“AI is coming for your job.”
If you work in marketing, or any industry really, you’ve probably heard that phrase more times than you care to count. But is AI really the threat everyone’s making it out to be?
Gemma Spinks, Director of Spinks Creative, explores why the real risk facing brands today isn’t AI, it’s apathy. While AI might be rapidly changing the marketing tool portfolio, it’s lazy, thoughtless execution that’s doing the real damage. Too many brands are letting technology replace their creative thinking and drowning in a sea of mediocracy and complacency.
The Rise of Lazy Marketing
We see it on a daily basis these days. Content that reads like it was scraped from a competitor’s website. Ads that could’ve been written by a chatbot. Social media posts so generic they could apply to any brand, anywhere.
Yes, AI has made content creation faster and easier. But that’s not always a good thing. While productivity may have increased, we can’t always say the same for quality. In fact, the flood of AI-generated content is actively diluting many brands’ identities.
A 2025 Gartner report found that 70% of B2B buyers can now “immediately tell” when content is AI-generated. And that impacts the trust they have in that brand, with almost half saying they would avoid further engagement with that brand as a result. For many brands, it might be time to rethink their AI strategy to save it from costing their business in the long run.
AI Isn’t The Problem. How You’re Using AI Is.
The power of AI is immense, with new applications cropping up every day. So it’s here to stay, and ignoring it isn’t an option. But it’s also not a replacement for human creativity, and it shouldn’t dictate your strategy or apply the overarching insight you need.
The Content Marketing Institute recently found that top-performing marketers are three times more likely to combine AI tools with a clearly defined content strategy and a distinct brand voice. By contrast, teams relying solely on AI without human oversight were twice as likely to report poor engagement across channels.
In other words, AI is a power tool. But without direction and human input, all it builds is noise.
Personalised AI Is the Game-Changer
This is where most brands are getting it wrong: they’re using generic AI tools in generic ways. But the real opportunity lies in personalising your AI. Custom GPTs and bespoke AI assistants tailored to your business, tone of voice, customer data, and brand strategy are where things start getting interesting.
Custom GPTs allow businesses to create tools that know them; how they speak, who they speak to, and what matters to their customers. The result? AI-generated content that’s actually aligned with your brand voice and business goals. This isn’t about spitting out blog posts or Instagram captions. This is about using AI to support strategic thinking, power better creative briefs, and even act as an extension of your internal team.
This level of personalisation means you’re no longer settling for content that could’ve been written for anyone. You’re creating messaging that’s informed, on-brand, and relevant.
AI becomes not just faster, but smarter.
Quality over Quantity
Your audience can spot AI content a mile off. They know when your messaging is recycled.
According to the latest Edelman Trust Barometer, 82% of decision-makers in B2B buying journeys now prioritise “authentic communication” over content volume. The old cliche is true: quality reigns over quantity. And add mediocrity into that mix, and your audience will just tune you out.
Your audience will engage with how you show up, not how frequently you churn out generic content.
What This Means for B2B Brands
If you’re operating in the B2B space, the challenge is even greater. You’re building trust, expertise, reliability, and relationships – automated average content won’t achieve that.
Your competitors are already using AI, so how do you get the edge on them? It’s about how you implement AI into your content strategy.
- Are you using AI to save time, or to say something better?
- Are you asking it to write for you, or inspire you?
- Are you just publishing more, or saying more?
AI should enhance your human insight and expertise, not attempt to replace it.
Lazy Marketing Is The Real Threat
The future of marketing doesn’t belong to the bots. It belongs to the brands that can use AI to enhance their own creative thinking, research, and expertise. It’s not a replacement for creative marketing.
For those looking for lazy marketing and generic content that doesn’t cut through the noise? AI is your perfect shortcut.