How generative AI helps social marketers reclaim their creativity

By Billy Jones, Senior Director of Brand Marketing, Hootsuite

In today’s digital age, social media has emerged as an indispensable tool for businesses of all sizes, offering a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience, engage with customers, and build brand awareness. But social marketers are constantly challenged to keep up with the fast-paced world of social media, and the pressure to deliver captivating content on a daily basis can frustratingly lead to creative block.

When asked what their top responsibilities are as it relates to managing social media, the number one answer cited by businesses (77 percent) was “coming up with content ideas”, per Hootsuite research. Yet, the struggle to generate content ideas was also the top challenge for almost a third (32.6 percent) of those respondents. With generative AI, this is all set to change.

Social never sleeps

Having the right social content to reach the right audience, at the right time, is the holy grail of social media strategies. This is because social media users consume content differently at various times of the day and week. When a business delves into developing a deeper understanding of its social, it may uncover, for example, that followers are more likely to click through to long-form content over the weekend, engage with light-hearted content on Hump Day, and reward videos with more shares and likes. On top of that, social marketers must be in tune with what’s currently on people’s minds – whether that’s the King’s coronation, upcoming Father’s Day or the latest summer blockbuster.

No two days are the same, which is what many social media managers love about their job. But some things are the same, or at least similar – re-promoting a top-performing post, repurposing content to fit different platforms and coming up with content ideas for Fri-yay can be a drain on social media marketers’ creativity and inspiration.

This is where AI comes in, not to take over for social media marketers, but to help them reclaim their creativity, and rid their workflows of the mundane.

Generative AI for social media content creation

Generative AI can help social marketers inspire new content ideas with minimal effort. Content creation tools rooted in generative AI also give them the opportunity to automate content creation tasks that will help simplify writing processes, save time and boost efficiency in workflows.

There are five ways AI-powered tools like Hootsuite’s OwlyWriter AI can help social media marketers resolve writer’s block and create stand-out social content:

With generative AI creating an opportunity for speed, simplicity and efficiency, social marketers can get their creative juices flowing and break away from the ‘sea of content sameness’ on social – generating unique ideas at every click of a button, without duplication.

Unleash your marketers’ superpower

AI-powered content generation tools don’t replace human creativity. AI offloads repetitive and time-consuming tasks, freeing up social media marketers to focus on creative problem solving and really shine.

As AI becomes an integral part of the social space, the need for brand authenticity in the eyes of the audience will only increase. Customers will expect more engagement and richer content from the brands they follow. Social marketers who look to automation not as a solution, but as a catalyst for jumpstarting creative work hold the key to creating social-first brands that forge stronger connections and unleash the full potential of social media.