Look, obviously Little Red Writing likes to evoke a certain old-fashioned feeling—that time when service was warm and, you know, robots weren’t invented yet. As such, we might not need to say out loud that we don’t use artificial intelligence when creating content of any kind, including marketing content.

This is not a symbolic protest against having our jobs eventually taken away; neither is it a refusal to read the writing on the wall. The reality is there are still quite a few potential pitfalls when using AI for marketing, especially when using artificial intelligence for creative pursuits.

Because many of our clients run small businesses, we understand the draw of AI. We want to help you through the possible mistakes you could encounter so you can make the most of the tools at your disposal. Let’s take a look.

Brand Voice Dilution

You’ve worked hard to develop your brand, from the logo design and colors you chose to the voice and messaging you share with consumers. If you’re like most, you think a lot about every word you write before publishing, so the idea of allowing AI to take over that time-consuming job is understandably attractive.

But AI doesn’t know your brand voice. ChatGPT doesn’t agonize over specific word choices when crafting your website content. Copy.AI will regurgitate social media captions without one thought (ha!) for your brand.

Does that mean you shouldn’t use AI content generators? Well, no. You just might find they’re more trouble than they’re worth when you have to revise your request multiple times and then heavily edit the results to reflect your brand voice and values. It’s something to consider the next time you open ChatGPT.

Risking Consumer Trust

Your buyers might suspect something is up when they start seeing content that doesn’t match your usual brand tone and messaging. That’s enough to begin eroding trust, but it’s not an emergency situation.

Just remember that your buyers often come to you because they trust that you know your stuff. When they have questions, you’re their expert source. What happens if they discover you’re answering their questions with AI?

So, now we’re looking at a wonky brand voice + AI-generated “expertise.” That might not be a good look for you. What else could go wrong?

Pro tip: Never ask what else could go wrong. The universe will show you.

AI Makes Big Mistakes

There are dozens of examples floating around about AI making a right mess of things. Google queries returning gonzo results scraped from the silliest of websites. Chatbots lying to stressed out travelers. AI recruiting tools rejecting candidates due to their age—which is not even a little bit legal.

Yikes!

Still, it’s one thing to read about those mistakes and another to experience them firsthand. When you experience something so ridiculous that you can’t believe your eyes, you might be willing to wait for more AI improvements before implementing any of the available tools into your marketing strategy.

Behold what happened when we asked ChatGPT a very simple question.

Now, either ChatGPT can’t count or can’t spell. Either way, we’ve never been more confident in Little Red Writing’s commitment to producing human-generated copy at all times. If you still choose to use AI for your marketing creative, there is no judgment here. Just be sure to double- and then triple-check the work before you permanently connect it to your brand.

As always, we’re here to help when you need it.