We recommend taking a good look at your marketing system and identify any places that ChatGPT might simplify or streamline your workflow. Just keep in mind that AI is still far from perfect and comes with real risks. Let\u2019s consider two of them.<\/p>\n
Lack of Originality and Depth<\/h4>\n
The highway to mediocrity is wide\u2014and it just got an express lane.<\/p>\n
ChatGPT can generate a lot of content quickly, but since it is trained on an existing body of content, it could produce results that lack originality, personality, and creativity. And the longer your content, the more likely you\u2019ll encounter these issues.<\/p>\n
As AI-generated content continues to become more prevalent in our daily lives, readers are likely to be less interested in content that lacks an original perspective or style. Users themselves will have access to these tools, so they\u2019ll have little patience for basic AI-generated content when they\u2019re expecting something more fulsome. If they want a simple answer, they\u2019ll use the tool themselves.<\/p>\n
Of course, this won\u2019t stop (and indeed, has not stopped) many from attempting to game the system by pumping out as much AI-generated content as they can on their websites or social media channels. Some will even masquerade as authorities on topics they know little about.<\/p>\n
To stand out from all this noise, experts will need to focus on the \u201cleadership\u201d part in thought leadership content. People will gravitate toward those who have unique points of view and are pushing their industries forward. They will look for experts who communicate in a way that authentically represents their perspective as an expert. Marketing teams or experts who rely solely on content from AI-generated output will be left behind.<\/p>\n
Download the Differentiation Guide for Professional Services Firms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another criticism of ChatGPT<\/a> is its occasional tendency to deliver inaccurate information. Publishing false information can pose a serious risk for a brand\u2019s reputation. And the risks are particularly acute in the professional services where reputations are built upon trust.<\/p>\n Author and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa brought this shortcoming of ChatGPT to life in a recent article<\/a>. Wadhwa asked his son to use ChatGPT to search for \u201cinteresting details about [him] and his family.\u201d While the output seemed credible it included troubling inaccuracies, the most staggering being that he was married to a woman named Ritu, an executive at Microsoft. In reality, not only had Wadhwa never met this woman before, his real wife Tavinder had lost her battle to cancer three years before.<\/p>\n Wadhwa and his son repeated the experiment a number of times and continued to get different inaccurate results, including another false marriage report. Wadha reflected, \u201c[Deep learning systems] are often referred to as a \u2018black box,\u2019 meaning that the processes and reasoning behind their outputs are not transparent or easily understood. Once a neural network is trained, not even its designer knows exactly how it is doing what it does. This makes it difficult to reverse engineer or understand how the AI system learned what it did.\u201d While ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for coming up with ideas and even producing content, be prepared to fact check its results.<\/p>\n It is worth considering that AI tools\u2019 accuracy will improve quickly, much like the chess-bots that made headlines in the past. At the same time, the law is trying to catch up. Legal cases are exploring the strange new world of copyright protection for content that involves AI, and where such hybrid work crosses a line. AI is one of the harbingers of the fourth industrial revolution, so we can expect many behavioral and institutional disruptions in the coming years.<\/p>\n The risks of relying on AI tools are real. But their potential to dramatically improve your marketing efficiency can\u2019t be ignored. We need to consider how these tools will transform the practice of marketing professional services and set some strategies to guide us forward.<\/p>\n Here we propose four strategies that professional services marketers should follow as we continue to step into an AI-saturated marketplace.<\/p>\n Just creating a large amount of content won\u2019t cut it anymore… Anyone can do it now. What will matter moving forward is how you position yourself as a thought leader.<\/p>\n At Hinge we\u2019ve coined the term for thought leaders who are visible for their subject matter expertise\u2014Visible Experts\u00ae<\/sup><\/a>. We define a Visible Expert as a firm or individual who has attained high visibility and a reputation for expertise in their industry niche. While Visible Experts come from many backgrounds and specializations, at the core of their professional life is a body of knowledge and a perspective that makes them stand out as subject matter experts. And it just so happens that professional services buyers value working with these experts the most.<\/p>\n In the latest edition of Hinge\u2019s research on the changing behavior of professional services buyers, Inside the Buyer\u2019s Brain<\/a>, we saw that buyers continue to value subject matter expertise and industry knowledge above all other things when they evaluate a potential service provider.