A reminder to be unique in your marketing

I am thinking of two neighborhoods.

One is in East Nashville. My wife and I love walking there. We sip our coffee and comment on the unique charms of each home. We point out cupolas, wraparound porches, front-yard herb gardens, antique windows, stone fireplaces. 

We also walk in a West Nashville neighborhood. Here, developers have bulldozed entire blocks of older homes and erected rows of “tall skinnies.”

These places are impressive. (And pricey!) They're gorgeous inside (I know because we’ve been to multiple open houses.)

And yet..as we walk by, they sort of...blur together. It's hard to distinguish one from another.

(No offense intended if you live in a "tall skinny." I’m sure yours is lovely.)

My point? Walking in these two neighborhoods reminds me of marketing. (What is marketing, after all, but a quick, “street view” of your business?)

More specifically, it makes me think about how AI-generated content is radically changing the world of marketing.

Maybe you've noticed...all the websites that look just alike these days. Or how—except for a few switched-out words—the email you just got from your plumber reads eerily like the one you got from your dentist.

Could it be that we're watching—in real time—digital marketing morph into an endless landscape of tall skinnies?

Look...I know.

AI is freaking FAST! And it can so many things well.

But if you want your business to STAND OUT in a sea of sameness, you need more than a few new AI prompts.

Ann Handley explains how to make your marketing memorable:

"Your genuine, engaging voice matters. Robots might write drafts. Your competitor might generate as much content as you do (more, maybe?).

"But! No one can copy your voice. No one can show up quite as you can. No robot will ever write as you do—not really, because none feel or think as you do….

"Your true voice is the best way for your audience to like and trust you. Your voice sets you apart from everyone else--from me, from the robot, and from your frenzied competitor treating content like an arms race."

—from Everybody Writes 

The reminder business owners need?

If you use Artificial Intelligence in your marketing, don’t forget to add the other critical kind of AI—your Authentic Individuality.