AI is everywhere, promising everything, but businesses that have gone all-in often find the shortcomings themselves. In the podcast episode AI Won’t Save You—If You Suck at Marketing, co-hosts Julia and Laura talk about these shortcomings when it comes to marketing. Our rule of thumb? Treat AI like you would an intern: a potential timesaver if you train it properly, provide the right oversight, and know what you can and cannot delegate.
An AI Doesn’t Know Your Business
It’s important to understand that not only does an AI not know your business, it knows nothing. It’s something our COO Julia Becker Collins talks extensively about. AI is a complex calculator and can only output good content when it’s inputted first. You’ll need to discuss your business with them, covering everything from an overview to specific products and services offered, as well as your online presence.
An AI Doesn’t Understand Strategy
AI doesn’t know what marketing has and hasn’t worked for you, what you’re currently working on, and your goals in marketing. In short, it doesn’t understand the marketing strategy you need.
- You Have to Have a Plan Before AI: Before you start any major marketing push, you need to make a marketing plan: a formal document outlining what your goals are and what specific marketing can help you reach them.
- You Have to Explain Your Ideal Clients: Who do you want to sell to? Planning out your ideal client profiles is the only way you’ll be able to reach them both organically and with advertising.
- You’ve Got to Train AI on Brand Voice: Unless you want your brand to sound AI generic, you’ve got to train it. Feed it examples of your tone, positioning, and key messages. Building this voice is a vital part of consistent branding.
An AI Needs Constant Oversight
The past social media blunders of the online brands are littered with the plan to “just let the intern do it,” and it’s no different with AI today. You will need to constantly review what content your AI produces, be it images, social media, or even blog posts, to make sure it both sounds like your brand and has the right information. You may also need to add stronger calls to action to ensure that your marketing can translate into sales.
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision Advertising CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, watch us on YouTube, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox. Interested in working with us? Learn more about our services and contact us today.
