AI is transforming how businesses approach marketing, from research and strategy to content creation and customer engagement. And with many of these capabilities now affordable for small and midsize businesses, it’s helping to level the playing field.
A business no longer needs a large marketing department to accomplish things that once required multiple specialists. AI can help with research, content development, data analysis, and a remarkable number of time-consuming tasks.
With all these capabilities, it’s easy to get caught up in creating things simply because we can. But a beautiful flyer or professional-looking video isn’t necessarily effective marketing. Are we reaching the right people? Are we communicating something that matters to them? And does what we’re creating support an actual marketing strategy?
Those questions are just as important now as they’ve always been, perhaps even more so.
How Can Small Businesses Use AI to Improve Their Marketing Strategy?
AI gives small businesses access to research and analysis that might previously have been too expensive or time-consuming to pursue.
For example, a business can use AI to research its competitors, better understand its target audience, identify gaps in its marketing, and explore different approaches before investing time and money in a campaign.
But the value of that information depends on what you do with it. You still have to evaluate the findings, decide which opportunities make sense for your business, and develop a plan that supports your goals.
That’s where AI can be especially useful: helping businesses make more informed decisions before they start creating marketing materials.
Is AI Making Businesses Focus Too Much on Content Quantity?
One of the biggest mistakes businesses can make with AI is confusing productivity with results.
Because content is easier and less expensive to produce, there’s a temptation to create more of everything. More blog posts, more social media updates, more videos, more emails.
But is all that additional content accomplishing anything?
A company can publish every day and still fail to connect with its audience. It can have a beautifully written blog that doesn’t answer the questions its customers are asking. It can produce dozens of social media posts that look impressive but do little to generate interest in its products or services.
Before creating more content, businesses should be asking themselves whether that content is going to accomplish anything worthwhile.
That’s where marketing experience, research, and an understanding of your audience become so important.
Why AI-Generated Content Makes It Harder to Stand Out
As AI-generated content becomes more common, original thinking, good design, and real-world experience will become increasingly valuable.
We’re already seeing how similar AI-generated marketing materials can look. Think about some of the brochures and flyers being produced with AI. They’re often packed with graphics, effects, and competing visual elements. At first glance, they can look impressive, but they’re frequently so busy that it’s difficult to know where to focus your attention or what message you’re supposed to take away.
The same thing is happening with written content. When everyone is using similar tools and working from similar information, it’s not surprising that so much of it starts to sound alike.
And with businesses now able to produce more content in less time, we’re seeing an enormous amount of marketing material competing for the same attention. That makes it easier than ever for a business to get lost in the crowd, even when it’s producing professional-looking materials.
This is particularly relevant as more people begin using AI-powered search tools to research products, services, and businesses. Google’s own guidelines for creating helpful, reliable content emphasize original information, firsthand expertise, and content that provides genuine value to readers.
As AI makes content creation easier for everyone, the challenge of standing out is only going to become greater.
How Can Businesses Use AI to Repurpose Existing Content?
One opportunity businesses frequently overlook is the value of content they’ve already created.
Many companies have years of accumulated knowledge sitting in old blog posts, recorded presentations, interviews, customer questions, webinars, and videos. They may not realize how much material they already have that could be used in their marketing.
One of the ways we’ve put this into practice is through my work with Equiquest, a private real estate lending company on Long Island.
We start by recording a podcast-style conversation about a topic that’s relevant to their audience. Once we’ve edited the recording, we publish the full-length video on YouTube. From there, we identify shorter segments that can stand on their own as social media videos, each focusing on a particular question, insight, or piece of advice from the conversation.
We also develop a blog article based on the discussion, expanding on topics that would be useful to someone researching real estate investing or private lending.
But we don’t stop there. We might create an email or two around the same topic, perhaps offering practical advice to existing customers or encouraging prospective borrowers to take the next step. We’ll also feature an excerpt from the blog article in the company’s newsletter, with a link to read the full article on the website.
What I particularly like about this approach is that we’re carrying a consistent message across the different ways we communicate with customers and prospects. Someone might first encounter the topic through a short video, explore it further in a blog post, or receive an email addressing a question they’ve been considering.
Because the original conversation comes directly from people with firsthand experience in the industry, we have valuable, original content to build upon rather than relying on generic information that anyone could find online.
