Even in these early days of AI, we see signs that the bots could be coming for our jobs. Entry-level jobs are disappearing, the job market is tight, and some companies won’t hire at all until you can prove that AI can’t do the job first.
I want to emphasize that the jury is still out. Nobody knows what will happen. But there is a non-zero chance that marketing jobs — or at least marketing skills — are vulnerable.
There’s no more important issue for human marketers than finding new relevance. Of course, you need to continue developing your skills and embracing all things AI, but you must also be strategic about your career at this stage.
I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I believe there are three foundational strategies to keep human marketers relevant in the AI world. I think I have this right, but if I’ve missed something, let me know. These three strategies are uniquely human and always will be:
- Develop and leverage a personal brand
- Lead a brand community
- Create AI-transcendent content
Let’s explore each of these factors, accompanied by a few resources to support you on your journey.
The job debate
First, let me be clear that it is not a foregone conclusion that AI will eliminate jobs. As economist Noah Smith wrote:
“The debate over whether AI is taking people’s jobs may or may not last forever. If AI takes a lot of people’s jobs, the debate will end because one side will have clearly won. But if AI doesn’t take a lot of people’s jobs, then the debate will never be resolved, because there will be a bunch of people who will still go around saying that it’s about to take everyone’s job.
“In other words, the good scenario for the labor market is that we continue to exist in a perpetual state of anxiety about whether or not we’re all about to be made obsolete by the next generation of robots and chatbots.”
Scott Galloway connected the dots between the success of AI companies and the imperative for decline in employment. He has a less optimistic view:
Built into valuations of these AI companies is an assumption that they will be able to cut costs or grow their revenues through the use of AI by $1 trillion in the next 24 to 36 months. I don’t see how AI is gonna create a trillion dollars in new revenues for these companies, but I can see how it might cut $1 trillion in expenses.
In order for these valuations to be justified, one of two things needs to happen. Either the valuations need to come down, or these technologies need to show a trillion dollars in efficiencies across their client base. Assuming an average wage of $100,000, that’s a destruction of 10 million jobs.
So we’re either going to see a massive destruction in the value of these companies, which will infect all U.S. stocks and entire global markets. Or, we’re going to see a fairly massive destruction, short term, in employment across certain industries.
My personal view is that AI can do much of the work traditionally accomplished by marketers: Research, analysis, pattern recognition, strategy, planning, media buying, etc. So it is reasonable to assume that at least some tasks will be replaced, if not jobs.
What are the “safe” areas for marketing?
1. Develop and leverage a personal brand
When ChatGPT was introduced, I called my friend Shelly Palmer to learn his views on this bombastic development. Shelly is a revered authority who has seen it all, but this shook him.
“I asked ChatGPT to compose a three-point blog post for me, in my writing style,” he said, “and it did a perfect job in three seconds. That’s terrifying. I’ve blogged almost every day for 15 years, and I feel like I’m 80 percent replaced.”
On the surface, that does seem terrifying. But a better question is, what’s the 20% that AI is NOT replacing? That’s Shelly’s personal brand. AI can’t touch it. Never will.
Regardless of what happens in this AI-driven world, we’ll always seek guidance from a human authority for truth, direction, and inspiration. Shelly is known, respected, and beloved. People will always read his blog, buy his books, and attend his speeches because of his personal brand. And for Shelly’s company, he IS the brand.
Every business professional should be working on their personal brand — developing the authority, presence, and reputation to get their job done, whatever that might be. Investing in your personal brand is like making a deposit in an insurance policy for your career.
In every class I teach and every speech I give, I beg people to work on becoming known in their industry, even if they are happy in their current job. If the worst happens, you will have an advantage if people have heard of you and respect you! More doors will open if you’re known.
There has never been a more urgent time to establish your presence in your industry.
2. Brand communities
A few years ago, I wrote a book called Belonging to the Brand that featured the boldest of subtitles: “Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy.”
The premise behind the claim is simple (and true!).
Brand marketing is about creating an emotional expectation, perhaps even a meaningful bond, between you and your customers.
In the past, companies achieved this over many years by spending millions of dollars on advertising. Today, many companies are building this connection through a vibrant brand community.
There are two appeals to this idea that are hard to ignore:
- The bond between community members transfers to the brand and strengthens the loyalty to your organization. People literally belong to the brand.
- AI can’t touch this. It’s all human, all the time.
A brand community might be the only type of marketing your customers would actually pay for.
We live in a world with a generation of people who are lonely, depressed, and disconnected. Your customers don’t just want to belong to something. They NEED to belong.
3. Transcendent content
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know I’m a realist. I don’t sugarcoat the facts. I’m urgent about truth and understanding what is real, what is next, and what it means for us.
And this is the hard truth: AI can perform most of the tasks that marketers do today. It can analyze data, detect patterns, suggest strategies, plan media, write copy, and execute on the creative.
But here is another truth. Art will survive. Why? Because art is an interpretation of the human condition. I don’t care if AI can create songs like my favorite band. I want the band. AI can mimic my favorite author. But I want a book from the real person.
And so it will be with humans and marketing.
The bots are coming, but you still own crazy. You own the spark, the human fireworks, the raw, the real, and the messy.
And when you apply that to your content and marketing, you transcend the bots. You create experiences, ideas, and meaning that the bots cannot touch. You make something that customers want to talk about and if that happens, it’s better than any ad you could create.
My book Audacious: How Humans Win in an AI Marketing World is full of ideas about this, and includes a framework for how the best creatives in the world are breaking through.
It provides a framework for human value in the creative process by exploring how we can disrupt
- The traditional story
- Where the story is told
- Who tells the story
A bot can write like me. But when you come to this blog, you get my heart, my soul, my absolute commitment to an audience.
I, for one, will not be ignored and replaced by a freaking bot. I will transcend.
Resources to Help You Thrive
No matter what happens in this AI apocalypse, I am certain these three pillars will stand. You don’t need to duck for cover. Embrace the AI revolution and use this technology to reimagine what you can become.
Here are some resources that can help you survive and thrive.
In 2017, I wrote what became the all-time bestselling book on personal branding. It still sells really well today for one reason: it works.
I spent two years researching and writing about how people can become the signal against the noise. If you see others touting their personal branding content, chances are it’s based on my work in the book KNOWN: The handbook for building and unleashing your personal brand in the digital age.
If you want to put a jetpack behind your personal brand, I also teach a class on this subject, which is the highest-rated course on Maven. You get six live sessions over two weeks plus two private 1:1 sessions with me. You can find the class here.
The participants have loved the class:
Let’s move on to help with brand communities.
The single-best resource for this Belonging to the Brand: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy.
There are many books and resources available to help create community, but this book approaches the topic specifically from the perspective of marketing and measurable ROI.
To get a flavor for how a community works, you can join the RISE marketing community for free. Experts from around the world debate the ideas on what is to come in the world of AI and marketing.
Finally, with help on transcendent content, I already mentioned my book Audacious. I had a chance to learn from the greatest creative giants in the marketing world and share their secrets. There are a thousand ideas and inspirations for you here!
I know the last part of this post may come across as salesy, and I try not to do that. However, I also firmly believe in the work I have created to help people rise above the noise, even when AI bots seem so threatening. I want you to win, and this is my way of helping.
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