AI is everywhere. New tools are launching almost every hour, and the pressure for businesses to “keep up” with everything seems impossible.
The reality is, most teams are trying to keep up without a clear sense of what they’re actually chasing. This sporadic, spastic, and frenetic to access the latest tool is costing time, energy and is killing progress due to lack of strategy.It’s not all your fault. The AI space is noisy. Some tools are clear game-changers, but most are not. Without a filter, it’s easy to waste your time, your budget, and chase hype that will never deliver.
There’s a bigger risk at play. The risk is showing up in a way that feels robotic, unnatural or just…off. All it takes is one poor AI-generated email or a tone-deaf chatbot, and your brand is at risk, sending you into damage-control-mode. The question isn’t whether you should be using AI, it is how to use AI well and in ways that make your marketing smarter, not colder.
And that matters more than ever, because your buyers have already adapted, they’ve already changed. Their expectations are:
If your marketing isn’t delivering that, AI or not, you’re already behind.
This guide will help you get ahead, without losing your edge. We will cover what’s actually working when it comes to AI in marketing, what’s not worth your time, and what’s on the horizon that is worth paying attention to. It’s not about chasing trends. It’s about making smart, strategic decision that move your team forward.
No fluff. No fear-mongering. No hype.
This guide is for business leaders and marketers who want to be smart and strategic…who are curious about what’s possible, but want to cut through the noise and hype. Let’s get clear on what matters and start using AI in ways that actually drives results.
Like every major shift before, buyers are choosing what’s fastest and easiest. To stay visible, your content strategy must adapt to how buyers now ask questions and how AI delivers results.
If your content strategy still assumes buyers are typing keywords into Google and patiently scrolling through blue links, you’re already behind. That world is fading fast, replaced by something more conversational, more compressed, all powered by AI.
Today’s buyer isn’t typing in “best CRM 2025” and sorting through ten open tabs. Today’s buyer is going straight to tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity and asking real questions in natural language:
Buyers aren’t looking for links. Buyers are expecting an answer. Summarized. Clear. Useful. The search journey has collapsed from days of research to a 60-second interaction.
AI tools no longer search - they synthesize. AI tools don’t index every blog post or weigh domain authority. They scan, filter, and generate the clearest, most confident response they can, often from just a handful of well-structured, frequently updated sources.
If your content isn’t structured to be pulled, parsed, and summarized, it won’t show up. At all.
That’s why AI tools are rewriting the rules:
This means old-school SEO hacks don’t matter much anymore. AI doesn’t care about your keyword density. It cares whether your content answers the buyer’s actual question in a way it can confidently summarize.
To stay discoverable, your content must be readable by people and parsable by machines. That starts with structure. Take action in the following ways:
In the past, SEO was about ranking. Now, it’s about being summarized, suggested and recommended. That’s the shift. AI is the new gatekeeper. If AI skips over you, your buyer never sees you. In this case, you’re not just buried on page two, you’re not even part of the answer. Nowhere to be found.
Not every AI tactic belongs in your marketing. The ones below can help your team move faster without losing trust or quality.
If you’re using AI to create content, you’re not alone. But here’s the truth most marketers quietly admit: speed is only helpful if the content still sounds like you and earns trust.
AI can be a powerful part of your process, but it shouldn’t replace thinking, nuance, or brand voice that makes you worth listening to.
The smartest teams use AI as a collaborator, not as a copy-paste content churning copy machine. AI is there to help you think, not to write for you. That means starting with prompts designed to support your creativity. Outlines, research summaries, even rough first drafts. These help break through the paralysis of staring at a blank page and get ideas flowing and working faster.
But moving faster doesn’t mean cutting corners. Generative AI can produce polished copy in seconds, but polish is not the same as alignment. You still need to pause and ask: Does this sound like us? Is it accurate? Is it safe to publish? ChatGPT doesn’t know your brand voice. That part still depends on you.
That’s why human review is never optional. AI might be your step one, but step two needs to include thoughtful editing, feedback loops, and final approvals. Without this, you’re publishing quickly, but simultaneously risking losing trust. And trust is what actually converts.
AI-assisted content creation works best when you know where the handoff happens. Use AI to accelerate the early stages: ideation, drafting, first-pass revisions, but keep the final say (and the final edit) human.
This is how you scale without sounding like everyone else. Moving beyond more content to creating better content, at a faster pace, all with trust built in.
AI is more than content creation, it is one of the most underused tools for repurposing. When AI is used well, it turns a single asset into weeks’ worth of material, helping your brand show up everywhere your buyers are already looking.
Your best webinar. Your most viral podcast episode. Your most visited piece of content. These are your best starting points. When your team, or your AI assistant, knows how to break it down, you unlock content for multiple channels without having to start from scratch every time.
It’s not about working harder. It’s about designing content that’s meant to be reused.
Most teams fail because they are reinventing their process week to week. Create a simple workflow that gets you from long-form to short-form without the hassle.
Example:
The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is consistency with quality.
The right tool for the right job. AI isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some tools are great for pulling quotes and summaries. Other tools are better at clipping video, converting voice or polishing up final drafts.
A few of our favorites that we use at IMPACT:
Buyers don’t want to wait around. Buyers expect instant answers. Buyers also want autonomy to explore on their own, get clear answers fast, and feel in control of the process. That is where AI-powered self-service tools come into play.
Whether it’s a chatbot answering common questions, a product quiz guiding someone to the right solutions, or a knowledge base article doing the heavy lifting, these tools help buyers feel informed without having to fill out a form or wait for someone to get back to them. The best of these self-service tools feel intuitive and helpful, not robotic, incomplete or rushed.
When done right, AI-powered self-service tools build momentum. They remove friction, allow buyers to self-educate and keep them motivated by making clear and definable progress. A great self-service experience can turn a casual visitor into a fully bought in and confident lead, without needing a human to step in.
