16 Jun How to Use AI for Executive Social Media Content
Social media is an integral part of executive branding, thought leadership, and business marketing. To keep up with the demands of a fast-paced online world, many executives may consider turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for assistance with creating and managing their social media content. However, while AI offers several advantages, it also comes with significant drawbacks that must be carefully considered.
At Influential Executive, we have been testing and trying many AI tools such as ChatGPT, Bing AI, and Google’s Bard AI to find out how AI can assist with marketing tasks — and to uncover its limitations. Based on our findings, while AI is helpful for quickly generating factual information and content ideas (most of the time), it cannot capture the authentic human tone of an individual.
In this article, we share the benefits and limitations of using AI for executive social media content.
The Benefits of AI for Executive Social Media
1. Personalized Content Recommendations
AI algorithms can analyze data and take user preferences and interests into account to provide personalized content recommendations. Executives can use this information to tailor their social media content and find new ideas for content that align with their target audience. We found AI platforms like ChatGPT to be helpful with brainstorming new ideas to get the creative juices flowing, which is something executives and business leaders can use AI for as well.
Important limitation: While we have found AI helpful for producing ideas, the content ideas can sometimes be generic or overused. AI comes up with suggestions based on common practice, but for the most effective executive social media, content should be unique and specific to the leaders’ values and objectives. This may require content ideas that go beyond what AI can suggest. AI doesn’t have access to proprietary information, and it doesn’t know the nuances of your business, but that’s something in-house marketers or a digital marketing agency can help with to make your content more strategic and differentiated.
2. Editing and Proofreading
AI can be incredibly helpful for editing and proofreading written content and can quickly identify and correct grammar and spelling errors. These tools can also provide valuable suggestions to improve the style and clarity of written content, and even help improve formal language.
AI editing and proofreading tools can also speed up the editing process, quickly scanning and analyzing large volumes of text, catching errors, and making suggestions. A lot of people have been using tools like this before ChatGPT was popularized, like Grammarly. Now, even these platforms are integrating AI-driven tools to optimize their efficiency.
Important limitation: It’s important to note that while AI can be a valuable tool in the editing and proofreading process, it is not a substitute for human judgment and expertise. AI tools may not fully grasp the nuances of language, context, or the specific requirements of writing social media content, such as writing content that is industry compliant. A human editor should always review content to ensure it’s accurate and aligns with your executive content strategy.
The Limitations of AI for Executive Social Media
1. A Lack of Human Creativity and Authenticity
While these technologies generally perform well in retrieving factual information, they are not able to clearly capture the tone and personality of an individual, which is crucial for executive social media — and a major part of what sets it apart from traditional digital marketing.
Social media users expect an authentic voice and a human touch. The most effective content includes formats such as videos and interviews, and content such as seeing an executive’s experience in the business world, or learning how they lead their employees. These examples show a leader’s personality and voice — we’ve also seen based on our own executive clients that these posts perform the best.
Executives need to convey nuanced messages, incorporate personal experiences, and adapt to the ever-changing social media landscape. AI algorithms may struggle to capture these elements, potentially leading to content that feels automated or disconnected from the audience.
2. The Potential for Incorrect Information and Misinterpretation
Yes, generative AI can quickly gather data, but it’s important to keep in mind that AI algorithms are trained on vast amounts of data, and if the training data is biased, it can lead to biased results. Executives must be cautious when relying solely on AI for content creation, be mindful that AI can generate false data, and continue to fact-check to detect this. Without careful oversight, there is a risk of inadvertently creating content that may be incorrect.
Something else that we have experienced is AI not knowing social media best practices. For example, when asking Chat GPT to write an Instagram bio, the output was well beyond the character limit on Instagram and not quite replicating the typical style that we know can capture a social media user’s attention. Can this be solved by changing the prompt? Not entirely. You can try by specifying a character limit, but at present, AI tools have issues sticking to these limits. It goes to show that marketers (and executives) shouldn’t rely solely on generative AI platforms to create content from start to finish. Digital marketers bring valuable knowledge and past experience to the table — and this can’t be replicated by AI!
How to Save Time and Improve Strategies — Without AI
The use of AI in executive social media content offers significant benefits, such as saving time, developing content recommendations, and editing and proofreading content. However, it is crucial to recognize the limitations, namely the lack of human creativity and potential misinformation. As a marketing or business leader, if you are looking to save time and improve your social media strategies, rather than turning to AI, a digital marketing agency with experience and proven strategies can produce the results you’re looking for.
For example, at Influential Executive, our unique processes can develop an authentic social media presence for company leaders that humanizes the brand and impacts the bottom line. We offer executive social media content management with a mix of company messages, thought leadership content, and personal insight.
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