Well, there are tons of ways you can use AI in marketing. Marketing is all about getting in front of people, and there are countless places to do that. But what exactly is AI? It’s a lot of things, really, but for this conversation, we’re focusing on generative AI. Generative AI is essentially creating something new, whether that’s an original piece, a derivative work, or a variation of something existing.
Regarding marketing, I think the most significant use cases for generative AI are in marketing communications, programming, and creative production. In marketing, you’ve got paid search, ad copy, and creative content—all areas where generative AI can shine. For instance, if you need to generate compelling ad copy, AI models like GPT can help craft persuasive messages tailored to different audience segments. It’s about creating content that resonates, quickly and at scale.
Then there’s the visual side of things, which is just as popular. Generative models can create images that enhance marketing efforts. For example, let’s say I need some Facebook image ads. I might use an image diffusion model—something like Stable Diffusion or DALL-E—combined with an actual image of my product. The key here is using a mask layer model. This allows me to isolate the product and generate custom backgrounds or even entirely new scenes that highlight the product in fresh, attention-grabbing ways.
It’s not just about random image creation; you can guide these models to align with your brand’s aesthetic or the specific message you want to convey. The result? High-quality, unique visual content that’s tailored to your marketing strategy, all generated with minimal manual effort.
So what does this mean for marketing? Honestly, it’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, AI can help improve the quality of content by enabling more precise targeting, personalization, and creative output. On the other hand, there’s a real risk that the overall quality might decline because people might just start pumping out whatever gets the most content out the fastest, aiming to grab as many eyeballs as possible.
The reality is that we prioritize speed more than anything else, which by proxy means scale, why? Because our time is limited on earth, it’s the only thing we always lose, and the best we can do is save it. We can’t physically create more of it. So coworkers always praise each other for getting things done fast or expediting processes, and quickly, we set these inhuman, mechanical expectations for our work. The temptation to cut corners becomes almost inevitable. No one wants to put in a lot of manual sweat into work that doesn’t have a clear and immediate payoff. We want to squeeze the last drop out of technology, using it to automate and scale as much as possible, but that often comes at the cost of genuine engagement and thoughtful content creation.
Ultimately, we want to achieve personalization at scale. We want to deliver highly targeted, relevant content to millions of people simultaneously. But here’s the catch: Does that mean we’re willing to learn less about the people who need the value we provide? Are we sacrificing deep, meaningful insights about our audience in favor of efficiency?
When you rely too heavily on AI to churn out content, there’s a danger of losing touch with the people you’re trying to reach. Sure, you might be able to personalize on the surface—using data to tailor messages and offers—but without a genuine understanding of your audience, that personalization can become hollow. You end up with content that looks and feels personal but lacks the depth and nuance that genuinely resonates.
So while AI offers incredible opportunities to scale our marketing efforts, it’s crucial to balance that with a commitment to truly understanding our audience. Otherwise, we risk becoming so focused on automation and scalability that we forget the real purpose of marketing: connecting with people and providing real value.
AI in marketing isn’t just a trend—it’s a tool we use to chase the one thing we can’t create: more time. We turn to it to automate, optimize, and scale because our time is limited, and efficiency is the game we play. But as we race to save every second, we risk losing something else—genuine connection and thoughtful creativity. So while AI can help us stay ahead, the real challenge is not losing sight of what truly matters in the process.
Leave a Reply