Is AI Making Marketing Boring?
Depends Who’s Using It.
Let’s be brutal here, some social media platforms like LinkedIn are starting to feel like one big AI echo chamber.
Scroll through your feed and you’ll see what I mean. All the “right” hooks and formats. Me. Well, I just scan over them now., throwing out the odd low effort like.
But, here’s the thing, AI didn’t make that happen… Lazy or uneducated AI usage did.
Using AI Isn’t the Problem
Personally, I use ChatGPT as part of my tool kit every single day, but it doesn’t speak for me.
I use it to sharpen my thinking, speed up delivery, bounce ideas around including asking it to critique me. It can me help create clarity in the chaos of my mind. I don’t use it to churn out the same five takes in slightly different words. For me, the real issue isn’t AI, it’s marketers forgetting how to think for themselves, or new marketers rising though the ranks only ever having used AI. The real problem, it is stopping people thinking. And when you stop thinking, you stop sounding like you.
The Benefits of AI for Marketers and Small Businesses
AI used well is a gift. The time savings alone are phenomenal , especially for the self-employed and small teams who wear five hats and juggle ten priorities.
I’ve used a custom GPT to:
Check tax and legal information
Draft proposals and campaign plans
Shape tone of voice guidelines
Even design the layout for the version of this very website
For me, it’s like having a super smart team mate on hand. For me and the teams I have worked in, it means faster delivery, lower costs, and more headspace for strategy.
But the information is only ever as good as the questions you ask. A lazy prompt like “Write me a LinkedIn post” will give you exactly what you'd expect: generic, templated content that sounds just like everyone else.
Take this blog, for example. Right now, I’m typing this directly into ChatGPT, typos, tangents and all. The ideas and tone are mine. But I’m using the AI to help shape and smooth the final version. This way I can write freely without getting bogged down in formatting or phrasing. Then, once Chat GPT has ‘polished’ my version. I’ll go in and heavy edit it. I use a GPT for the second draft only, it just organises my thoughts and fixes my many, many typos.
The Great Divide: AI-Driven vs AI-Led Marketing
What’s going to be fascinating is the divide AI will create in marketing. It will be easy to spot… the users who rely on templated hooks, who show up every day with ‘polished’ but painfully dull posts, all following the same format, same tone, and same em dash obsession. (Which I’m a bit upset about because I used to love using a dash in my writing)
But you’ll notice the professionals marketers and teams, still using AI (we're early adopters by nature), but as a thinking partner instead. When everyone is saying the same thing in the same voice, we’ll be breaking though the noise.
Voice, Value and Differentiation
In a sea of sameness, tone of voice is your biggest differentiator. It’s what makes someone stop scrolling and think: Finally, someone who gets it.
If AI is your content machine, tone of voice is the engine. Without it, you’re just adding more noise. With it, you’re scaling clarity, consistency and connection.
But it’s Not Just Content, You Can Brand Build with AI:
The opportunity isn't just faster content, it's sharper strategy. AI can crunch competitive landscapes, analyse sentiment across channels, and simulate campaign outcomes. It can unlock personalisation at scale. But that only works when paired with creative courage and a clear brand identity.
The future isn't AI-generated content. It's AI-augmented creativity. It's brands using data and tech to say more human things in smarter ways.
The Marketer's Role Won’t Disappear
Now more than ever, marketers must own the narrative, curate the insights, and sculpt the message. AI handles the heavy lifting; we provide voice and values. I believe that AI isn't making marketing boring, it's making it better.
The most important thing you can do is sound like you. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it.
