The AI Marketing Dilemma: You Only Get Out What You Put In

With 91% of marketers already using AI, it's become a make-or-break factor for great marketing ROI.

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If you're handling your own marketing or advising clients on any creative aspect of their business, this message is crucial.

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The BIG Problem: Misunderstanding Your Audience

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Most business owners think they know their ideal customers. The reality? They don't.

This is where the BIGGEST problem lies.

You can talk about the trend in AI prompt engineering all you want, but ...

The bottom line is that the advancement of AI is a powerful tool, but it doesn't replace the core business acumen that owners and managers must possess for it to give the best output and results.

And the reason why I say this is because ...

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- 42% of companies don't collect or analyse customer data effectively.

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- Only 34% of marketers believe they have a "very good" understanding of their customers' needs and preferences.

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- 80% of CEOs believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8% of their customers agree.

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And here's the kicker: because AI's output is only as good as its input, what it produces will likely contribute to MORE generic, bland content online.

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The AI Input Trap: A Typical Scenario

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Let's consider a typical business owner using ChatGPT to create a customer avatar or persona. They might use a generic AI prompt that asks them questions like:

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1. Nature of Business: (Easy enough)

2. Business Name and Specific Services/Products: (Got it)

3. What makes your business unique compared to competitors? ??

?? (*Stares at the screen, then answers "we have great customer service" ??♀?)

4. Who are your primary customers? (Yeah, I know this one: "all business owners/entrepreneurs/women with kids") ??#Wrong

5. What are the demographics of your target audience? (Hmm... "Men/Women, 18-60, UK") ??#Wrong

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This scenario illustrates the heart of the problem. Vague and generalized inputs lead to equally vague and ineffective outputs.

It's not AI at fault, it's a business owner wrongly assuming they actually know their customers at the depth they need to know them.

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The Consequences of Poor Input

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When businesses feed AI tools with inaccurate or overly broad information about their audience, several issues arise:

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1. Misaligned messaging: Content that doesn't resonate with the actual target audience.

2. Wasted resources: Time and money spent on ineffective marketing campaigns.

3. Missed opportunities: Failure to connect with potential customers who could benefit from the product or service.

4. Reduced ROI: Lower conversion rates and customer acquisition due to poorly targeted efforts.

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The Solution: Deep Audience Understanding

This isn't a one and done thing.

To harness the true power of AI in marketing, businesses need to start with a solid foundation of audience knowledge. This means:

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1.????? Conducting thorough market research:

Beyond basic demographics, understand psychographics, behaviour patterns, and pain points.

2.????? Analysing existing customer data:

Look for trends, preferences, and commonalities among your best customers and match them with your most profitable products or services.

3.????? Creating detailed buyer personas:

Develop rich, nuanced profiles that go beyond surface-level characteristics using psychographics and humanising the data.

4.????? Continuously updating and refining audience insights:

Markets and customer needs evolve; your understanding should too.? You should always be going deeper, rather than wider.

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Take Action: Elevate Your Audience Understanding

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So, if this article isn’t enough to get you thinking about what you’re putting into AI and what it’s spewing out, then I don’t know what is!

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But, if you’re ready to start getting better results using AI with deeper audience insights, then I’ve got something to help you.

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If you want to dig deep into your target market and create the kind of detailed, nuanced audience profiles that will truly elevate your AI marketing results then I've put together something to help you get started.

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I call it the Profit-Boosting Segmentation Blueprint. And it's a comprehensive walk through of what data you need - and how to do it quickly and easily.

Want the guide? Drop the word 'SEGMENT' below, and I’ll send it your way so you can optimize your customer data before AI starts driving your marketing (we do need to be connected for me to send it to you).

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P.S. One of my clients used it and boosted sales by 30% in 2 months—just by focusing on the right segment before they let AI do its thing.