AI in Media Uncovered: Deciphering the ABCDEs of Artificial Intelligence's Influence
AI in Media Uncovered: Deciphering the ABCDEs of Artificial Intelligence's Influence
Human minds serve as navigators and distributors of technology's offerings.
This leads to a predictable pattern in how humans use and engage with media. It's more linear than we might realize.
Storytelling is a prime example. Despite the diversity in storytelling methods, they share striking similarities. This is why we developed the ABCDE model to aid communicators and marketers in crafting compelling narratives.
The ABCDE Model
A stands for Audience, B for Behavior, C for Content, D for Delivery, and E for Evaluation.
World-class brands understand their audience, recognize the behaviors they aim to encourage or avoid, create content tailored to their needs, know how to reach customers through their preferred channels, and establish evaluation metrics based on A to D. This enables them to make swift and accurate adjustments to their campaigns.
Skipping a step and beginning with content without fully understanding the audience is not advisable. Developing a media plan without knowing where the audience gathers is ineffective. And if you're unsure of the behaviors you aim to foster, you'll struggle to create the right content and experience. It's a sequential process.
The emergence of generative AI simply expedites this process.
Looking through the ABCDE lens, here's a perspective on AI's impact on communicators and media.
Human beings decide which online channels matter, shaping the audience-driven online marketplace daily. TikTok, for instance, emerged as the world's top app spontaneously. Discord fostered the rise of global audio communities. Instagram became a prominent channel for product promotion via influencers. Each platform serves a unique purpose, defined by us.
Each of these platforms encourages specific behaviors that eventually become mainstream. Creating daily videos about life, communicating with international friends via audio on Saturdays, or purchasing new products based on influencer recommendations—these behaviors become commonplace.
The audience discovers a new platform, flocks to it, and then consistently engages in new behaviors.
Studying these changes enables us to create content or select the right influencer or determine the optimal time to share our story. We can align our message with our audience.
Meanwhile, AI continues to push us further.
Our evolving behaviors reshape our expectations of instant information access, productive brand conversations, and trust in new sources. Purchase decisions are influenced by fresh perspectives, and brand loyalties evolve.
This gradual shift impacts how we communicate, transact, build relationships, and perceive the world.
The content industry must adapt as quickly as its customers. If the marketing funnel collapses, how can we help customers experience or evaluate a product in real-time without losing them? If you're launching a new campaign, how can you determine which types of images, words, or colors build trust for a brand rapidly? If you aim to reach customers through new channels, how can you convey your story differently for an app specializing in inflection AI (e.g., Pi.ai) compared to Facebook or Google? How can you ensure your story appears for new search engines like Perplexity? If we engage in daily shopping on Amazon.com, how can we build trust and differentiate from traditional retail experiences?
Today's content creators must be creative, strategic, and fascinated by their customers' thoughts—and their rapid evolution.
The outcome of our understanding leads to innovative methods of delivering our message. We will construct media plans that change more frequently. We will consider the depth of the experience. We will discern the order of platforms that matter to our customers as they embark on their learning or purchasing journey. We will listen to app community discussions as much as open-source ones.
Evaluation will involve listening and intelligence. Listening to what is being said and understanding how our online marketplace is changing, all driven by our customers, with the help of AI. We will utilize agents to monitor our entire supply chain or identify successful resellers selling our products and services. New evaluation methods will emerge.
Meanwhile, the AI locomotive will continue to challenge us to experiment with new channels, share content in new ways, interact differently with brands and companies, and gain new insights via enhanced data analysis capabilities.
The ABCDE model serves as a reminder to consider what we know—and what we are unaware of—today.
Part detective and part fortune-teller, the best communicators will surf today's wave while glancing over their shoulders to anticipate the height of the next one. What a ride it will be!
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Bob Pearson, a member of Our Website Communications Council, emphasizes the importance of continuously adapting to the evolving role of AI in the content industry. He suggests that understanding the behaviors of the audience on various platforms and aligning content with these behaviors is crucial in effectively utilizing AI for communication. In addition, Pearson highlights the need for communicators to be creative, strategic, and deeply informed about their audience's evolving thoughts.
Once the marketing funnel collapses, Pearson recommends constructing media plans that are more frequent, focused on enhancing the customer's experience, and attentive to the sequence of platforms that matter to the customer's learning or purchasing journey. To achieve this, Pearson advocates for listening to app community discussions as much as open-source discussions and employing evaluation methods driven by AI.