Don’t like reading? Listen to the audio version instead:
If you listened to the audio, you may want to Click Here.
Otherwise, read on:
AI is changing many landscapes at a rapid pace, including marketing. In fact, some experts believe that up to 300 MILLION jobs will be lost in the course of the next 18 months due to AI…
Where does that mean for you as a small business owner?
Maybe we should ask another question first:
What will marketing look like in a year from now?
1. AI will know everything – literally:
AI already has access to the internet. Elon Musk tried to warn us, but as he himself said a while ago: “The genie is out of the bottle.”
And with AI becoming integrated into search engines, and AI platforms developing their own search engines, much of the information that is now only available upon payment, will be accessible to anyone.
Of course, with every single update, AI is leaping ahead with giant strides, which, when combined with quantum computing…
Will eventually make for mind-boggling access to (curated, processed and interpreted) information.
2. AI search is likely to take over, and make SEO very difficult:
Between quantum computing and ground breaking AI advancements, chances are that (a) the number of search results displayed will become fewer, and (b) that selection will be so good that the rest of the search results would have been irrelevant anyway.
Why? Because unlike Google, AI can ask you questions about what you really want or what the intent of your search is. It can give you options to choose from, and narrow down the search by adding more parameters.
That means that, regardless of how it ranks web pages, there will be even less room to rank on search engines. Even if you do manage to rank, and the results do indeed remain visible, anything outside the top three spots will probably be worthless.
In addition to that, we expect that quantum computing will make it possible for AI search engines to do a lot more to establish your credibility too – which may very well impact your search visibility.
3. With all of this AI “stuff” happening, people will want human contact:
We already see it happening – with live shopping. The internet has already been flooded with AI generated articles, videos, ebooks, courses, and products.
Yet, amidst all of this, we see a surprising growth in educational communities – like the ones hosted on Skool. Human connection is a basic human need…
4. AI will create things for you:
We already see it happening – With GPT’s from ChatGPT, and tools created by Bolt AI. Right now, you still have to be somewhat tech savvy to create tools using AI, but in a year from now, most people will probably build their own tools for marketing.
As the CEO of Microsoft recently said, paid software will be replaced by AI agents. SAAS applications will be replaced by AI agents too. It is already possible to create many of these by simply telling the AI what the agent needs to be able to do.
And of course, as far as content creation goes, the genie is out of the bottle already.
So, How does that leave your marketing efforts?
Well, we see two schools of thought emerging. In fact, they are here already:
1. AI driven, automated marketing.
Everything is done using AI agents – including content creation, content distribution/publishing, repurposing, planning, keyword research, creating websites, lead capturing and intelligent lead nurturing using AI chatbots with intelligent, behavior-targeted follow-ups.
Right now, setting it up comes with either a steep learning curve or a hefty price tag, but we suspect it will become easier to set it up over time.
And no, it won’t be completely free. Most of these AI agents require the use of an API – Application Programming Interface – a mechanism to help software components to communicate across websites.
API usage is not too expensive, but it isn’t free.
2. The “old school”, human connection approach.
For cheaper products, AI driven, automated marketing will be an option. It can be done completely hands-free, if it is set up properly.
However, for anything with a price tag that implies value to the buyer, or anything that may directly have an impact on their lives in any way, we expect that a lot of people – probably more towards the upper age ranges – will want to talk to a human being.
There are a few reasons for that:
a. Many of us want to know that the person we are talking to, understands how we feel about any particular situation. As humans, we crave empathy and sympathy. We need “to have our voices heard”.
While a machine will eventually be able to understand these emotions, it cannot experience them.
b. Many people feel that having to deal with a machine, and not a human being, is a reflection of how little they are valued as customers.
c. Our guess is that it will take a while for many humans to trust machines completely. It’s a primal thing – we are wary of what we do not understand.
But…
As AI and quantum computing continues to advance, there will come a time when it may be very difficult to discern between humans and AI.
(Apart from the not-so-politically-correct, which may stand out for all the wrong reasons)
So, where does that leave you in 2025?
Unless you put a lot of work into not only creating SEO content, but also into building backlinks and establishing your authority in your field on social media…
Search engine optimization might (for smaller businesses) not be a very profitable marketing exercise in a year from now.
Yes, “parasite SEO” will still be useful for long tailed keywords (posting content on high value sites like Medium, Linkedin articles, Youtube, guest posting on authority sites, etc.). It is, however, likely to become quite difficult for small websites to be visible in search – unless you offer something totally unique.
The real opportunity, however, lies on social media. With more and more people looking towards personal brands to see who they can trust, this will allow you – for now at least – to establish your authority in an environment of interpersonal contact.
(How long it takes before AI content/speech/interaction becomes indistinguishable from human, will probably depend on your niche. Some will take longer than others before AI catches up)
Also, the better you do on social media, the higher the probability of your website showing up at the top of search results – whether it be Google or some AI search engine.
The bottom line is this:
If you haven’t grown a solid social presence yet, and you want to sell yourself as “a real person”…
Time is running out.
2025 may be the last year that you can actually have an advantage over AI – use it to get ahead.