• ChatGPT Turns One: What a Writer Has Learned About Her Biggest Competition

    ChatGPT Turns One: What a Writer Has Learned About Her Biggest Competition

    When ChatGPT debuted last November 30, my initial reaction was one of concern. And anxiety. Some stress. Certainly disbelief. And maybe a little bit of excitement. But mostly, I felt threatened. Generative AI could do it all, the headlines said—or, at least, enough to render my role obsolete in just a few years.

    So, I set out to learn all I could about the powerful new tool poised to replace me. I played with GPT 3, Google Bard, and every other platform I could get my hands on. I glued myself to the news, squirreling away evidence that the AI hype was overblown. After all, I needed ammo on hand so I could respond with confidence when clients, my parents, and my dentist (yes, my dentist!) hit me with what’s becoming an all-too-familiar question: “Can’t ChatGPT just do that?”

    The answer to that query, it turns out, is… complicated.

    What it’s good at

    OK. We’ll start with the good—and, I must admit, there is plenty of good if you play to the technology’s strengths.

    GenAI can cut the time it takes to format interview transcripts, summarize notes, organize lists, and more from minutes to seconds. You still have to check its work, but it almost always gets you closer to the desired result. The right software can also be an effective editor when a second set of human eyes isn’t available (our coworkers sleep, after all, and GenAI doesn’t). So long as you ask for suggestions rather than corrections, these platforms can help you tighten your prose and get to the point when you’re struggling to find the path.

    That brings us to, perhaps, the most valuable use of AI I’ve found in my work: brainstorming. Coming up with new ideas can be difficult, especially for PR and content marketing pros in fast-paced agencies. I mean, how many times can you write from the same talking points before you hit a wall? My team and I have found that AI is incredibly good at getting writers over this hump, even if it doesn’t provide exactly what they were looking for.

    Believe it or not, it’s usually more helpful when it gets things wrong. I don’t know that I’ve found a more potent salve for writer’s block than asking AI to write an article’s conclusion just so that I could gut it. Even better, it’s confirmed a long-held suspicion of mine: that seeing what you don’t want is the fastest way to figure out what you do.

    What it’s not so good at

    Now, I could go on at length about what GenAI can’t do yet, but instead, I’ll keep it simple. The problem with today’s AI is that large language models (LLMs) are not people. They don’t reason, nor do they think. While I know this might make me sound old-school, that really is their fatal flaw.

    Today’s GenAI platforms create work based on probabilities, not ideas—like iMessage suggestions but with incredible computing power and trillions of reference points. ChatGPT, Bard, and other tools cannot make decisions; they can only predict what’s likely to be right. It’s the reason we’ve gotten so many laughs from ChatGPT’s attempts to unravel logic puzzles, understand riddles, or even solve seemingly simple mathematic equations.

    It’s also the reason writers still must guide the process. In writing, predicting isn’t always enough. ChatGPT’s penchant for citing made-up legal precedents, invented statistics or studies, or non-existent headlines is a compelling example of this issue. Because the algorithm sees it’s statistically likely for a legal brief to cite case law, it might pull last names and dates from thin air. Its prediction is right, but the execution is wrong. The phenomenon is called “hallucination” by some in AI tech fields, but all I hear as a writer is libel. Maybe slander. Possibly fraud, depending on the context.

    Perhaps the most glaring issue with this approach is the question of originality (or lack thereof) in AI-generated materials. The simple fact is that all GenAI content is derivative. Sure, we can debate about whether writing itself is derivative all day, and many people far smarter than myself have done so. But the level of iteration we’re talking about here feels different. The technology’s design makes defining a voice incredibly difficult and saying something new or innovative nearly impossible.

    A blog about cybersecurity written by Bard is an amalgamation of any material—from competitors’ websites to outdated articles, conspiracy theories, or works of fiction—used to feed the model, and its format is dictated by what’s been done before. Essentially, what we get in exchange for some extra time is work that, while technically sound, has nothing new to say. That polished blog is just another version of someone else’s arguments, syntax, grammar, and flow. It may be new, but it is not original.

    The bottom line

    Despite my seemingly harsh assessment, my outlook on GenAI in content development now sits somewhere between optimistic and accepting. Over the past year, I have come to appreciate the support it offers to my team and me. When things get busy, writer’s block rears its ugly head, and inspiration is in short supply, GenAI can free up space in the day or give you something to respond to.

