How small businesses can use AI for marketing
Let’s be honest, AI is really useful, and we’re all (admit it or not) addicted to using it. But here lies the problem: if everyone is using AI to produce the same type of content, simply producing more of it isn't going to make your business stand out.
The biggest mistake is thinking that using AI means you no longer need a marketing strategy.
AI can help you create, research, analyse and organise, but it doesn't know your business in the way you do. It doesn't understand your customers, your competitive position or what makes your business different.
The best results come from using AI as a tool alongside your own knowledge of your business, your customers and your brand.
Here are five ways E10 would advise small businesses to integrate AI into their marketing.
1. Generate ideas and content
Sometimes you have a great idea, sometimes something is half-baked, and sometimes you spend an hour staring at a blank screen.
Rather than asking AI to simply "write me an article", try giving it some direction and asking for a framework, structure, or ideas e.g. "I need a framework for an article about how to plan a corporate event. Give me the key points I should cover, but don't write the article."
That gives you something to work from while leaving you to add your own experience, opinions and personality.
2. Help with proofreading and finessing
AI can be useful for making sure you've clarified your point, improved your wording, or maximised the opportunity in your copy.
A final proof check before sending an email to 100 people is definitely valuable, particularly if you're a small team.
You can also ask AI to look at your copy from your customer's perspective. Is the message clear? Is the call to action obvious? Are you explaining the benefit rather than just describing what you do?
3. Understand and organise your marketing data
This is probably one of the more valuable uses of AI that smaller businesses might overlook. AI can help you:
Summarise campaign results
Spot patterns in data
Compare performance across channels
Analyse customer feedback
Group common themes from reviews or enquiries
Turn complicated data into a simpler summary
The real value comes from using those insights to make decisions. Which channels are working? What content is getting attention? What are customers responding to? And where might you need to change direction?
4. Speed up research and planning
Using AI to research topics, identify potential opportunities and find a white space is super helpful.
It can help you search for new content topics, understand common customer questions, explore a new audience or create a starting point for a campaign.
But don't take everything it gives you as fact. Always double-check important information, validate what you're being told and add your own insights.
5. Save time and actually finish that to-do list
There are never enough hours in the day. So use AI to support your productivity. Look at what's on your to-do list and identify where AI could help you get things done more efficiently:
Repurposing existing content
Creating social post variations
Drafting email responses
Summarising meetings
Turning notes into a first draft
Creating content briefs or checklists
And I'm sure this list could certainly go on. Maybe I'll ask AI. 🙂
AI is a brilliant tool, but it shouldn't replace the experience, creativity and commercial understanding behind your marketing. At E10, we believe the best marketing combines the right tools with real human thinking.
If you want to get in touch with the E10 humans, we'd love to talk.
