Is AI Making Your Marketing Less Trustworthy?

I have distinct memories of the first time I tried drinking coffee.

I was 11 or 12 years old, sitting in a friend’s kitchen at her birthday party. There were just a few of us around the table, and someone suggested we drink coffee.

And because I didn’t want to be the only one who wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing, I naturally agreed to the hot brew.

I saw everyone adding a bunch of sugar into their cup, and encouraging me to do the same to make it more palatable, so gladly dumped a couple of spoonfuls in.

And took a sip…

And oh my goodness, it was awful!

It was this horrible mix of bitterness in a sickly sweet concoction that truly left me scarred for life!

This grown-up sophistication was clearly not my jam, and from that moment on, coffee was off the list.

For years.

Sure, every once in a while, I would reluctantly take a sip if I was at someone’s house and coffee was served to me, because I didn’t want to be rude.

But my mind was made up, Coffee was definitely not for me.

That’s how much that first impression had an impact on me.

In fact, it stuck so strongly with me that it took decades before I was willing to give coffee another real chance.

And what made me reconsider was hearing about the health benefits of Bulletproof coffee.

At that point in my life, I was, and still am, working hard at slowing down the aging process as much as possible.

The core health and performance benefits were worth facing that coffee demon of mine!

So I gave it a try.

If you’ve never heard of it before, Bulletproof coffee is a blend of butter, MCT oil, and I also put a pinch of cayenne pepper and some salt, just for good measure.

With it all frothed up, it was a bit more tolerable.

And honestly, the reason behind trying it mattered more than the coffee itself.

I was open to it because there was now a stronger reason to reconsider the impression I had formed all those years earlier.

And that is what I want to talk about today.

Because first impressions are powerful.

And in business, they can happen faster (snap) than we realize.

When you think about all of the touchpoints a potential client has with your brand, like when they land on your website, read a social media post, open your newsletter, or watch a reel, they are immediately forming an opinion.

They are looking for trust signals and reasons to stick around and pay attention more.

Most of the time, this all happens at a subconscious level.

Their brain is quickly assessing multiple factors to help them determine if they should keep scrolling or not.

And this is where AI-generated marketing can become a real problem.

Before I explain why, I want to be clear that I am not against AI.

My team and I use AI every day.

We use it to help with ideation, organizing ideas, analyzing data, repurposing content, and even pulling all of the information I gather when I consult with clients into a nice, neat summary.

AI has become a valuable assistant in my business.

And when it is used properly, it can be incredibly helpful.

But that is the key point I want to make here:

Used properly.

What concerns me is how many business owners are using AI to do the thinking for them.

They are asking it to write their posts, emails, website copy, articles, and promotional content, then publishing what comes out with very little editing, very little discernment, and very little connection to their own actual voice.

At first, the signs that something was written by AI were obvious.

The em dashes and excessive emojis were a telltale sign.

Now it is becoming more subtle. So subtle I suspect many business owners aren’t aware of these, what I call, AI-isms.

Isms like the repeated sentence rhythm. Broad statements that sound polished and cool but have very little meaning behind them.

I see the same phrases showing up everywhere like the “you’re not broken” style of messaging.

Oh my gosh, if I see that one more time…!

Seriously, once you start noticing these telltale signs, you cannot unsee them.

And I see it all the time now.

And I have to admit, when I see content that to me is obviously AI-written, my gut reaction is to write that person off a little bit.

Their authority on the subject they’re talking about has reduced because I no longer trust whether those are really their thoughts, or just a bot’s.

Is it really their expertise, or just what ChatGPT came up with?

Now, is that fair?

Not at all.

Because I have been guilty of this, too.

It wasn’t that long ago when I let AI write too much for me, before I fully understood what it was doing to my own brand positioning.

I mean, it sounded so amazing! The phrasing sounded cool and rhythmic. I truly thought this was the best thing ever because it made me sound so polished, way better than what I could ever write.

You might relate to that too?

The thing is, AI is not a human, even though it can talk to us as if it is.

It’s also missing a critical factor that I soon came to realize – my humanness.