    Still, I feel confident that AI won’t be coming for my job anytime soon, nor will it be taking yours. The undeniable fact is that it cannot do the work for you as many headlines and developers initially claimed, and that’s true across disciplines. One year later, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that AI is only as capable as the person using it. That may change with time, but that’s where we are one year later.

    So, I suppose the answer to my dentist’s question is that, yes, ChatGPT can do that—to a point. And only if an experienced writer is helping it along.

    If your content is feeling robotic lately, our team is always eager to show why the human touch isn’t going away any time soon. Drop us a note below!

  • Assessing the Future of Generative AI in PR Content Writing

    Assessing the Future of Generative AI in PR Content Writing

    The rise of ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, igniting a renewed societal focus on how artificial intelligence and machine learning will shape the future of work as we know it. An emerging technology trend hasn’t captivated the global public sphere like this since the first iPhone release in 2007.  

    ChatGPT was a hot topic of conversation among business titans at World Economic Forum 2023 in January. Microsoft invested $10 billion to integrate it within its Bing search engine and product suite. Google launched a replica generative AI tool, Bard, in an attempt to keep pace and amplify its own search engine. Bill Gates even equated it to the invention of the internet, calling ChatGPT, “the most important innovation that will change the world.”  

    The buzz is well warranted. ChatGPT amassed 1 million users in just five days after its initial November launch. Two months later, it surpassed TikTok (9 months), Facebook (10 months) and Instagram (2.5 years) as the fastest consumer app to eclipse 100 million active users. The chatbot can be prompted to do everything from passing law school exams and offering investment advice to crafting cocktail recipes and faux movie scripts. It even got hired – hypothetically, of course – as an entry-level coder.  

    ChatGPT also writes reasonably well, which has sparked skepticism across the PR and marketing landscape about its potential to replace human content writing roles. However, while it can generate clean prose in an authoritative tone mirroring a human’s writing, there’s no guarantee the content will be truthful, accurate or unbiased. A few media publications who were early adopters of generative AI-powered content were already forced to issue retractions due to “dangerous inaccuracies and falsehoods” found within the articles.  

    More importantly, ChatGPT is incapable of replicating the intrinsic nature of a human content writer, which means it doesn’t incorporate any elements of human experience (HX) into the content creation process.  

    The Human Element

    At Matter, ingenuity is a core component of PR content creation. Whether it’s a targeted Forbes Technology Council article, an earned byline in Variety or an ROI-centric customer case study, our job is to: 

    It’s not about prioritizing quantity over quality or repurposing rudimentary angles that can be easily found through a simple Google search. It’s about collaborating with SMEs to zig while competitors zag and tell stories that uniquely position them as an invaluable source of truth across sectors. For executive thought leadership to rise above the noise in a saturated market, it must be crafted with an empathetic understanding for not only your client’s mission and goals, but also the real-world business challenges faced by their target audience. The supply chain disruptions, data breaches, labor shortages, public health emergencies and technology fallibility. The ripple effects of geopolitical tension and the realities of socioeconomic pressure with a potential recession on the horizon. 

    Only boots on the ground can deliver impactful, brand mission-oriented content that aligns with those experiences. Not an AI chatbot relying on large language models from billions of predefined telemetry datasets, which – for the record – is in violation of Google’s AI writing guidelines and subject to SEO penalties. When Business Insider recently asked ChatGPT for an opinion on its role in the future of content writing, here was the reply:  

    See, even the world-renowned robot agrees.  

    Explaining how AI/ML solutions are designed to empower humans, not replace them has been a core thought leadership angle across many of our B2B tech and cybersecurity accounts. With the way things are headed, we will soon be experiencing it for ourselves. And while ChatGPT isn’t positioned to replace human content writers anytime soon, the recent generative AI wave does signal the beginning of a pendulum swing for technology’s influence in content creation processes. It will change the way we work for the better.  

    Augmenting The Writing Process

    The applied use of generative AI offers an opportunity to automate some of content writing’s most mundane and repetitive tasks. Take drafting earned bylines for example. Considering most B2B byline angles are highly technical in nature, it typically takes hours of preliminary research and sourcing before putting actual pen to paper. But what if that entire phase of content creation was streamlined?  

