The Biggest Shift is Amplification
Most discussions about AI revolve around task replacement, and downstream of that, people replacement. But the big shift getting less airtime is amplification.
The LLMs (Large Language Models) we love to work with, from Claude to ChatGPT, Gemini and others, can all amplify brand visibility, audience engagement, and content production. They can also amplify your reputation, good and bad, as well as your competitive advantages.
Companies are already doing more with smaller teams. But due to the velocity of this movement, both mistakes and misinformation spread faster and further. A single AI-powered campaign can reach millions in an instant, but a brand crisis can grow and spread just as quickly and far.
AI Will Make Personalization the New Standard
For years, our mailboxes have been filled with generic, ill-targeted junk, with very few highly personalized, targeted emails and mailers originating from very sophisticated marketing teams mixed in. Our target audiences deserve better, and frankly they expect better going into 2027.
AI allows historically less sophisticated marketing teams to create content and offers tailored to individuals based on their preferences and past behaviors more easily. We all know that well-run and targeted campaigns have better engagement, higher conversions, and therefore provide a higher ROI.
Brands that will win in 2027 and beyond will ensure every touch is highly relevant, not generic.
AI Will Transform Media Relations
Outreach may happen faster, and with more accuracy overall with AI, but relationships are what get the job done.
Here are 4 trends that need your attention.
- Trend #1: Smarter journalist targeting.
AI will help those in the media relations business identify the reporters, editors, podcasters and influencers most likely to be interested in a story quickly, at scale.
- Trend #2: More relevant pitch development.
Mortgage industry PR teams will use AI to keep track of and analyze trends, coverage priorities, and timely conversations to drive pitch development. The LLM platforms will be a lucrative source of ideas and information that leadership teams will leverage to keep their brands in the spotlight and drive thought leadership for key executives.
- Trend #3: Faster research and preparation.
AI will streamline the development of media target lists. It will also be a meaningful assist to conducting background research on journalists and preparing for interviews with them.
- Trend #4: Human relationships will become more valuable.
As AI improves speed and efficiency, it will increase the value of human relationships. This is already happening, as journalists receive an overabundance of AI-generated press releases and reach-outs. Bots will not effectively replace the relationships and trust that have been developed between company reps and the media for years. Ultimately, humans decide who and what’s credible.
The bottom line? In 2027, you can expect more effective media strategy development, and plenty of placement opportunities. But successful earned media will come down to real relationships.
Trust Will Become the Ultimate Competitive Advantage
As AI continues to make content creation easier and faster, credibility will become more scarce.
Content volume in all channels is already exploding, and it will explode further. It can all be generated in whole or in part with various AI platforms. And by 2027, the platforms will be even better at it than they are today.
What does this mean for you as your team tries to keep up and out-produce the competition? It means focusing on generating more valuable content to outsmart the competition.
Smart teams will pull back and refocus on what it takes to build trust. Trust is not built through quantity, it’s built through quality. Deepfakes, synthetic media, and AI-generated misinformation across the board will make audiences skeptical of everything. Your goal needs to be a focus on building trust and credibility.
Focusing on earned media will be paramount for mortgage industry leaders. Third party validation from respected industry publications and industry voices will become more important than ever to help drive customer acquisition and long-term growth.
What Leaders Should Do Today
Leadership teams have 3 immediate priorities:
Priority #1: Develop an AI strategy for communications. Identify areas within marketing, media relations, and reputation management where AI can enhance output, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Priority #2: Establish governance and guardrails. You must create policies around keeping up with your brand standards, content quality, and how to use AI platforms responsibly.
Priority #3: Invest in human expertise and relationships. This may be counterintuitive for some of you, but AI is not something you use to replace human expertise. Rather, it is best used to enhance expertise and provide an accelerated, enhanced output. Use it to enhance your strategic thinking and execution. It is people that build relationships, trust and credibility, not bots.
Remember this. The companies that successfully leverage a combination of human judgment and AI will be the ones who win in 2027.
Very soon, the chasm between mortgage lenders and vendors leveraging AI to enhance their marketing, media engagement, and reputations – and those who are not – will be noticeable. This will drive more competition for attention. Trust will be the tiebreaker.
The companies that win in the near and long term will be the ones that start now and learn how to use it strategically to build relationships, trust, and improve decision-making. They will be using AI much more strategically to build relationships and trust. If you’re looking toward 2027 and shaping your communications to adapt to this new reality, our team can help.