My voice, my style of phrasing, my personality, the way I see a problem, the natural way I explain things and my lived experience.

This is important because when your messaging starts to sound generic, vague and lacking your personality, you start losing the very thing that makes people trust you.

Whether you realize it or not, your business is built on trust.

People are not just randomly deciding whether to work with you; they are analyzing all the trust signals that are helping them decide whether you are the best choice to work with.

Whether you are the one to guide them, advise them, support them, treat them, coach them, consult with them, or help them solve a problem or challenge they are experiencing.

So when your marketing is full of AI-isms, it can create a big disconnect with your audience.

Think about it. Your marketing message may literally be teaching people not to trust you.

I know that might sound harsh, but it needs to be said.

Because if someone’s first impression of your business is from content that was obviously created by AI, you’ve lost some of that valuable trust and they could simply move on.

(soft) And you may never know that trust was lost.

That is what makes working with AI so important to understand.

For me, I knew exactly why I avoided coffee.

I had one bad experience with it, and I never forgot it.

Your audience may not be able to explain WHY your message is not resonating with them.

Some may not realize or say to themselves, “Hm, this sounds or looks like AI.”

They may not even know what feels off. But they are having a visceral reaction they will not ignore.

And once that first impression forms, it can take a lot of work to change it.

So what do you do instead?

Like I mentioned, I’m not anti-AI. it’s a valuable tool that I encourage you to use.

But first, stop treating AI as if it’s the expert.

Let AI support your thinking, but never replace your thinking.

Remember that you are the one with the experience.

The one who has directly worked with clients and seen firsthand what they are going through, and picked up all the subtle nuances that you notice over time.

You are the one who knows what people most misunderstand about your profession, what makes them hesitate, what questions they ask, and what they need to hear before they can make a decision to hire you.

Secondly, train AI properly before expecting it to write anything that the public will read.

And I mean really train it.

Not just, “Write this in a warm and professional tone.”

That’s not enough.

AI needs to know all about you – everything from your voice to your values to your stories and beliefs.

It needs to be trained on your point of view, what words and phrases you typically use, and of course, who your ideal client is.

Which leads me to the most important thing:

Thirdly, edit, edit edit.

Even when you have given it loads of instructions, what to do and what not to do, and provided it with all that makes you human, you still have to edit and rework what AI produces to make it sound more genuine and less polished.

More like you and less like AI.

So it’s not enough to just scan through the AI-generated content to see if it sounds good.

What you need to do is ask yourself if this is truly something you would write or if it’s maybe something you’d love to be able to write.

Is it specific enough to your expertise and the people you serve, or is it generalizing too much?

Is any of your real experience infused into it or is it all quite bland?

I could go on, but I hope you understand what I’m getting at here.

Don’t take what AI spits out at face value.

Because AI can definitely help you write faster, but if your positioning and voice are not clear first, it can also give the wrong first impression, and that can hurt your bottom line.

Your audience needs to know there is a real person behind what they are reading or seeing.

So go ahead and use AI if it helps you.

But don’t just hand over your brand voice and then walk away feeling good that you got a lot done in a short amount of time.

Because the goal with using AI is not to sound like it helped you, right?

It’s to save you some time and even money, but not if it’s at the expense of giving bad first impressions because you used it.

And if you’re not sure what brand positioning is and whether you need to work on that to ensure you have a strong foundation to feed into AI and then work from, that is exactly why I created the Brand Clarity & Gap Audit.

It will help you take a closer look at where your brand may be unclear, inconsistent, or out of alignment before you create more marketing that may be costing you trust without you even realizing it.

You can download it at BrandClarityAudit.com

Until next time, I’m Susan Friesen, your small business brand positioning strategist, inviting you to stay clear, stay focused, and stand out.

About the Author, Susan Friesen

Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of British Columbia’s premiere boutique web development and digital marketing agency, eVision Media.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she is an expert in helping businesses establish their online presence and create a strong brand identity.

Her passion for empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners to succeed in the digital world has earned her a reputation as a leading authority in the branding and marketing industry.

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