Sixty seconds into scrolling on Instagram, I’ll see half a dozen experts talking about how to use AI for social media.

Claude can edit your videos.
Make an AI employee who manages your social media.
Use ChatGPT to make a social strategy.

It seems everyone is talking about how AI can simplify your content creation process.

But nobody is talking about the dark side of using AI in your creation process.

Until now. [dun dun duhhhh]

Ok, but actually. Before I get into this, I want to make it very clear: I am not anti-AI; I use it daily.

I’m anti-bad AI usage. I’m anti-outsourcing our creativity, because AI will never be more creative than humans.

Creativity is born out of curiosity and human experience — two things AI could never. [That em dash is mine FYI.]

So, back to the things people aren’t talking about when it comes to AI…

A friend recently sent this message to a group of our colleagues:

Read that again… people she knew sent her cold DMs on LinkedIn as if they didn’t know her. These weren’t mere acquaintances. In her words, it felt “icky.” That’s what happens when you hand your outreach over to AI and stop paying attention.

No matter how much context you give your AI, it won’t know everything you know. It can’t replace those person-to-person connections.

Furthermore, studies show [LINK TO STUDY/STUDIES] that consumers lose trust in brands that blatantly and poorly use AI. I wrote a blog about that earlier this summer, but if you’re running a business, you have to keep this in mind while you’re using AI.

Here’s what bad AI usage looks like:

Cold DMs to people you actually know.
Copy that doesn’t sound like you.
Designs that look cluttered.
Websites that look the same as everyone else’s. [I’m looking at you, Claude… all your websites look the same.]

So… where does this leave us? How do we use AI without outsourcing our creativity?

If you’re going to use AI to edit videos, make graphics, or write copy… make sure you train it SOOOOO well. Here’s what that looks like:

• Feed it your real content. Give it past posts, captions, and emails you’ve written so it learns how you actually sound.
• Give it rules. Tell it what words you use, what you’d never say, your brand colors, and who your audience is.
• Keep a human in the loop. Never let AI send messages or publish posts on its own. Review everything before it goes out.

Otherwise, leave AI to help you with admin. I use it to search for sales opportunities, analyze spreadsheets and data, create reports, and sort through my emails.

Here’s my thing: Creativity can’t be outsourced to AI. AI can’t replicate what humans do.

Before I leave you, I’d be silly not to tell you about some ways we can help. No pressure, though. You can 100% train your AI and make your own AI decisions on your own. And if you’re curious how we use AI with our clients, it’s all in our AI Transparency Policy. 

But if you need help, that’s what we’re here for:

For the business owner who wants to do their own social media or train their AI to do it: The Strategy Playbook.
This document analyzes your competitors, creates a content plan for you, details what to post and what not to, and more. It’s the exact tool you need to give you direction. OR, if you want AI to help you with your social, this will be the bulk of the instructions you need to give it to keep it focused on your business. Learn more here.

For the business owner who wants social but has a tight budget: Our Premium DIY Club.
Each month, we create templates based on the trends and strategies we see working with our larger clients. We send you questions that help us fill in the information gaps, then personalize the templates with your branding and voice. All you have to do is approve them before they go live! Learn more here.

For the business owner who wants to be hands-off on social media: Our Done-for-You Services.
Our account manager and content team will work with you to figure out what needs to be addressed each month. We’ll handle the graphic design, video editing, and copywriting; you’ll see the posts before they go live. At the end of the month, we’ll send you reports on how the posts did. Learn more here.

Not sure which one fits? Fill out this form to grab a time on my calendar, and we’ll figure it out together. If we get started now, you’ll walk into January with a plan instead of scrambling to build one.