AI creates content faster than ever. Many businesses focus on speed, assuming it gives them an edge. Time is limited, and AI generates content in seconds as demand continues to grow.
However, AI is not your competitive advantage: your people are.
Audiences want to feel connected to the businesses they support. They want to know who they’re working with and what those people believe in. Human-led messaging fosters connection in a way that AI cannot quite replicate.
The internet is starting to sound the same
AI-generated content has exploded because it solves the problem of a lack of time. When it first came out, it felt exciting and new. ChatGPT’s launch in 2022 opened a new door for business professionals and marketers to create high volumes of content faster than ever. It became a tool to improve workplace productivity, and it still can be.
The problem we see now is that brands are starting to sound alike, and brand voices become interchangeable.
AI works by recognizing patterns and repeating them. It’s trained on what already exists. It generates content that feels polished and familiar, yet it doesn’t carry the personal meaning that helps an audience remember something. It doesn’t know the passion behind why your brand started or how your customers feel. Content comes out quickly, but it often comes out neutral.
People entering the same prompts into the same models receive outputs that naturally begin to mirror each other and blend. AI stops being a competitive advantage and becomes basic office software. It’s still helpful, but it won’t make your brand stand out.
The Stories That Stay with Us are the Ones that Feel Human
People remember how your messaging made them feel. The most memorable marketing moments weren’t memorable because they were perfectly written. They were memorable because they connected to shared emotions or personal experiences.
For example, people still reference the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) commercial with “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan playing softly over videos of abandoned and injured animals. The commercial used messaging to convey empathy. It made people feel something, and according to Sarah, it raised around $30 million in one year. The emotional impact of the ASPCA commercial was so strong that it later inspired a playful Busch commercial featuring Sarah McLachlan herself.
Human storytelling also works for businesses focused on selling products or services. Old Spice, for example, created a storyline about the product experience rather than the product itself in the commercial “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.” It didn’t list ingredients or explain the science behind the scent. It delivered humor and charm in a memorable, fast-paced way. People connected to the feeling it created.
You’re the Advantage the Competition Can’t Copy
AI produces content quickly, so many brands fall into the habit of using it as the default approach. But it’s your team that holds the experiences that make your brand unique.
Your team speaks with customers every day. They know the commonly asked questions and benefits your customers look for.
Taking the time to talk with employees and customers requires more effort than entering an AI input, but your effort leads to better content with direction and purpose. You can even turn your own industry knowledge and professional experience into compelling content!
Back to the Basics of Storytelling
Brands can strengthen their messaging by focusing on the basics of human-centered practices.
1. Listen to Your Customers
Pay attention to the questions they ask most often. Take note of their problems and why they chose your offering to solve those problems. Their language and concerns reveal what your messaging should address.
2. Have Conversations With Your Team
Employees gain valuable insights from daily customer interactions. Their perspectives shape helpful and relevant content because they know what goes on behind the scenes. Ask your team to identify the moments that stand out. What stories do they tell when they talk about work? What made them feel proud, frustrated, excited, or motivated?
3. Use Language People Actually Use
Turn your messaging from a presentation into a conversation. Write the way you would talk to someone face-to-face. Customers rarely describe their challenges using technical features or internal terminology, so your content should reflect the way they talk and think. Invite your audience into the conversation rather than speaking at them.
4. Focus on One Message at a Time
Share a single idea and say it clearly. Choose the key takeaway you want someone to remember and build the wording around that idea. Clear, focused communication helps your audience understand the value and recall it later. One clear message often has a stronger impact than several scattered ones.
5. Show off your brand personality
Lean into the personality that fits your brand, whether that be with humor, enthusiasm, confidence, calmness, or warmth. People connect with tone as much as message, and social media platforms are a great place to experiment with brand personality. Brands like Brita and Duolingo show how online brand personality sparks interest and engagement.
6. Highlight the Purpose Behind your Offering
Explain why the product or service matters to your customer’s day. People care about how something makes life easier or meets a need. A purpose-driven message shows how you support their goals, rather than listing features that sound like they were copied from a manual.
Your story encourages connection when it comes from the people who know your brand and customers. That’s your edge.
How Vervocity helps Brands rediscover their Voice
Many brands feel like their voice has faded over time. We help them find it again.
We start every project with a conversation. We want to hear how your business works in your own words and understand what makes your story meaningful. We ask what you want customers to understand, what they care about most, and how you want people to feel when they interact with your brand.
Our team works in-house, ensuring your brand’s voice remains consistent from strategy to design to content. You don’t have to repeat yourself across different vendors or explain the same message multiple times. Everyone working on your project hears the same story and shares the same understanding of your goals.
Your story deserves to be shared by the people who know it best! If you’re ready to sound like yourself again, let’s talk.
