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It seems that more and more small business owners are simply firing their marketing agencies, especially the ones dealing with social media, and simply switching to using AI to guide them.
The question is…
Should you switch to AI instead of using a marketing agency?
The short answer: It depends on several things.
Let’s dig into it in more detail:
By switching away from using professionals and opting for using AI to do your small business marketing, the aim is to reduce costs. After all, having fired your $2,000 agency, you can now delegate all of your marketing tasks to an intern, and you can use the information you get from ChatGPT to guide them.
Next, give them access to an AI-driven video content creation tool like Pictory, and they are good to go.
They can manage everything in just a few hours a day, slashing a huge chunk off your monthly bill.
Easy, right?
Well, here’s where things become a little blurry…
Yes, there is a massive savings in costs. But as my wise (accountant) friend used to say: “Everything in life is a trade-off”. There is no denying that; just look at all of the social media marketers on Linkedin struggling to get work.
The trade-off is that your marketing results will take a hit.
There are several reasons for that:
1. Getting AI to tell you what to do doesn’t tell you everything you need to know.
Yes, AI will give you content and scripts, and even create the videos for you. The content might not be the best, but it can work if your prompts are good.
However, not only does each social media platform have its own nuances and tricks, but they also keep updating their algorithms to improve user experience (and their own bottom line). It’s a constant process.
Will ChatGPT or Claude or MS Copilot know about it when it happens? Let’s not bank on that.
It also doesn’t tell you the best time to post for each platform, and it isn’t very good with finding the best hashtags either.
2. Sometimes, AI gets things wrong.
In some cases it is about the AI simply not having access to enough current information, and sometimes it is because it is still learning.
Most of the time, however, the problem lies with YOU. The prompts that you feed the AI creates its understanding of your business.
There are two major issues that new AI users fail to acknowledge (we learned the hard way too):
a. If you want a proper, correct answer, you will need to input incredibly detailed prompts of several hundred words each. If you don’t, the responses you get will be generic, and some of it may not even apply to your business.
Not many new AI users have that level of skill. There is a learning curve to it.
The same also goes for using AI to generate video content. The ore generic your prompt is, the more generic your content will be. it will not be tailor made for your specific audience.
b. The answers that the AI gives you are shaped by your entire conversation history. it “learns” from you every time you engage in a chat. If you used to be happy with generic or mediocre responses, it might not get you the results you expect when you suddenly start using detailed prompts.
Been there, tried that. Didn’t work too well. Even tried to delete the entire account’s chat history. It didn’t fix the results overnight, but it did help.
3. There are limits to the video (and graphics) content you can create with AI.
While AI generates the most stunning images, we have found it to produce regular spelling mistakes – which it repeats, even when it is pointed out.
In addition to that, the platform you use for creating your AI generated videos will determine the quality of what you get. If you are not in a hurry to grow quickly, and don’t mind throwing around a few hundred dollars per month just for that, you can get access to a high quality tool, and settle for fewer minutes of video creation per month.
However, there are two issues with that:
a. It can quickly add back a chunk of what you were trying to save by dumping your marketing agency.
b. Less content posted on social media means slower growth. You will be amazed to see how much growth you can generate by simply posting each day. However, if the content is of a lower quality, not only will it not attract as many prospects, but it may also not attract the prospects you want – especially if you sell high ticket products or services.
So, when it comes to AI and marketing, where does that leave YOU?
There are two things to consider:
a. The stage your business is at. If you are just starting out, and your budget is tight, you may simply want to “just get something out there” to be seen.
If, however, your business is already up and running, and it is already generating a reasonable amount of revenue, it might not be the best move. You are likely to take a substantial step backwards in terms of profits.
And no, you won’t see it immediately. After all, the foundation laid by your marketing agency will still be there. But over time, as the reduced quality and lack of understanding persists, the results of your new actions will compound.
And as Einstein said: “Compounding is the most powerful force in the universe.”
Aside from throwing money away on ads that are being run inefficiently, your social media results depend on engagement. If the quality of your content drops, so does the engagement, and so does the overall reach. THAT also compounds.
b. How much are you willing to lose in the short term? Over time, your AI will learn from you, and you will learn how to use it best. The person you delegated the marketing tasks to will improve. Things will get better.
(Just be sure to hang on to that person. If they leave, you will be back to square one.)
However, if you – and the person you delegate to – lack the skill set to make everything work right out of the gate, the results will not be the same. Not for some time, especially as the results of your learning curve compound over time.
It may look okay at the start, but it will soon decline, and stay there until after you have figured it all out. And only then will it start improving again, which will take time.
Because by then, you will have accumulated a load of “bad history” on your social media accounts (and with Google, if you work on SEO and/or blog).
Since you won’t really know WHY, you will be hiring a consultant to find the issue.
If you really want to take the plunge, hire the consultant FIRST to help you make the transition. That way, you can at least avoid some of the inevitable losses.