    ChatGPT, in theory, could be prompted to conduct extensive research on a specific technology or subject matter – reducing the elongated preliminary sourcing process down to about 30 seconds. In turn, human writers have more time to focus on critical thinking and a higher baseline of knowledge and resources to leverage. This foundation reduces the immediate stress of meeting tight deadlines, which ultimately compounds into higher quality deliverables and better work-life balance.  

    The same logic can apply to other repetitive workflows like copy editing, outlining, data mining and intake calls. Microsoft Teams has a new premium version that incorporates ChatGPT into hybrid business collaboration, automating routine administrative tasks like notetaking, action items, customized meeting templates, timeline markers and more. Expect similar automation strategies to be applied to content writing.  

    Our content team will continue to explore how we can work in tandem with generative AIs like ChatGPT to amplify our offerings for B2B technology, cybersecurity, healthcare and consumer clients. For more information on Matter’s full range of PR services, don’t hesitate to contact us today!  

  • Top 5 Ways to Build Your Digital Presence in the Cannabis Industry

    Top 5 Ways to Build Your Digital Presence in the Cannabis Industry

    It’s no secret that as more states legalize Cannabis here in the U.S., and other countries are embracing it as well, that there are hundreds if not thousands of new brands launching this year hoping to ride the wave of this red hot market. But to stand out and make a name for themselves, many of these startups don’t know where they should be investing first to elevate their brands and start spurring investment or sales.

    Although there are still restrictions on paid search and social as well as advertising for Cannabis companies, there are many ways to build a strong online presence. By acting now, you can ensure you start building awareness for your company and laying a strong foundation for the future.

    Build out your profile.

    While it may seem obvious, many organizations don’t full take advantage of all the ways to list their company and get better organic search results. For example, claim your Google and Bing listings and optimize them with as much information as possible about the company and executives; complete all contact info and add in compelling content such as photos. Do the same on reputable sites in the Cannabis industry such as Leafly and Ganjapreneur.

    Also, ensure your physical address is on all your web pages as well, and add a Google location map to your site. These may seem like simple aspects to add, but they are often overlooked.

    Content, content and more content.

    What are you offering that’s different or better? What is the real value and who is your target audience? It’s imperative to articulate your message and remain consistent across all your Owned channels, as well as any listings. Creating compelling content is crucial at this point and will only help boost your search results. Once you have your message, start a blog and be consistent.

    Also, look to related sites and publications to submit contributed content to sponsor. This will help drive traffic to your site as well as help to build your reputation in the Cannabis space. Another channel to explore is YouTube. By starting a channel and posting videos regularly, you can help drive even more clicks to your site.

    Reviews for your business.

    If you’re a retailer/dispensary especially, whether in CBD or marijuana, reviews are a great way to generate not only site visits but foot traffic. Encourage happy customers to post positive reviews on Google and Bing but also on apps such as WeedMaps and CBD Oil Maps, as well as websites like Leafly.

    Page titles and descriptions.

    To ensure searchers are getting the most relevant information to their search queries, keep page titles and meta descriptions optimized using relevant topic keywords and key phrases. Page titles are an accurate description of a page’s content or the topic that page covers, and they give the first impression to people about your brand and website, and can be used for social sharing as well. Descriptions allow you to capture your audience with a well optimized summary of the page’s topic and an enticing call to action.

    Take advantage of verified marijuana accounts.

    Although you cannot advertise on Facebook, the term marijuana has recently been allowed. It is now searchable and allows verified profiles to appear in search results for marijuana-related terms. This is a huge opportunity to take advantage of – and one way to do this is by finding those influencers and organizations who are verified and collaborating with them on different forms of content, from videos to blog posts, news articles and the like. This searchable content will help to drive brand awareness.

    Navigating the restrictions in Cannabis can be challenging. Why not tap a team of experts to help? Matter has a team dedicated to understanding the ins and outs of this industry and can help you build your presence no matter what stage of the process you may be in currently.

