The Good, The Bad, and The Truth about AI and Marketing
I’ve built my career in digital marketing and content creation. But in my heart, I am old school.
I was trained as a print journalist, with the goal of writing for newspapers that you could actually hold. I subscribed to physical magazines long after they all moved online and continue to read books with paper pages instead of Kindle editions. And most importantly, I learned how useful em dashes (—) are to emphasize a point long before they became a marker for bot writing. I am very salty about that one. I love them, but much like the great Oxford Comma debate (iykyk), they’ve certainly become a point of contention. Sigh.
So, am I a walking dichotomy? Sure. But this duality has given me a bit of a superpower: I know how to use the new tools, tricks, and algorithms to bolster the core, tried-and-true strategies that make marketing work. Nowhere is this more prevalent or more urgent than the surge in AI.
But fear not, my dear fellow humans, for today I share my power with you. I highly recommend reading this in its entirety, but if you’re pressed for time or attention span, it all comes down to this singular truth: AI is a tool—not a strategy. Em dash for emphasis.
The folks seeing the greatest results from AI aren't using it to replace marketing. They're using it to make good marketing faster, more efficient, and more scalable.
Let’s walk through it.
The Good
As I said above, one of AI's biggest strengths is helping marketers work more efficiently. Need help brainstorming? AI can generate dozens of ideas in seconds. Need a rough first draft of a social media post? AI can get the ball rolling. Need to summarize research, organize notes, or analyze trends? AI can save hours of manual work. I’ve worked with many small businesses and lean marketing teams, and let me tell you, these efficiencies can be game-changing. I considered asking AI to draft this blog for me, but that felt too meta for a Monday.
When used as a starting point, AI can be a catalyst for a great campaign. My rule of thumb is to use it as intended: to tackle the time-intensive grunt work so that we humans have the time and capacity to use our creativity, wit, and strategy to make something special and build deeper relationships with our partners and audiences. That's where the real value lies. AI just helps us get there faster.
The Bad
The problems start when AI becomes the entire marketing plan. I know you’ve seen websites filled with generic statements that don’t actually mean anything, social feeds packed with repetitive content, and emails that sound like they were written by a robot talking to another robot. And let me guess, you didn’t like it.
Here’s why: (most) people have a built-in radar for recognizing what was written by a bot vs. an actual human. Our brains are wired to be cautious of anything that reads “uncanny valley.” Our ancestors saw something in the dark that looked like eyes and knew it could be a predator that had evolved to mimic their appearance. Our instincts haven’t evolved much. We know when something is a bit off, a bit non-human, and our gut warns us to be on edge. That’s not exactly the innate reaction you want for your shiny new campaign.
Don’t even get me started on the creepy AI-generated graphics where people have too many teeth or look like your childhood sleep-paralysis demon. Just say no.
I also won’t get into the devastating environmental impact of data centers, though I highly encourage you to Google it if you aren’t aware. As someone who lives in a desert climate, I am very aware of the green cost that comes with AI and I support every hope, plan, and action to make this inevitable future more sustainable.
The Truth
Getting back to marketing…the issue isn't that AI created the content. It’s that the process stopped there. Without someone real to add expertise, personality, or strategic thinking before publishing it, you’re just regurgitating what people have already seen.
Your audience doesn't want more content. They want useful content.
AI is extremely useful. But it doesn’t know the conversations you're having with customers every day, the challenges unique to your industry, or the stories that really move people to action.
That's where human expertise matters. People understanding people.
The Tips, Tricks, and Takeaways
This old dog has learned lots of new tricks, and so can you. Here are my quick tips for using AI, with some caveats to keep you safe on the journey.
Research. AI has access to the entire internet’s worth of information and data. It is extremely helpful when you need to quickly find niche industry averages or summarize new trends.
MAJOR, HUGE, IMPORTANT CAVEAT: For the love of all that is good, please verify any information that comes back from a bot. One trick I’ve learned is to include a request for sources in my prompt. I’ll even go so far as to clarify what I believe to be reputable, i.e., medical journals vs. a subreddit. And even then, proceed with caution.
Analysis. Similar to research, many Chatbots do a great job of taking a chunk of data and distilling it into a few key takeaways.
CAVEAT: As with research, this caveat is based on the fact that chatbots can make mistakes or come with biases that might not be relevant to your work. You’ll need to examine the data and takeaways yourself to ensure you understand and agree with the outcomes. Also, you will be the one explaining it to your (I assume, human) bosses. So I would highly recommend knowing what you’re talking about.
Brainstorming content/draft copy. The push you need to get started when things feel stuck.
CAVEAT: Don’t forget to actually do the work afterward to make it look, sound, and feel like your brand.
Summarizing long-form content. Need to distill your meeting notes down? AI!
CAVEAT: Need to double-check it all in case ChatGPT didn’t think that one super-important thing your boss said was worth including in the overview? Yes!
AI is the future, and avoiding AI altogether is a quick way to get left behind. But those blindly handing over their marketing to a chatbot are doomed to lose the core human connection that drives impact and conversions.
The winners will be the folks who learn how to combine human creativity, strategic thinking, and customer understanding with the efficiency that AI provides. That's where the real opportunity exists.
AI can feel like the Wild West, but that’s why SSP Creative is here to help. If you want to learn more about using AI without losing the human perspective that makes marketing effective, let’s chat!
