community are discussing. That is where local knowledge earns its place.

A piece of writing can be grammatically perfect and completely wrong. A cheerful promotional post may be poorly timed because of something happening locally. A joke may be misunderstood. A phrase that seems harmless may mean something different within a particular community. AI can work with the context we give it, but we should not assume it understands every relationship, sensitivity or unwritten expectation surrounding a business.

The same applies to public relations.

Trust with journalists, community leaders, customers and clients develops over time through reliable information, thoughtful responses and doing what you say you will do. Technology can help prepare the briefing notes but it cannot replace the relationship.

Accuracy also deserves special attention. Generative AI can state incorrect information with extraordinary confidence. Names, dates, statistics, claims and references should always be checked before publication. An AI-generated quotation should never be attributed to a real person without approval, and confidential client or customer information must be protected. Speed is valuable only when the result remains authentic and trustworthy.

Businesses should also judge AI by the same standard as any other marketing investment: does it improve the result? Does it offer a good ROI? More posts and faster drafts do not automatically mean better marketing. Look instead at qualified inquiries, bookings, sales, event attendance or whatever outcome genuinely matters to your business.

In summary, my view is simple. AI absolutely belongs in any modern marketing toolkit, and businesses that ignore it entirely will miss opportunities.  

However, what should never change is the need for clarity, creativity, authenticity, judgment and trust.  Because however sophisticated the technology becomes, the person receiving your marketing message is still a human being.

For more information about LFPR, visit us at www.lesleyfrancispr.com or follow us on social media.