  • Startup Guide: How to Create Quick, Killer Content

    Startup Guide: How to Create Quick, Killer Content

    Shrinking newsrooms and the rise of Medium, LinkedIn Pulse, and contributor networks are making content an essential part of a company’s visibility in the media. Backed by an SEO strategy, company blogs, op-eds, landing page content and downloadable assets are now powerful drivers of lead-gen and brand awareness.

    But where does content come from? This is an existential question for all organizations, but especially for early stage startups who may only have a founder or two, an engineering team and a salesperson fully dedicated to growth.

    Creating quick, killer content is not about hiring armies of journalism interns. It’s about using the resources you have in smart ways.

    What should you write about? Who should write it? And how do you speed up the process? Here’s your crash course:

    What Should You Write About?

    Ask yourself this, and you’ll be staring at a blinking cursor for six hours.

    Instead, ask yourself, “What questions do my customers have?” Every business exists to serve customers. Customer feedback guides the products you build, the services you offer and the brand you present to the market. Let customers guide your content, too.

    Next, brainstorm a list of headline ideas. Not 5 or 10, but 100 if you can. Consider the questions customers might have about your product or service, the underlying technology, your company culture, the market you serve and how you stack up against competitors.

    Time to pick your favorites, and there are two rules of thumb. Rule number one, think ‘blue ocean.’ I introduced this concept in my last blog about mission and vision statements as a topic or style, uniquely yours to claim and conquer.

    A great resource on blue ocean strategy is a blog by CoSchedule’s CEO, Garrett Moon. In his words, your customers ask questions, and you should be the best answer on the Internet.

    Rule number two, follow the 80/20 rule: 80 percent objective, thought-leadership content that answers key audience questions, and 20 percent focused on product offerings. Yes, your company is awesome. But yes, resist the urge to write only about how awesome you are.

    Finally, structure your favorite headlines into a content calendar. Plan at least 2-4 weeks ahead, and assign topics to various authors. Speaking of…

    Who Should Write It?

    The answer is everyone. No one person in a startup has the bandwidth to handle content.

    But your founder(s) could write a state-of-the-industry piece. Your engineering team could explore what makes a great developer in the retail tech space. And your sales team could identify frequent phrases or questions from prospects and address them in a Q&A.

    Creating quick, killer content as a startup is about assembling a strikeforce. Members have the opportunity to build not only the company brand, but to leverage content on channels like Medium and Linkedin to build their own personal brands as well.

    How to Speed Up the Process

    Lightning round: here’s how to turn your small, seed stage team into a content generation machine:

    • Create top 10 lists. Frequent customer questions, favorite Netflix shows, most inspiring CEOs and most hated salad places all work great here.
    • Expand on or react to recent news. Keep reactions positive, use proper attribution and don’t be afraid to share your post with the original author.
    • Leverage User Generated Content (UGC). Also lovingly referred to as ‘OPC’: other people’s content. Share content from your executives, employees, board members, investors and other stakeholders. Again, use proper attribution.
    • Repurpose content. Think of each piece of content as a campaign. Your long-form exploration of artificial intelligence could easily become a three-part blog series. Audio from a keynote presentation could find new life as a blog Q&A, a Slideshare deck, social posts, an email newsletter, a downloadable eBook or a webinar.

    And when you’re ready, turn existing content into engaging visuals with these tips from one of Matter’s designers, Matt Brown.

    Imagine the staggering amount of new sales and marketing collateral you’d have.

    Creating quick, killer content as a startup is possible. Let the customer drive your content vision. Innovate and iterate until you’ve created content that is uniquely our own. And give us a call to learn how content makes PR more powerful.

  • Bridging the print-to-screen gap

    Remember the QR code? These things were going to blow-up, right? QR codes contain enormous potential to bridge the gap between printed material and your mobile screen. I’ve seen some decent examples of their use both in application and design… although the design solution usually involves trying to hide them in cleaver ways. Changing their color to blend in, hiding images within the code or hiding the code altogether (but if it’s hard to find, what’s the point?)

    So with that in mind, we wondered if there had been advances bridging the print-to-screen gap. Are there any QR coed alternatives out there? I quickly found two apps that didn’t require the use of the visually challenging QR code and started my investigation.

