On your marks, get set, automate!

Events like the London Marathon 2024 demand high-speed.

Runners, of course, race to win. A rapid finish – despite the gruelling distance – demonstrates physical prowess. Then there’s the swift movements of photographers, who race to capture drama. And for social media marketing teams, who cut their teeth on quick communication, Marathon stories are told – as they happen.

Social media, at its best, operates in real-time. Of course, “real-time” social posts are rarely that, and a lot goes on behind the scenes. Tata Consulting Services (TCS) spends the best part of a month preparing and writing its Marathon social content. Historically, the team of writers at Fifty-Five and Five would help with this process. But this year, empowered with our AI-driven marketing tool Compass, TCS has created its own Marathon social content – at speed.

We sat down with Social Media and Insights Manager, Anmol Patel, to understand how AI has changed their approach.

In conversation with Anmol Patel

Fifty Five and Five: Hi, Anmol. Lovely to have you with us! So let’s dive in… how did the Marathon go? Is this your first-time using AI?

Anmol: Hi! The marathon was great! It always is. But this year was special. And yes, you’re right, this is the first time we’ve used AI for social media around the event. We wanted more control over creating copy in advance, getting them approved beforehand, and ensuring they were easily adaptable prior to posting. This was crucial for us to be able to streamline our resources, especially during live events like the London Marathon.

Fifty Five and Five: So, you’re looking for speed and efficiency; how has Compass helped with that?

Anmol: Being able to ask for copy for all channels at once and the speed at which we receive them is incredibly beneficial. It allows us to efficiently manage our social media strategy without delays.

Fifty Five and Five: Speaking of management, how has Compass changed the way you work?

Anmol: It has significantly enhanced my control over the social post creation process. Whether I need to plan well in advance or make last-minute adjustments, Compass enables me to achieve our objectives effectively.

Fifty Five and Five: So, am I right in thinking productivity is one of the key benefits?

Anmol: Yes definitely. Also, preparation has been key, as I mentioned earlier. Being able to plan and execute our social media content strategy efficiently has been a game-changer for our team.

As part of TCS’s overall social media strategy for London Marathon 2024, we developed an engaging Instagram filter that generated impressive results.

Fifty Five and Five: And if you could sum up this experience in one word, what would that be?

Anmol: Positive. Overall, it has been very positive. There are occasional challenges with nuance and complexity, but the speed and efficiency of content generation definitely outweigh these concerns.

Fifty Five and Five: So, it sounds like Compass has had a significant impact on your productivity.

Anmol: Yes, it has. During the London Marathon, we did encounter some repetition in the generated content, which was a learning experience for us. Moving forward, we aim to refine our input methods, or prompts, to enhance the platform’s performance. We’ve realised better AI outputs rely a lot on the prompts given – so this is a human failure. So, it’s about training employees to “talk to” these tools. And, of course, as AI tools evolve, so will the humans using them. So, I’m positive about the future intersection of humans and AI.

Fifty Five and Five: Amazing. Now, you’ve mentioned using Compass during the marathon in real-time – what does that look like?

Anmol: Yes, during the event, we relied on Compass for last-minute posts involving key stakeholders. We also used it to transcribe video soundbites and turn the copy into social posts quickly. That was very useful, and an example of AI expediting an otherwise very manual and time-consuming process.

Fifty Five and Five: And how do you think the way you use Compass in future marathons will change?

Anmol: I anticipate continuing to leverage Compass as we have been, but with a focus on optimising our strategies even further for greater productivity.

Fifty Five and Five: And what new feature could Compass benefit from that you think could be helpful to you and your work?

Anmol: I believe there’s room for improvement in understanding nuanced instructions consistently. Sometimes the platform doesn’t quite grasp specific preferences, which can be a bit frustrating. But it’s still outperforming junior content writers, in terms of speed and efficiency. And when it comes to understanding complex instructions – I think the AI tools will get there.

Fifty Five and Five: Absolutely! With Compass, we’re constantly looking for ways to fine tune it and you’ve given us lots to think about there. Now, to end this interview, imagine yourself on the starting line … On your marks, get set, automate!

Anmol: Hah! Well, automating social media content, especially for events like the London Marathon, has given TCS a real competitive edge. We’re ahead of the curve and engaging with our audiences in real-time.Compass gives us an opportunity for delivering compelling content at speed and ensures impactful stories are heard when they matter most.