Immediately following the emergence of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), marketing and communications professionals have been inundated by tools.
Every week, there’s another AI-powered platform that promises to revolutionize your workflow, write your blog posts, brainstorm social content or build a campaign in seconds. So naturally, when I talk about my work at Franco and our AI task force, a frequent follow-up is, “What tools are you using?”
It’s a fair question. But it’s not the most important one.
Let’s Get Technical
To go beyond just chasing tools, it’s important to understand (at least at a basic level) the technology we’re using. In the most simplistic terms, most AI tools for communicators are powered by a few foundational models, i.e., GPT, PaLM, BERT, etc.
Platforms are built on top of models, like how ChatGPT is built on OpenAI’s GPT-4 or Claude is built on Anthropic’s Claude 2. These platforms provide user-friendly interfaces and tools for interacting with the underlying AI capabilities.
The value in third-party tools is they can combine multiple foundational models into a single interface, often offering tailored templates or workflows based on specific needs like blog posts or social media content creation. These tools are often designed to simplify usage by enabling users to input information and receive structured outputs without needing to craft complex prompts themselves.
That convenience is valuable. But it comes at a cost, both literally and metaphorically.
The Real Cost of Convenience
Third-party tools often come with significantly higher price tags than working directly within foundational platforms. But beyond that, they introduce layers of abstraction that can limit your understanding and adaptability.
These tools hide the prompt that’s happening under the hood. You don’t really know how it’s working or what to adjust when it doesn’t – if you even can adjust.
You’re relying on that tool’s developers to ensure they’re using the most current models available. More importantly, you’re essentially locked in one way of working, dictated by the design of the interface.
Avoiding Shiny Objects
While tools that offer shortcuts to success can be tempting, especially for teams new to AI, it’s important communicators start by defining what they are trying to achieve.
Instead of asking, “Which tool should I use to write a press release?” ask, “How can I reduce the time it takes to draft a high-quality press release without losing our brand tone or voice?”
When you start with the need, you give yourself the flexibility to approach the problem from multiple angles.
Maybe instead of jumping straight to content creation, you first have a model organizing source materials by topic, audience or angle to help you prioritize what should make it into the release. Now instead of treating “press release generation” as a one-click output, you’re building confidence and a new skill set that gives you more control, adaptability and long-term value.
Yes, you’ll need to do more of the prompting yourself. Yes, it might take a little longer to get comfortable. But the time spent is well worth the investment. You’ll not only gain more visibility into the models and access to new models and improvements as they’re released, but these skills are also largely transferable from platform to platform.
Once you have that foundation, you’re in a better position to decide if and when a third-party tool is worth bringing in – not because it promises something flashy, but because it fills a real gap in your workflow.
Most importantly, you’re solving problems, not just randomly using tools or getting stuck with a bunch of expensive tools and impressive features that don’t actually support the way you work. Instead, you’ll create an intentional and adaptable approach to adopting AI—one where tools support your work, not dictate it.
Lexi Trimpe is a Director of Digital + AI at Franco. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
