AI hasn’t just entered the chat – it's kicked the door down, shaking up how businesses across sectors get results for their brands.
But that leaves us with some pretty big questions: Can a machine offer the same creative ingenuity and outside-the-box thinking as an expert recruitment marketer? Has AI replaced marketers? Are machines here to take over the world?
Here we’ll explore those issues.
What AI can and can’t do in recruitment marketing
What AI can do
You’ve probably seen at least some of AI’s creative abilities by now. It can support simple administrative tasks such as creating to-do lists and generating content quickly, and its increasing sophistication has enabled it to learn and grow over time, becoming more nuanced the more often it’s used.
AI in the recruitment context
AI is all over the recruitment industry now, helping to hasten processes and make life generally easier for consultants.
For example, AI is being used to build job ads, with plenty of modern CRM/ATS systems coming packed with instant job ad functionality. It’s also useful for personal branding and marketing purposes, suggesting blog ideas and social posts, gathering sources and trends, and managing schedules.
What AI can’t do
The main thing that AI lacks is a ‘human’ voice. There is an uncanny and generic tone to the content AI produces, lacking warmth, brevity and the ability to connect with people.
It also can’t produce high-level recruitment marketing expertise – it can't guide strategic direction; it can't problem-solve marketing issues; it can't operate automation software by itself; it can’t maintain a website; and it can’t offer personal customer service.
All of these tasks require cognitive skills and the ability to make decisions within a high-level strategic context. Something to remember is that AI isn’t ‘creative’, it’s just very good at predicting what words should realistically come after which other words. Expecting AI to fully replace your marketing function is like asking a toaster to do your accounting!
So how do recruitment marketers use AI in their strategies?
AI is as useful as the person putting it to work. Luckily, working with a recruitment marketing agency to tell your organisation’s story and connect with clients means you get an expert in putting the best marketing tools available to work.
Here is how marketing agencies use AI when building a strategy:
1. Get things done more quickly
While AI can’t – and shouldn’t – replace human creativity or strategic thinking, it’s extremely good at helping marketing experts get tasks done more quickly.
Intelligent automation and AI-driven analysis enable extremely efficient processes, allowing marketers like us to generate better insights at a larger scale, faster than before.
A few examples of how AI can help here:
Take and collate meeting notes
Scan massive reports for insights
Brainstorm ideas
Perform rapid, accurate data entry
2. Amplify expertise
The capacity for AI to scan vast datasets in very little time helps to seriously supercharge human expertise. With all of these insights gathered into one place, marketers can then make strategic decisions based on far more reliable data.
A few examples of how AI can help here:
Analyse broad data insights and predict trends
Pull data from disparate sources and collect into a single report
Predict user behaviours
Predict the likely outcome of a marketing campaign
Target the most effective ad placements to maximise results
3. Exploring ideas
AI is not a creative magic wand, and it still requires a human to do most of the work here – in fact, that produces better results. But, while AI can't handle complete creative production, AI assistants are very good at spit-balling ideas, posing questions and summarising notes, which can enable better data-driven production.
A few examples of how AI can help here:
Ask questions and get sources
Brainstorm creative topics
Workshop copy and design ideas
Rapidly test different tones or styles
4. Get better results
When experts like ours get their hands on AI tools which enable them to work faster and smarter, it all leads to one place – better results for your recruitment brand.
Our final thoughts on the use of AI in recruitment marketing
AI is a means to an end, not the end itself. AI cannot replace complex cognitive decision-making and creative thinking. Many of the tools are also either expensive or require a whole new uni degree to operate effectively. However, in the hands of experts, AI tools deliver more efficient results in less time.
Experienced marketers keep their finger on the pulse to see how new technologies can be applied to tried-and-tested marketing strategies that engage people. This means filtering the noise and identifying gimmicky ‘magic wand’ tools that don’t actually offer true value. It takes time and resources, but pays itself back in results that are relevant and effective in the fast-paced world of recruitment. That’s why the best recruitment marketing agencies use AI, rather than fight against the tide.
Huh, maybe humans and robots really can get along, after all?
Your competitors are trying to leverage new tech to get ahead in marketing, and we'll help you do the same. Learn more about why recruiters use Three Sixty Digital, or get in touch and let’s talk about your business needs.