    Layar

    Layar Creator – Welcome to Interactive Print

    The Layar app allows you to scan a picture or other graphics that results in additional content on screen. For example, I scanned a picture of an item in a catalog that — once scanned — played a video of that item in action on my mobile device. It was pretty cool as it appeared as if the static image I scanned was now moving! There were additional call to actions — like view product info — but after the “magic” of the moving image wears off, its up to the marketer to decide how to best use this technology to drive metrics. Additionally this app is introducing us to the idea of Augmented Reality, or the live, direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. Cool!

    Clickable Paper

    Ricoh’s Clickable Paper Mobile App

    I watched a promotional video on this app developed by Ricoh. It allows you to scan pretty much anything printed producing a range of mobile possibilities. For instance, scan the cover of a book and you’ll be presented an overlay menu of link options like: Amazon (to purchase book), YouTube (to watch reviews or related videos) or Facebook and Twitter (to share the book and your thoughts). This certainly extends the physical experience for the user, giving the marketer a ton of digital promotional options.

    So, I found these interesting, but don’t consider this an endorsement of either technologies — I just like the idea of different solutions. Give them a shot yourself and you can decide. And these weren’t the only two out there. Companies like Google have also developed technologies that allow a smartphone to scan images and deliver additional content. In the end they may have the advantage because they can integrate the technology into hardware, as opposed to having to access via an app, which is ultimately the biggest obstacle to the growth of the QR code.

  • 4 Tips to Stay Creative when the Inspiration Just Isn’t There

    When it comes to creating visual content for a client, the intention is to always make something that sets itself apart so it gets the high levels of engagement that we all covet. Unfortunately, us right brained folk go through times when we don’t feel like we’re living up to our artistic potential. I recently attended an event hosted by Boston Content, to chat with others about this exact feeling. Here are a few takeaways that may help out when you get the imaginative writer’s block.

     

    1. Create (and continuously check) Your Holy Grail of Creativity

    For me, these places include the Vimeo Staff Picks, motionographer.com, YouTube channels of motion graphics experts, and definitely Instagram. They allow me to quickly check out what people in my field are creating, as well as what’s trendy at the moment. It helps that these spots are curated so I don’t have to spend much time finding something that may inspire me. I’m willing to bet that your cloud security clients aren’t checking in on these, so looking at a tutorial for a crafty animation technique and then tweaking it to your client’s branding can help wow them without making you feel like your brain is melting.

     

    1. Maintain Your Confidence, Even Through the Dullest of Days

    The reason your company hired you is because of your skillset, attitude, and potential. This is something to keep in mind, especially when you receive a laundry list of constructive criticism on a project that you thought was some of your better work. Some people will keep a folder in their email of all the positive feedback from clients, and go through it when it seems like a current project is running around in circles with no end in sight. It helps clear the mind, and keep you aware of why you chose this career path in the first place. For me, the “clearing of the mind” usually involves a mid day pit stop at the variety store near to our office for gummy bears or a cup of soup.

     

    1. Find Out What’s Inspiring Your Coworkers and Peers

    Sure, some of these people you wouldn’t find yourself hanging out with on the weekend, but it helps to see what is catching your colleagues’ eye. Here at matter, we have created a “cool creative” email alias that anyone in the company can sign up for. Instead of sending along marketing trends, or the latest study on consumerism amongst millennials, your might see an explainer video for a carrot, or perhaps an infographic of celebrities first pitches at MLB games. The content of what’s sent in these emails just has to be something cool and creative (hence the alias name) and doesn’t have to have anything to do with work.

     

    1. Drink Coffee

    Lots of it. Hot, iced, it doesn’t matter. Try to save those double shots of espresso for the days when you really need a boost, instead of making it part your everyday java routine. I think we can all agree that by some principle of divine intervention, coffee makes you more creative.

     

    Editors’ Note: “The Business of Content Creation” was hosted by Boston Content and broken into sessions. Check out some other takeaways in these Matter blog posts:

     

    The “Science” of Content ROI

    Follow me on Twitter at @MatterStudioC and @MatterComm on Instagram.

  • Repurposing Old Content, as Seen on Seinfeld

    Getting excited about a new song on Spotify or YouTube video seems to happen just about every day. But how long does that feeling last? For me it’s about three minutes (if that) until I move on to something else. If it’s your job to pump out content onto your company’s social media channels, there will eventually come a time when you don’t have anything new to share with your audience.

