A client recently raised a concern about how they can use AI content without their customers knowing, and it’s something we’ve been thinking about.
You might be seeing loads of stories on your social media about how AI is going to revolutionise your business, save you hours every week, and transform your marketing overnight. And honestly? It’s not entirely wrong. We use it too, and it is amazing, and it does save us time, but (and it’s a big ‘BUT’) it’s also making us all look the same and sound the same, so how do you make the most of AI without falling into the trap of turning into everyone else and looking pretty obvious for it at the same time?
To start with, here are our ‘dos’:
DO use it for first drafts, but change it (a lot!)
Total transparency alert!! I used AI to start this newsletter (yes, I did get the irony and so did AI!)
I knew what I wanted to say in my head and explained it in the prompt, but why did I use it to start with if I basically knew what I wanted to say? Probably because, like you, I am feeling overwhelmed (I missed the last edition and I’m in danger of missing this one, too!) and because starting with something is so much easier than starting with a blank sheet, isn’t it?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with this (in fact, we’d recommend it for time and stress management!), but then you must go through it and change it. This article will look nothing like the one Claude wrote, but it’s given me a structure and, more importantly, stopped my procrastination in its tracks. So, absolutely, use it for first drafts. Just make it your own and make it sound like you.
DO use it for things like product descriptions, meta descriptions, etc
This will save you so much time, and AI is good at this. As we know, AI can generate five different versions in a second, whereas you can take ages to come up with one. Once you decide on your version, you can have it applied to other products, etc., so everything is consistent and optimised.
Again, we use it for this, too. In fact, we often tell it to only write one version, as five just isn’t necessary, and if we can save water and use AI responsibly, we all should. AI is so good at things like this, one should be enough, especially if your prompt is clear and informative, you won’t need five versions, you will just need the once.
DO use it for social media planning
Again, another amazing benefit. Again, though definitely not perfect and definitely something that needs ‘you’ to make it yours.
Posts that are literally lifted from the AI plan and posted on socials are obvious. I love some of the ideas, don’t like others, and some are just not us but have some legs. Same with the captions. The final version should look a lot different to what you first get from AI, but as we have already said, the curse of blank page is eradicated if you get a starting point and definitely use AI for social starting points (especially when your head is full of an unmanageable to-do list!)
DO use it to handle difficult clients or tricky situations
We can’t recommend this one enough and think it is one of AI’s most underrated business uses.
We’ve all been there, and we’ve all responded too quickly, and too emotionally.
When you need to reply to a tricky email or request, type out what you actually want to say (this is very cathartic!), then ask AI to help you say it professionally.
We would say this is the one instance where it doesn’t matter so much if people think you used AI. If it resolves amicably and calms a situation (and you!) that’s got to be a good thing, right?
DO use it to repurpose content
This is something we keep forgetting to do, but it is excellent for this.
Have you written a blog post? Ask AI to create five social posts from it.
Is there some social content that has gotten a lot of attention? Ask AI to suggest 5 ways to repurpose it.
This could save so much time and also give your socials and marketing more focus. We all spend so long creating new content, we don’t use what we have to its full potential (ourselves included!).
Ok, so that’s some of the dos. What about the don’ts? What shouldn’t you do?
DON’T publish AI copy without editing it
No surprise here, but please, please, please don’t copy and paste. When our client asked us this question, she was right. If you use it too much, the customer will know.
If there are too many telltale signs (we all know what they are), it devalues what you are saying.
A good tip is to read it out loud or think ‘is that something I would say?’ or even ‘Is that something I would know? If you wouldn’t say it, wouldn’t write it and don’t actually know it, don’t publish it. If there’s any doubt, just delete it.
DON’T use it for ALL your marketing efforts
As designers, we would say to be careful about using AI for marketing. As we are seeing, the designs it suggests are so similar that you really do just blend in, and people are genuinely getting turned off by it. There is literally no ‘brand’ in it.
We did a recent post on this and if you can’t use professional designers every time (which is totally understandable) we’d say go back to Canva – you have so much more choice here and you can make sure it is more appropriate and consistent for your brand. If you publish something like this, everyone will know you’ve used AI!!
DON’T use it as a substitute for your own expertise
SPOILER ALERT: AI can be wrong!! It doesn’t know everything. It only knows what it is told.
Your knowledge of your industry, your customers, and your specific situation is what makes you ‘you’ and that has more value than you know.
AI doesn’t know about your business, your journey and your goals. It might sound great, but you do know your stuff and your own customers. Always remember that.
We are seeing it a lot with marketing design. Clients ask AI for design feedback, and it will always give you feedback because it’s software that does what you ask. Is it right? No, not always. If you keep asking for feedback, it will start giving you conflicting advice very quickly.
DON’T let it erase your identity
This is linked to the point above, but using AI without any critical thinking means you do become like everyone else and sound like everyone else.
As Dash says in The Incredibles, “When everyone’s superl, no one is’. Your brand identity, your personality, your tone, and your voice are bespoke to you, and you will have worked hard to achieve this. Don’t let AI replace you!
DON’T forget to update and personalise everything it gives you
This is it in a nutshell, really.
Use AI, of course, and it can bring some huge benefits, but use everything as a starting point.
Essentially, you want your customer to read something you wrote on your website, your socials or your marketing and know it was written by a real person.
Short-cuts are fine, but always review and always add a bit of ‘you’
AI is a tool; it’s not a replacement for us, our words, or our thoughts.
Hopefully, you can see that this is genuinely written by us and reflects what we think (apologies for any typos!).
So, if you want to use AI but don’t want to sound like you have, we hope this helps.
As ever, it is not the technology that is the problem, but how people use it. That is something we can all control.
If any of this resonates with you, or if you have any other hints or tips for using AI authentically, please get in touch or share in the comments. We’d love to hear.