<\/p>\n What does this mean for professional services marketers? Well, it means we need to organize our marketing system in a way that showcases the unique knowledge of an expert. In the past, basic content creation could be serviceable\u2014but now it\u2019s time to take it to the next level of sophistication.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s provide an example of what positioning yourself or your firm\u2019s experts as thought leaders should look like. The classic situation might include an expert who writes blog posts and articles for industry publications, has a couple speaking engagements per year, and is a key team member delivering value to your clients. How might you position this expert on your firm\u2019s website?<\/p>\n When Hinge builds websites for our clients, we recommend a strong cross linking strategy between experts and the thought leadership content they produce. Here\u2019s what that looks like:<\/p>\n Blog posts should include the following:<\/p>\n Experts\u2019 bio pages can include the following:<\/p>\n Do you see the possibilities? Experts who are positioned as thought leaders will be the ones most likely to break through in the future.<\/p>\n A full Visible Expert strategy<\/a> extends beyond your website and blog. It includes a strategy that takes into account each expert’s industry, niche, and skill set. Professional services marketers of the future will need to develop the right approach and strategy to help increase the visibility of their experts.<\/p>\n There are two factors at play in the marketplace today. First, is the rise of more and more competitors engaging in an increased volume of content marketing. Second, is the fact that larger firms are engaging in mergers and acquisitions at record rates. How do we address these factors? With clear differentiators and a strong brand positioning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Can you answer the following questions?<\/p>\n In an AI-saturated world, it will be more important than ever to set your business apart from your competitors in a way that builds preference for you among your target audience. Are your key messages relevant to your buyers? Are they true? Do you have proof points to support them? Strengthening your brand positioning can make a huge difference.<\/p>\n Download the Differentiation Guide for Professional Services Firms<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not convinced? Well the fastest growing firms in your industry are. When we surveyed hundreds of professional services leaders and marketers at the end of last year, the best performing firms identified content creation and brand differentiation as their top priorities in 2023. Now is the time to take steps towards differentiating your brand.<\/p>\n Another way to improve brand differentiation is to develop a visual identity that both supports your firm\u2019s positioning and differentiators and takes a different direction from your competitors. And look out for cognitive dissonance. There\u2019s nothing more confusing than brands that use words like \u201cinnovative\u201d on their out-of-date websites and marketing collateral. Your marketing materials should present your brand in the very best light.<\/p>\n Your brand design can make an impact on the way your business is perceived by your buyers and potential job recruits. A modern, well-designed website, logo, and marketing materials can create an immediate impression that your business as a professional and reputable brand.<\/p>\n When searching for answers to their top business challenges, your buyers can struggle to find the clearly articulated, specific information they are looking for. Expert thought leadership delivered as part of a content marketing program can address this need.<\/p>\n In fact, the need for high-quality content has never been greater. However, with so much noise in the marketplace, it can be challenging for marketers to create content that stands out.<\/p>\n One effective solution is to incorporate research-based content<\/a> into your marketing strategy. Research adds empirical evidence and credibility to your insights and advice. And many buyers are looking for exactly this kind of fact-based information. In addition, since most of your competitors do not use research in their content, it provides yet another way to differentiate your firm\u2019s expertise. <\/p>\n In the image above, you can see how a large, high-quality piece of content like a research report can be repurposed into a number of pieces of marketing collateral. It can be part of an interconnected campaign that can be integrated into many areas of your marketing strategy. These signature pieces of content open up a lot of marketing possibilities for your team and experts.<\/p>\nInaccurate or Inconsistent Information<\/h4>\n
Professional Services Marketing Strategies for the ChatGPT World<\/h2>\n
1. Thought Leadership is King Now<\/h4>\n
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2. Differentiation Will Matter More Than Ever<\/h4>\n
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\n3. Less Content, Higher-Quality Campaigns<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\n4. Humanize Your Brand with an Integrated Marketing Strategy<\/h4>\n