    Repurposing content and creating reels out of old videos is one way to keep your audience engaged, just ask Seinfeld. Since the final episode aired in May of 1998, it’s consistently held multiple time slots to air its syndication episodes. Yeah all 180 episodes are awesome (except for the one where Kramer inherits the original set from the Merv Griffith Show, that seemed like a stretch for a show about nothing) but the people at TBS are always cranking out trailers with recycled footage for the upcoming airing of episodes. Sometimes they will be focused around Kramer’s antics, other times it might be a 30 second spot of all the times Jerry says hello to Newman. These short commercial trailers will air during primetime, for an episode that airs during the late night hours. Whatever the bumper may be focused on, it is able to get you to momentarily think, “Hey, Seinfeld is on tonight”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNISpWxy9V4&feature=youtu.be

    Keeping the Matter feeds busy has never been much of an issue because there’s always some sort of event or extracurricular activity going on around here (read: tonight’s World Cup viewing party), but a lull in the action does happen from time to time. Right after the start of 2014, most clients were still securing budgets and project plans so I found myself with some free time on my hands. I decided to throw together a “Year in Review” video which included candid shots from company outings, business trips, and employee spotlight videos.

    https://vimeo.com/83602312

    For a show that cut its cameras five years before MySpace was invented, Seinfeld has a phenomenal social media presence. They’re always posting photos of the day, or perhaps a meme with a memorable line from one of the characters. Hypothetically speaking, a meme posted on June 21 with the caption “the Summer of George” would be fitting, or perhaps a photo of Elaine’s boyfriend David Puddy with his face painted at a Devils game to mark the beginning of the NHL playoffs. It generates traffic and is very cost-efficient.

    .

    One event that we like to create a buzz about is a monthly networking meet-up called LunchSpotting. People in the Boston startup and tech industries gather for free lunch at different spaces around the city just to chat about ideas, exchange business cards, and check out what the innovation district has to offer. We recently produced a single overview video for LunchSpotting, and now use it whenever the next one is approaching.

    https://vimeo.com/90255681

    To wrap it all up, I think the absence of new material creates a giant opportunity for creativity. It’s fun to look back and see all the good times and accomplishments your company or respective social media channel has made, and your audience loves to see that stuff too. If you really want to nerd out and watch all the Seinfeld episodes in chronological order, check out http://seinfeld-episodes.com. Or just watch the reruns on TBS.

  • The World According to Reddit

    Even if you’ve never been to Reddit.com, you’re definitely familiar with many of the stories on the wildly popular site that dubs itself “The front page of the Internet.”

    That’s because every news organization/blog you’re familiar with scans Reddit for interesting stories cultivated by the company’s highly engaged (read: addicted) user base.

    Reddit’s front page aggregates stories and pictures from some of the more interesting “sub reddits” and displays for users an eclectic mix of news, memes, pictures and discussions. Each user can customize the topics (sub reddits) to be displayed on their respective front page for a personalized experience.

    And because most of the content is submitted by users (and voted “up” or “down” by them), news organizations have a clear picture of which pieces of original content resonate with people.

    Hence, Reddit both produces and vets potential stories, making short work of the reporting process for bloggers and reporters. If it’s on the front page of Reddit (meaning it got enough “upvotes” to get there), the audience has spoken.

    So, what does Reddit have to do with public relations?

    Sites like Reddit, Tumblr, Storify and many others are fueled by user-generated-content (pictures, videos, memes, blog posts, etc.). In the old days, many reporters relied almost exclusively on PR people pitching them with story ideas, and though that’s still definitely happening, today there are many other sources of information from which to choose stories.

    That means PR pitches need to add more value than ever. It means clients need to understand that visual content is critical in order to compete with the spate of user-generated sites that produce quality material every day, hour, minute, second.

    As Reddit demonstrates brilliantly, quality content is key, and has the power to reach and entertain/inform an enormously large audience if it “catches fire.”

    And that’s what Reddit has done – it’s caught fire with users and captured the attention of the media as a very legitimate, fresh, contemporary form of news gathering.  You see Reddit’s stories everyday across the international media landscape. Thus, it’s not an exaggeration to say the company, which is still struggling to make a profit, is a driving force behind the news.