Can AI and Automation Be Harnessed for Storytelling?

Although automation is not new in marketing, many agencies are still in the early stages of collecting data and learning how to use it to drive value through AI automation. A 2018 study found that 49% of the respondents agreed that artificial intelligence (AI) and automation would change their working way. And 31% believed they would already avail the benefits.

However, organizations are also dealing with the fear that AI and automation could potentially threaten job losses across several sectors. Advancements in technology will undoubtedly change current roles and create new ones. For example, communicators could soon use natural language generation (NLG) in Storytelling.

NLG is a type of AI that turns data into clear, human-sounding narratives. This new technology has the power to generate content at scale, hyper-personalized communication, and optimize analytics reporting, which can lead to better marketing decisions.

Automation can Generate and Scale Content Faster

If one has read quarterly earnings reports, the individual likely has been run into without even realizing it. Associated Press uses NLG to write 4,400 full earnings reports each quarter for the US companies.

It also uses NLG to generate recaps for 10,000 MLB-affiliated baseball games each year and preview 5,000 NCAA men's basketball games.

Journalists can spend more time focusing on stories that require human talents, such as in-depth interviews, reporting on breaking news by automating data-driven content. Automating time-consuming, repetitive content at scale allows journalists to craft the perfect article, press release, or blog post instead.

Distribute Hyper-personalised Content

NLP enables marketers to create a constant flow of customized content. Consumers want to feel brands understand them and their needs, and hyper-personalized, relevant content can build this connection. Most companies, unfortunately, don't have the resources or time to develop and distribute customized content. Things like email marketing or app notifications are rarely tailored to individual users.

Streamline Analytics and Reporting

Not everybody is a data expert and can look at an analytics dashboard for establishing the optimal next steps. Even with user-friendly dashboards and visualizations, many people are still not sure how to benefit from data. Additionally, it's difficult for most communication professionals to tie the activities to ROI.

On the reporting side, clients request daily, weekly, and monthly summaries highlighting competitor analyses and campaign successes. Every decision about what goes into these reports can be driven by analytics.

Monitoring social analytics, for mentions, brand sentiment, can be time-consuming, monotonous, and templated.

Yet, it is necessary to track progress, validate work, and grow a company's health. NLG enables one to produce reports in seconds, with data updating in real-time. The individual then can distribute them to clients, supervisors, colleagues, and executives in a way they can easily digest and understand.

Enter NLG-Based Automation

Sports Fantasy Football uses NLG to engage and amuse their massive user base in a highly customized way. They produce more than 70 million personalized draft reports. Previews and recaps delivered directly to fantasy football users in seconds are all done using NLG.

It has helped Yahoo adding more than 100 years of incremental audience engagement. This is based on the average number of unique readers per week and the average number of minutes per visit.

If one tends to break the noise to deliver hyper-personalized messages to every single audience member, AI automation is an excellent place to start.