Transforming Media: The Automation Revolution
The Media industry is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by the emergence of new technologies, platforms, and consumer preferences. In this competitive and dynamic landscape, media organisations need to find ways to deliver high-quality content, engage with their audiences, and optimise their operations. Automation is one of the main drivers for this change.
What is Automation?
Automation is the use of software and algorithms to perform tasks that traditionally require human intervention, and can help media organisations streamline their workflows, improve efficiency, and create/curate highly relevant content. During our recent roundtable discussion, led jointly with Microsoft, and joined by leading Media organisations, the conversation delved into the use cases and benefits of automation for these dynamic entities.
The key question most UK organisations all want to know the answer to is, ‘How can we carry out business activities with agility, cost-effectively, and efficiently?’. The solution lies in digitalisation and automation. However, if you’re uncertain about the possibilities, knowing where to start can be daunting. It’s like entering a restaurant and being asked to order without having glanced at the menu. Thinking about applying this in our current environment, how can organisations expect employees to know how automation can help improve their productivity and operational efficiency if they aren’t aware of what is possible?
While endless possibilities exist, the primary outcomes mentioned during the roundtable include:
Streamlined Content Production: One of the most significant advantages of automation in media organisations is its ability to streamline content production processes. From generating news articles and social media posts to editing videos and scheduling content distribution, automation tools can handle countless tasks swiftly and efficiently.
Enhanced Efficiency and Accuracy: Automation reduces the reliance on manual labour, freeing up human resources to focus on more creative and strategic tasks. By automating repetitive and time-consuming activities, such as data entry, formatting, and fact-checking, media organisations can significantly increase their productivity and accuracy.
Personalisation: Personalisation can enhance the user experience, increase retention, and generate more revenue. Automation can help media organisations achieve personalisation at scale by using algorithms to automatically collect, segment, and act on user data.
Real-time Analytics and Insights: By continuously monitoring metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and ad performance, media outlets can make data-driven decisions to optimise content strategies, and target specific demographics, in real time.
Cost Savings and Scalability: Automating repetitive tasks not only improves efficiency but also helps media organisations reduce operational costs in the long run. By investing in automation technologies, companies can streamline workflows, minimise manual labour expenses, and achieve economies of scale.
How do you avoid the stigma around Automation replacing jobs?
A leading media organisation explains how focusing on operational automation and efficiency is key to avoiding resistance within its culture. The messaging around automation should be around lean production and improved processes, not about job replacement. The focus is on continuous improvement at an operational level and working with employees to address areas of productivity increase for their job role.
Managing the change
Balancing digital transformation with implementing changes and delivering value is essential. Too much time spent persuading will take away from the development and rapid time to value the benefits Low-Code technology can deliver. Establishing this equilibrium is imperative to delivering on business objectives. One media organisation commented on this, stating that they observed people becoming more receptive to change once they witnessed the benefits and improvements it brought. Often, the mere idea of change provokes more resistance than actually implementing it and gaining buy-in afterward.
Future-proofing Media Businesses
As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, automation will play an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of media.Embracing automation allows media organisations to stay competitive in a fast-paced digital environment, where innovation and agility are key to survival.By harnessing the power of automation, media outlets can stay ahead of the curve, anticipate industry trends, and continuously evolve to meet the needs of their audiences.
Whilst looking at ways to equip their workforce to confidently embrace the positive outcomes automation and AI can deliver, considering approaches to prompt engineering becoming a key part of onboarding, in order to maximise productivity and efficiency.
Reach out to our experts to find out how Hitachi Solutions can help your organisation embrace automation and improve productivity and operational efficiency.
