How to create authentic content in an artificial world
Image generated using Dall-E 3
When building out a comprehensive social media strategy, there is one that aspect that is most important. And no – it is not how well you can adapt that new TikTok dance to your business.
By far the most important thing is to be authentic and build trust with your audience. In fact, 86% of consumers say it is key when deciding which brands they pick.
In his book Likeable Social Media, Dave Kerpen says that, “Honesty and transparency build a direct relationship between you and the customer and any deviation from these values can erode brand trust forever.” In essence, no social media strategy can be effective if the audience doesn’t trust your brand.
Building this sort of authenticity was never the most complicated thing to do. Understanding your audience through research and knowing how to properly interact with them would get you most of the way there. Unfortunately, a new player has been thrown into the mix which makes this slightly more challenging.
AI generated images and copy have flooded social media and made people question everything they see online more than they ever have.
To us who work around these tools often, we can spot AI generated work fairly easily. Copy written by these models just robotic and images have a certain level of quirkiness to them. However, young users who are just entering these platforms and older people who may not be used to seeing these are seeing AI generated work as truth.
This is obviously a huge issue because it leads to misinformation and hurts users trust in brands across the board. Unfortunately, there is not yet a way of easily pointing out what was created with AI. Instagram has begun to try by adding a “made with AI” tag on images that they detect used artificial intelligence at all. However, this has proved frustrating and ineffective for people using AI responsibly.
“Honesty and transparency build a direct relationship between you and the customer and any deviation from these values can erode brand trust forever.”
So how do we show our audience authenticity in a social media landscape that is so filled with artificial work?
First, remember AI should be used as a tool, not to replace human work. Many people can spot when a caption was written by AI rather than a human. Use tools like ChatGPT for ideation and inspiration rather than having it write your full captions.
Second, disclose when an image was generated by AI. This will remove all confusion from the current landscape, and your audience will likely appreciate that you are willing to admit your use of these tools.
Finally, just use these tools ethically and sparingly. AI is great at doing a lot of things and has made my day-to-day work so much easier. However, people want to interact with other people, not robots. So, use AI to enhance your work, not to replace it.
Hi! My name is Peyton McKenzie.
I am a professional graphic designer, photographer and content creator.
I encourage you to explore my portfolio to get a better idea of the work I create. If you are interested in working with me or have inquiries of any kind, don’t hesitate to reach out over email.
