If you’ve watched the news, seen the internet or received emails in the past few months, you’ve likely heard and seen a LOT of buzz about a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) content automation platforms backed by companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google. ChatGPT seems to have gotten the most attention. Think of them as content generators. You go to the platform, open an account and tell the system what you want. “Create a 400-word article on adopting a dog, and include five major points to consider.” Within seconds, you literally see the content being developed, appearing before you in real time. It truly is an amazing experience. No human could accomplish that in such a short time.

Beyond ChatGPT and its competitors, which focus on creating written content, other platforms can create drawings, images, music and even videos based on your request. Some of these platforms are in beta testing; others are already charging via subscriptions.

What does this mean for you? The short answer is, we’ll have to see. It appears to be a revolutionary jump in capability. Some see it as a disruptor. One news story on NewsNation predicted such systems will generate millions of fake reviews for companies, products and services, with unscrupulous players uploading and flooding review platforms with them.

For nearly every client we serve, content is king. We need content for virtually every marketing tactic we roll out, maintain or manage on a day-to-day basis – brochures, social media posts, new website pages, blog articles, newsletters, email campaigns and on and on. We have multiple team members creating such content daily, and other content is written and provided by our clients, who may have very specific, subject matter expertise.

At this point, we’re seeing the initial capability and use of such AI may be a terrific starting point. Back to our example, someone may be able to use parts of the generated content to create an e-newsletter. But writing pros will tailor it to become a more personal message about a local shelter. They’ll add in a quote from the shelter’s director. They’ll add a testimonial from a happy family. While the system chose five major points to consider, the writer will know that there are two even more important bullet points to include instead.

Part of the reason we develop so much content (beyond to attract and inform potential clients) is to help with online search results, our clients’ websites and content rankings. We’ve learned that Google’s algorithm is being tailored to sniff out AI generated content and may even “punish” content which it deems to be AI generated. The most popular AI content generator today is ChatGPT. It gathers and extracts content from millions of data points (all from 2021 and earlier). Some of its generated content may be out of date already, and there’s no guarantee of accuracy—yet.

The key takeaway is that AI generated content is here, but is in its infancy. If you choose to use it, evaluate what you will use the content for and be aware of any pitfalls using the content.

For us, and for some of our clients who’ve already been experimenting with these platforms, it’s a new tool in the toolbox. It doesn’t remove the need for actual human experience, editing and perfecting. It doesn’t comprehensively manage your overall messaging and content strategy. It doesn’t have the tone or warmth of your specific brand. It is amazing, though.

This is an evolving topic and I can’t cover everything in this brief email, so please let me know if you’d like to chat further about this topic.

“ChatGPT is incredibly limited but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness. It’s a mistake to be relying on it for anything important right now. It’s a preview of progress; we have lots of work to do on robustness and truthfulness.”

~Sam Altman, CEO OpenAI

I’m happy to share with you an article I wrote for Nevada Business magazine: 2023 Marketing Trends: Brand is Everything. It ran in this month’s issue as a part of the magazine’s feature story: The Making of a Name: Branding with Intention.

Are you confused about the difference between a landing page and a homepage? You're not alone! Many people use these terms interchangeably, but they actually serve very different purposes.

In summary, landing pages and homepages serve different purposes and are important for different reasons. A landing page is focused on a specific product, service, or offer and is designed to convince the visitor to take a specific action. A homepage, on the other hand, is meant to provide an overview of the website and its main features and functions. Both landing pages and homepages are important for a successful website, and it is important to consider the specific goals of the website when designing these pages.

If you’d like to discuss your needs regarding your website and various landing pages, or the bigger picture of your overall digital presence, we’d be happy to talk. Just give us a call or contact us.

Have you ever seen the short, animated videos for companies on social media or been browsing the web and wondered how they were made? Those explainer videos are an extremely effective video marketing tool that is unique, but very detailed in the process. There are many varieties of explainer videos, and if you prefer not to use a whiteboard drawing video, you can go with a 2D animation video or a live action video. If you are not sure which one to choose from, there are even mixed media videos! At CIM, we have been planning, creating and using explainer video content for years.

This form of video marketing has proven to be extremely effective for clients we have worked with. The process begins with defining the project: What’s the topic and purpose? How long of a video are we planning? What’s the specific content? What’s the call to action? The process from start to finish requires a lot of clear communication and precise details (including creating a storyboard outlining the flow of content and visuals). We generally aim to create a “main” video, one that may run 60 to 120 seconds. We then plan to make additional shorter versions (say, 15 or 30 seconds) for other uses.

Here are a few examples of explainer videos we have previously done for clients.

These animated doodle videos have an extremely high ROI, as clients couldn’t express enough to us how powerful these videos have been to drive traffic to their businesses. This style of video can be very engaging with an educational feel, which is why we recommend considering animated videos to promote general branding or specific services that may seem overwhelming, but can be simplified with an animated video.

You may ask, what are the costs? Typically, a one-minute video can run about $6,000. While not inexpensive, that investment becomes less expensive when multiple length videos are also created. Clients have a collection of videos for their website, for social media paid advertising, for Over The Top (OTT) advertising on streaming channels (like Hulu), etc. These videos are an investment in engaging, educational content that can attract and direct clients to a business.

At CIM, we truly believe brand is everything, and these animated videos are powerful for branding efforts. If your company is considering an animated video, don’t hesitate to reach out and our team would be more than happy to explain the process more in detail.

"Video marketing is a powerful tool because videos can be repurposed over and over again to attract endless amounts of organic, social, and paid search traffic. A single video can be transformed into an audio podcast, blog post, infographic, slideshow, lead magnet, Facebook ad, email newsletter, Twitter post, landing page content, and more."

~Stephen Hockman