Building audiences. Remember that?
First-party data. Ring a bell?
Customer relationship management. Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
Generative AI content creation, answer engine optimization, and zero-click content behaviors have sucked so much of the oxygen out of the room that it seems marketers have collectively forgotten the fundamentals they cared about just a year ago.
Things like building real audiences, managing new customer relationships, and creating content that earns trust, not just clicks.
Yes, I know the way brands form relationships with potential and actual customers is evolving rapidly. AI-powered experiences are making interactions faster, more personalized, and more predictive than ever.
But just because the content feels personalized doesn’t mean it’s more personal — or even human.
I’m now hearing buzz about something called “authentic AI.” The idea is that technology can help brands foster deeper, more meaningful relationships by delivering genuine, context-aware experiences instead of generic content.
Wait a minute. Isn’t that exactly what marketers have been trying to do for 25 years?
To me, so-called authentic AI feels, at best, like a paradox. Or, at worst, a new buzzword for the human work we’ve been neglecting. Because relationships — the kind that last — are still a fundamentally human thing.
So, if real, lasting relationships remain the goal, the question becomes: How do we form, nurture, and scale them in a world shaped by machines?
Maybe by zigging while everyone zags — revisiting the fundamentals of first-party data, customer relationship management, and the addressability of your audience.
Let’s explore how (after starting with why).
Audience relationships are more critical than ever
Despite all the focus on AI content and the zero-click reality, a fundamental truth remains: Audiences are built on relationships rooted in value.
An old Irish saying captures this idea perfectly: “We live in the shelter of each other.”
That line speaks to the deeply human need for connection, mutual reliance, and shared meaning even (or especially) in a world that often feels transactional, disconnected, and indifferent.
Relationships (personal, professional, or brand-driven) depend on mutual benefit and emotional resonance, perhaps more than ever now.
But the expectation of value has escalated. Tech hype has led consumers to expect brands not only to understand them but also to anticipate their needs, in real time, with surgical precision. And marketers expect tech to provide the ability to do so.
The hype about AI-driven personalization has raised the bar not just for relevance, but for speed, specificity, and consistency.
And yet, AI can’t deliver those experiences without human intention. What it offers isn’t deep personalization at scale — it’s hyper-efficiency. It’s predictive, probable, automated content that gets the “what” mostly right — but misses the “why” entirely.
But what happens when precision replaces presence?
Brands aren’t becoming more present in consumers’ lives — they’re becoming less visible. The human layers are being stripped out so fast that what’s left often feels cold, disconnected, and precisely wrong.
The drive to scale faster and reach further risks losing the thing that makes marketing work: heart. That feeling of surprise and delight. The imperfections that signal humanity.
What this moment calls for is a new kind of confidence — not in being right, but in being real. The handwritten note that spelled the name wrong but made a person feel seen might be more powerful than the AI message that’s grammatically perfect but emotionally vacant.
In that light, the path forward isn't about better technology. It’s about rehumanizing the experience, being willing to be more wrong in the moment but more emotionally resonant over time.
How to reshape audience relationships in 2025
So, let’s focus on some of the fundamentals.
Here are a few considerations. Keep in mind, these aren't prescriptions, but provocations to help develop a short list of ways to keep content and marketing human, resonant, and connected in a world saturated with "authentic" automation.
Make AI the co-pilot — not the relationship
Generative and predictive AI have made it easier to produce content, faster to distribute it, and cheaper to personalize. But the more seamless the experience, the less memorable it becomes.
Real relationships aren’t frictionless. They involve context, nuance, and even tension and contradiction. Brands need to move from treating AI like the storyteller to treating it like the stagehand — useful, but behind the curtain.
Let the people perform. Let the machines cue the spotlight.
Earn credibility in public
As trust in digital media continues to erode, audiences are growing weary of algorithmic polish. They don’t want perfectly optimized answers — they want imperfect but honest opinions.
Try deepening trust with audiences by showing your work, being transparent about how decisions are made, who’s behind the voice, and what your brand stands for.
The new authority comes from vulnerability and clarity — not just credentials.
‘Personalized’ is not the same as personal
We’ve taught AI to deliver the perfect name, title, and CTA — and somehow made marketing feel less personal in the process. The new guiding principle is resonance.
Personal content surprises, delights, challenges, and comforts. It makes someone say, “I didn’t know I needed this — but now I do.”
That reaction doesn't come from segmentation. It comes from sensitivity. Smarter marketing today isn’t about better targeting. It’s about better listening.
Treat imperfection as a feature, not a flaw
Why does a handwritten note that spells the name wrong win hearts over a grammatically perfect, AI-generated email? Because it signals effort, attention, and humanity.
As many brands lean into automation, there’s an opportunity to go the other way: be more human and more present, in ways that are more real.
Being confidently imperfect may be the most trustworthy thing a brand can do now.
In a world of fast, flat, and frictionless experiences, slowing down to be more human is the boldest move you can make.
Practical steps to stronger relationships
Let’s pivot to what makes marketing meaningful: relevance with resonance, presence with purpose, and relationships built on trust, not just tactics.
Try these five grounded actions to build audience relationships that feel more human and matter more.
Reinvest in first-party data — but use it with empathy. First-party data is a gift, not a shortcut. It’s not about capturing more — it’s about understanding better. Use data to uncover intentions, not just trigger responses. Make your data strategy feel like a conversation, not surveillance. For example, instead of gating an e-book by requiring an email address, just ask why they want the content. Be transparent. Be intentional. And always ask: “How can this insight help us show up better for the audience?”
Evolve content ops into content presence. Content operations aren’t just about producing assets faster — they’re about creating space for deeper, slower, more thoughtful work. Optimize your content orchestration efforts for presence. Give your teams time to experiment, reflect, and connect dots — not just hit publish. Build systems that prioritize agility, yes, but also creativity, context, and conversation.
Design for deeper moments, not more touchpoints. Not every interaction needs to be tracked. But every meaningful moment should be felt. Instead of maximizing touchpoints, focus on creating emotional impact. What makes someone pause? Reflect? Laugh? Feel seen? Use audience insights not to automate or just track transactions, but to earn trust — through relevance that lingers, not just converts.
Measure more than motion. Clicks and views tell you what moved. But depth tells you what mattered. Build measurement frameworks that prioritize outcomes like emotional engagement, brand trust, and audience growth over time. Track loyalty not by frequency, but by affinity. Don’t just measure reach, measure resonance.
Let humans be the meaning-makers. AI can help summarize, predict, and scale. But meaning? That’s human work. Prioritize human POVs — your subject-matter experts, customers, creators — and let AI support the process, not define it. Trust the messy, thoughtful, even imperfect voices. That’s where the real relationship lives.
Remember, your tech stack can scale your voice. But only your team can give it a heart.
Refine your brand purpose
In 2025, your brand’s purpose is to connect, not just compete.
The value exchange between brands and audiences has moved beyond attention, beyond clicks, beyond clever messaging.
It now lives in the space between what your brand makes and what your audience remembers. Between what you automate and what they feel.
Real, lasting relationships aren’t built on performance metrics or predictive algorithms. They’re built on shared meaning, emotional resonance, and the courage to be imperfect in service of something real.
So as the world leans into “authentic AI,” you have an opportunity to lean into actual authenticity.
Focus less on what’s probable and more on what’s personal. Build trust through presence, not just precision.
This is your competitive advantage now: not the speed of your content, but the soul of it.
Let the people perform. Let the machines cue the spotlight.
It’s still your story. How — and why — you tell it matters more now. So tell it well.
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