Being Human: AMA Digital Marketing Day Conference
7th December 2024
by Samera Iqbal, Communications & Digital Media Officer
On Thursday, 21st November, I attended the Digital Marketing Day Conference 2024: Being Human at BFI Southbank in London. The Conference was hosted by the Arts Marketing Association, which aims to help organisations and individuals by providing training, networking opportunities, and resources.
As the sole marketer at Amina – The Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, this was a truly valuable training event, which provided me with a profound amount of knowledge and inspiration. I am grateful to Creative Scotland, who awarded me with a bursary for the Conference, covering my ticket for the event, travel, and other expenses.
This blog post outlines my key learnings and top takeaways from the conference.
Can Humans and Machines Thrive Together?
My biggest learning from the Conference is that yes, humans and machines can in fact thrive together. During the Conference, I attended 7 sessions on a range of different topics focusing on marketing, the use of AI, and learning from industry marketing best practices within the Arts Sector. Some highly informative sessions that I attended included Harnessing AI as a Force for Good in Arts & Culture by Rachael Easton at Tessitura, Unlocking the Power of People with Florence Symington from the Royal Armouries, and Being Human with Trish Thomas of London Museums. Each session emphasised new ways of approaching Digital Marketing through the lens of AI.
Amidst the rise of AI, as a Marketer I have often felt the fear that “AI would replace me”, a fear that has spread like wildfire across all industries over the years. However, the speakers at the AMA Conference have shown me otherwise through their detailed case studies and experiences in implementing AI in a range of creative ways.
Change is Constant, and Humans are Expert Adapters
Trish Thomas of London Museums highlighted how humans and AI can – and must – thrive together. Trish emphasised how during the Industrial and Information Revolutions, people held the exact same fear of being replaced by technology. Yet as humans, we are expert adapters who have learnt how to embrace change to excel in all fields. Trish mentioned how while machines view things in binary, humans best comprehend grey areas, and can understand nuance better than any machine. Trish further highlighted the beauty in unpredictability, and how humans thrive in chaos, while pointing out that there will always be inherently human factors like heritage that are dependent on people within marketing.
Embracing Co-Intelligence: AI as a Force for Good
Building on this notion, Rachael Easton Director for Regional Growth in the EU at Tessitura Network emphasised how it is crucial to invite AI to the table in marketing, while being the human in the loop. All analytical tools use machine learning so Marketers use AI every day, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Rachael highlighted the strategy of “co-intelligence”, which includes treating AI as an Intern whose work must be reviewed and edited, while also dictating which type of person it must be.
Rachael also shared various industry case studies on how AI can be used as a force for good. These cases included the use of AI in creative concepting to create inspiring content which was then replicated in person, its use in identifying suitable target segments in setting up dynamic emails, and to establish a virtual AI assistant.
In addition to various strategies in using AI for website development, strategizing and social media strategies, the speakers helped me to build my confidence in adopting AI more frequently in my work, as well as educating me on private AI networks, which are paid platforms that are better suited to strategising and utilising sensitive company information.
AI Use in Marketing
By speaking with others at the conference and networking with various organisational representatives, I learned that documents can be formulated to guide AI in generating marketing content, including through brand guidelines, devised specifically with AI in mind. I also engaged in open conversations with other attendees about fears we had regarding AI, and it was comforting to know that many Marketers were cautious about embracing AI use, yet this conference provided us with the knowledge and confidence to better utilise it at the workplace.
Finally, I learned that AI is a tool, not an end goal. Often times, we get caught up in the peer pressure to adopt the latest trends and softwares within our work. However, AI may cause errors, so it is crucial to keep an eye on any output, reviewing it as we would an Intern’s work.
Key Takeaways
My three key takeaways from the Conference are highlighted below.
1. Use AI to Establish Content Authority
AI should be effectively honed to help establish content authority in your niche area. Many speakers outlined how AI can be used to aid creative concepting while drawing on your existing strategy. As highlighted by Florence Symington from The Royal Armouries, we must establish our specialisms and content authority among audiences. Using AI to help with ideas to do this is an excellent way to appeal more to your target audiences and build a long-lasting connection.
2. Be Brave with Video Content
Going into this Conference, I was hesitant to use videos within marketing due to my over-perfectionism. In the past, I have strived for a level of perfectionism, which has often put me off creating videos for social media. Many of the sessions I attended focused on video strategies and emphasised how video content isn’t supposed to be perfect. I have learnt to be brave with videos that I create, while remembering that the goal of video content is to be raw, real and often imperfect!
3. Cater Content to Audiences, not Algorithms
Far too many Marketers focus on shortcuts around using algorithms, which keep them from appealing to their target audiences. The AMA conference helped to remind me that people must be at the core of all marketing-related decisions. An organisation must strive to create content that its audiences find relevant and valuable, rather than fixating on content that ever-changing algorithms deem most acceptable.
By embracing an editorial approach, Marketers can put people at the centre of their strategies, while ensuring that campaigns are consistent with their content pillars like their mission and values, which remain constant over time.
Final Thoughts
The Being Human Conference was an incredible opportunity for me to learn about the use of AI in Marketing – I have gathered valuable information which I look forward to sharing with my team. The speakers have inspired me to reflect on the core services at Amina MWRC and how to better incorporate AI in all our projects, not only within external communications.
Thank you once again to Jemma and the entire AMA Digital team for organising this thought-provoking Conference. I am very grateful to Creative Scotland for sponsoring me to attend – this would not have been possible without your help! I look forward to implementing my learnings within our 2025 strategy for Amina MWRC.
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Amina – the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre is Scotland’s leading women’s rights organisation for Muslim & BME women. We offer a range of free services including our ending Violence Against Women & Girls campaigns, Employability Support, National Helpline, Sahara Scotland Domestic Abuse Advocacy, and Creative Well-Being. We also offer Corporate EDI Training.