top of page
Search

Using AI to Create Your Small Business’s Marketing Content is Costing You More than You Realize


by Kira Starzynski

In the small slice of southwestern Pennsylvania that I call home, I can’t help but notice that small business owners are quickly picking up on the ease of AI for content creation. It’s wonderful that small businesses have a new tool to help them stay alive during increasingly tricky economic times. On the other hand, some businesses aren’t seeing the returns they’d hoped for. Why not? People want to see authentic content more than ever right now and good intentions alone don’t make to a strong marketing strategy.



AI slop, or images and writing created by AI that lack human authenticity, is clogging our digital airwaves and data centers. We’ll save the latter for another day. You may have heard about some of the more specific debates around soulless AI generated content: The great em dash debate of 2025, the ethics of creating AI art while graphic designers are struggling to find jobs, the replacement of photographers with “real-life” portraits, and on it goes. AI slop continues to proliferate the internet and our social media channels in particular. I’ve even started seeing billboards smeared in AI-generated advertisements. In San Francisco, the billboards are even more bleak.


While small businesses are saving money, they’re missing out on having a unique brand identity and a measurable, strategic marketing strategy. AI content mostly looks and sounds the same. Can you spot AI writing? It’s not in your face. Or always factual—it’s just quiet slop.


Companies are spending less on marketing, a trend that began in 2021 and hasn’t changed. Good branding and ad campaigns used to make the difference for them but even corporations are struggling to find their footing in this new digital marketing era. If you’ve watched the hit series Mad Men, you have some idea of how advertising companies became a hot commodity to secure for competing companies. 

In a world of a billion brands and trying times, small businesses need ways to save money and do things themselves. AI can be a useful tool but it can’t replace the authentic brand identity that helps a small business stand out enough to capture the attention of their target audience. The only way to create that magic is through human-driven, authentic brand strategy.


What AI is actually good for?

You don’t need to stop using AI, but you do need to stop using it for the things that require a human touch. AI is fantastic at helping small business owners:

  • Streamline workflows and eliminate pain points: Identify the best software, tools for your specific needs and ways to overcome clunky processes, inefficiencies, and budgeting challenges. Generate ideas on how to create temporary solutions, long-term fixes, and budget-friendly ways to save money, time, or reduce friction in your customer journeys.

  • Create general content ideas: Coming up with ideas can become difficult, especially week after week. Your content strategy should be driven by you or your team. Content calendars, channel distributions, ideal posting times, and writer’s block assists are great tasks for AI. Always make sure final content aligns with your brand’s true voice and tone. Never publish a copy-pasta (I said what I said) from any AI source.

  • Create document templates: There is no benefit to spending hours creating beautiful documents for meetings, text-heavy, instructional posters, invoices, or anything that’s less personality-driven. This kind of generic design and perfunctory content is just what AI is actually good at creating. It’s always a good idea to add your branding to documents and do a voice and tone review before hitting print.

  • Creating schedules: No more spending hours figuring out how to build a schedule that factors in everyone’s special requests. Now Sally can take off the week, Randy can work only day shifts, and Betty can work weekends only. Ask AI to tell you who is working when based on all of their scheduling constraints. Bonus: it can put it into an Excel sheet or a nicely formatted doc that you can hang in the break room. Easy-peasy. 

  • Financial quandaries: Budgets, invoices, purchasing orders, pricing strategies, expense reports. If it has numbers, AI is great. Always double-check its math. There are some great tools out there already or try your skills with vibe coding if you’re up for a challenge.


Where AI falls short for small businesses

AI is coded to be agreeable. That’s why it’s so gosh darn nice all the time. It’s also why AI is predisposed to lie to you. Because it wants to support you so much, that it is a diagnosed people pleaser. According to an article by Science.org, AI’s agreeability “has harmful effects on users’ social judgments.” AI is a tool, but you are the source of integrity, truth, and the only moral compass for your business. If you’re letting AI create content without intervention, you’re handing the keys of your business’s marketing and branding strategy over to a toxic positivity machine with no soul. No computer algorithm, no matter how well designed or coded or even sentient, can ever replace the heart and personality you bring to your business. Without you, our small business marketing is going to start to look a lot like the copy cat land of Amazon’s marketplace. And even on Amazon, you need a brand strategy to survive.



Consumers are hungry for your authenticity as well as your products and services. Make sure you don’t fade away by sitting in the backseat of your business’s most important differentiator: your unique brand strategy.


What is brand strategy and why does it matter? 

“A brand strategy is a complete guide, a comprehensive road map that helps outline the details of your business. It includes your brand's mission, values, vision, target market and needs. A brand strategy is communicated to your team members to help tailor and direct their efforts toward a united goal.” - By Cloé Luv Merraro for Forbes magazine


What marketing consultants bring that AI cannot

There’s a reason small businesses spend between 2% to 5% of their total revenue on marketing and advertising: it’s the difference between here for now and here forever. Think of some of the brands who’ve found a place in your heart. Some with a funny commercial, others a catchy tagline, and all of them by being authentic enough to make you feel seen and valued as a customer. These personal brand connections don’t happen overnight and they also take thoughtful strategy. While many small business owners have a specific idea of their brand persona and ways they can connect authentically with their target audience, many small business owners get overwhelmed by the complexity of modern marketing channels. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the amorphous blob of marketing to-do’s and knowing what, how, and when, then it might be time to tap in a consultant. Marketing consultants can help to set your business up for the long haul by building the foundation of your strategy, including:

  • Brand strategy and design

  • Voice and tone guidelines

  • Cohesive marketing strategy, digital, print, and media

  • Strategic, realistic advertising spend strategy

  • Guidance on networking opportunities and marketing gaps

  • An understanding of marketing strategy to carry with you longterm (if your goal is self-sufficiency)


How to decide what you need

If you’re questioning your marketing strategy, many consultants offer free consultations. See if you can get a referral through another small business owner to a trusted marketer. It’s always a good idea to ask for a high-level review of your strategy and existing collateral first. This helps you to get a better idea of how things are going so far and where you can start improving. A well (non-AI) designed logo and some branding essentials can carry your company for years. If you have those essentials and are curious about how to capitalize on AI’s time-saving power, start with some online learning. If that isn’t enough, seek out a professional business strategist to help advise on ways to improve your workflows and systems. Know when to loop in someone with more experience. Remember, you’re investing in your company’s future, not paying someone for a one-time service. Marketing is an investment, not an expense.If you enjoyed this article and are starting to wonder if you could use the support of a human marketing strategist, please reach out. I’m happy to chat about where you are in your small business journey and find ways to help you reach your goals.


Written with kindness by Kira Starzynski

for KStar Communications LLC

(628) 400-CAKE


Citations:

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page