Jon-Stephen Stansel

Opinions I recently heard a prominent tech pundit say that he thought AI would put a lot of social media managers out of work. And while I understand why he might think that, it also shows a lack of understanding of what social media managers do, the skills they have, and what makes social media marketing effective.

We must never fail to remember that, as brands, we are at best only guests in our audience’s social media feeds and at worst we are intruders. We can’t lose sight of the fact that by following our brands, users are granting us the privilege of showing up on their social media feeds each day. If we only share self-promotional, hard sell content, we abuse this and lose our audience.

Amid the rise of A.I.-generated content, authenticity—and the humans behind it—remain a brand’s most valuable asset. Unsplash+ As automation and artificial intelligence processes accelerate, many brands are convincing themselves that A.I. can replace the strategic and creative work of social media professionals. It’s a decision often driven by budget cuts and misconceptions on what social media managers actually do, the skills they have and what truly makes social media marketing effective.