AI helps us review the recording, identify worthwhile topics, organize the information, and develop content for each platform. It’s a much more efficient process than creating every piece independently, and it allows us to get considerably more value out of that original conversation.
How Can You Use AI in Marketing Without Losing Your Brand’s Identity?
One of the challenges with AI is making sure the marketing materials it produces actually look and feel like they belong to your business.
A social media graphic might look great on its own, but does it fit with the rest of your brand? Are the colors, fonts, imagery, and overall design consistent with what your customers are used to seeing? The same applies to brochures, ads, videos, and written content.
I use AI extensively in my own work, from research and brainstorming to developing content and creating graphics. But I rarely use what it produces without making adjustments. Sometimes it’s a matter of refining the layout or simplifying a design. Other times the messaging isn’t quite right, or the overall look doesn’t fit the brand.
I’ve also found that the more information you give AI about a business, the better the results tend to be. That includes brand guidelines, examples of previous marketing materials, information about the audience, and the company’s preferred communication style.
Even with all that information, though, AI doesn’t always get it right. It might introduce colors or design elements that aren’t part of the brand, produce visuals that feel generic, or create messaging that doesn’t sound like the business.
That’s why human oversight is so important. Every marketing piece contributes to how people recognize and perceive your business, and consistency across those materials helps build a recognizable brand.
Ultimately, whether you’re creating a social media post, a brochure, a video, or a blog article, it should feel like it came from your business, regardless of which tools you used to create it.
Why Does Marketing Strategy Matter More Than Ever in the Age of AI?
Businesses are making marketing more complicated than it needs to be.
There are so many tools, platforms, and emerging technologies that it’s easy to feel as though you need to do everything to remain competitive.
But the fundamentals of marketing haven’t changed nearly as much as the tools we use.
You still need to understand who your customers are, what they need, why they should choose your business, and how to reach them.
You also need realistic expectations about what marketing can accomplish and how long it may take to see results.
A social media post, a blog article, a video, or an email campaign can all be valuable, but they need to be part of a larger plan. Ideally, each should support a specific objective, whether that’s building awareness, attracting potential customers, establishing credibility, or generating sales.
I’d much rather see a business commit to a manageable, consistent marketing approach than launch into an elaborate strategy it doesn’t have the resources to maintain.
This is where AI creates an interesting challenge. Because so many marketing activities are now easier to accomplish, businesses have even more choices about where to spend their time and resources.
Without a clear strategy, it’s entirely possible to become much more productive without becoming any more effective.
What Should Businesses Look for in an AI Marketing Partner?
As AI becomes more integrated into marketing, the role of marketing professionals is going to evolve considerably.
Businesses will have access to more tools and capabilities than ever before, but they’ll still need help figuring out which opportunities make sense for their particular situation.
The most valuable marketing partners will be those who understand the fundamentals of marketing, recognize where AI can improve efficiency, and know when a more traditional approach makes sense.
They’ll also need to understand how the different pieces of a marketing strategy work together and whether the work being done is actually supporting the company’s goals.
I’ve spent more than three decades developing marketing materials, building businesses, creating content, and working with clients. AI has changed the way I approach many of those activities, and I use it every day.
That experience helps me recognize when AI is producing something useful, when it’s missing important context, and when there’s a better way to approach a problem.
That kind of judgment will become increasingly important as businesses have more technology and more marketing options to choose from.
The Future of AI in Marketing: Making Better Decisions
We’re still in the early stages of understanding how much AI can improve the way businesses work. There are new tools and capabilities being introduced all the time, and it’s easy to get caught up in trying everything, whether or not it makes sense for your business.
I’d like to see more businesses use AI to eliminate repetitive work, get more value out of their existing content, and make better marketing decisions. Ideally, that efficiency also gives them more time to focus on their customers, develop relationships, and think creatively about growing their business.
After more than 30 years in marketing, I find it fascinating how much the technology has changed while the fundamentals have remained relatively consistent.
AI has dramatically reduced the time and cost involved in producing marketing materials. But it hasn’t reduced the importance of knowing which marketing materials are worth producing in the first place.
That’s something worth keeping in mind as businesses decide how to incorporate AI into their marketing.