That being said, there’s a big reg flag when it comes to too much automation and improperly placed automation (wrong place at the wrong time) - it can do more harm than good. Generic chatbot replies or over-personalized quizzes that sound good to us, but don’t actually help your visitor or move them forward in the process. This is a sure-fire way to lose trust fast. Instead of simplifying the path, it creates confusion, annoyance, frustration and your visitor bounces, most likely never to return.
The key is using the right tool for the right moment in the journey.
Some of our go-to self-service tools:
When you layer in smart self-service, powered by AI but grounded in user empathy, you make it easy for buyers to say “yes” or at least “I’m interested - tell me more”.
You’ve seen where AI is making clear and meaningful differences, now it’s time to get brutally honest about what is not working.
Some trends look exciting on the surface but quietly hurt performance. Here are the biggest ones to avoid in 2025.
Some AI tools are here today, gone tonight. Others simply create more noise, confuse you and your audience and make everyone feel a little less human along the way. AI can be amazing, but only when used with intention.
Here’s what to skip in 2025:
Just because AI can produce 50 blog posts in a day doesn’t mean it should. Flooding your site or social networks with bland, repetitive, or low-effort content hurts your credibility more than it helps. More content does not equal better. Better content is better. If your content sounds like AI wrote it, your audience scrolls right past or leaves and goes to your competitor.
When every email, chat or website interaction feels stiff or robotic, buyers disconnect. Automation is powerful, but overdoing it, without human quality control, turns your customer journey into a vending machine: impersonal, mechanical, and very easy to walk away from. People still want to feel like people, not like another number or another transaction.
Trying to game SEO with keyword stuffed AI content or “SEO hacks” might get you a short-term lift in numbers, but it won’t build long-term trust. AI search tools like Perplexity and Google SGE are rewarding actual answers and clarity, not fluffy, bland, repeated content. Write for people first, and the algorithms will follow.
AI is a great starting point, but “prompting and publishing” without a second set of eyes is risky. Human editors bring specifics that AI cannot: empathy, nuance, and buyer insights based on experience. If you skip this step, you risk tone-deaf messaging, errors, or content that simply doesn’t resonate. In other words, your AI struggles to “read the room”. Humans, especially during the review process read the room right.
Your AI is only as smart as the data feeding it. Using outdated, incomplete, or mismatched data to drive personalization leads to awkward and off-base experiences that break trust, and break it quickly. Guessing someone’s intent, or worse, their name or job title, and getting it wrong is a quick way to lose them. One poor experience like this, is then multiplied by the number of people who are then told about it.
New AI tools launch daily. It is tempting to immediately jump on the next “game-changer” before the competition does. But adopting tech without a clear use case is a monumental time-suck. Before you plug anything into your organization’s (or every your personal) workflow, ask: What problem is this solving?
If there’s no clear answer, move on.
Using AI to crank out useless content at scale.Skipping the wrong trends is one thing. But what happens when you think AI is doing its job: publishing content, sending follow-ups, driving activity etc. But under the hood, AI is quietly eroding your performance.
Let’s take a closer look at the measurable red flags that show up when automation runs on autopilot or strategy is missing.
These 5 signs aren’t based on guesswork or gut instinct, they are observable data patterns and performance drops that indicate AI is undermining, not enhancing, your marketing efforts.
Beyond what to use or skip today, there are big shifts coming that will change how buyers discover, decide, and engage with your brand.
The way people discover content has fundamentally changed, and it is AI leading the shift. If your marketing still relies on keyword hacks and a heavy blog calendar, it’s time to rethink your approach. Visibility now depends on structure, clarity and how well your content plays in AI-driven ecosystems. Here’s how that’s unfolding, and what to do about it.
ISSUE: Your buyers aren’t heading to Google and typing in “the best ___________” anymore. There’s asking ChatGPT or Perplexity for customized recommendations, and getting an AI-generated summary in return. No more blue links. No SEO meta titles. Simply synthesized answers.
That means if your content isn’t structured clearly enough for AI to parse, summarize, and recommend, you are invisible.
What to do about it: Start optimizing for BOTH humans and the AI machines. Clear structure, scannable layouts, and intentional formatting help your content get picked up and summarized, rather than skipped.
ACTION: Clarify your content. Use headers, bullet points, lists, and FAQs to break up dense sections. Add schema markup where possible. Make it easy for AI to “pull” insights directly from your site instead of “searching” around for meaning.
ISSUE: You’re not just posting into a black box called “the algorithm”. You’re posting into an AI-curated feed: on TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and everywhere else your audience lives.
These AI systems decide what shows up based on how content performs in the first few seconds of the content being posted. It’s not about how many followers you have anymore. It’s about whether your content looks, sounds, and feels like something the platform wants to push.
Reach now depends on:
ACTION:
ISSUE: AI-powered engines are scraping, summarizing, and reshaping your content into snippets, summaries, and suggested answers across platforms you may not even be targeting. That helpful blog post you wrote two years ago? It might be reshuffled into an AI-generated listicle in someone’s search result today, without attribution or context.
Your job is to anticipate this and set up your content to be pulled in the right way.
ACTION: Use structure to control the narrative. The better your content is organized, with clear points, headlines, visuals and examples, the more likely it is to be summarized accurately AND in your voice.
If your content strategy hasn’t caught up to this shift, you’re not just behind, you’re invisible. A few smart adjustments can change that. Structure well, show up with clarity and build formats that AI (and people) want to share and engage with.
Let’s be honest, most people don’t need another chatbot that repeats generic answers or regurgitates blog content. But custom GPTs, those that are actually trained on your materials, workflows and language, can be the edge you need. When done right, these custom GPTs don’t just save time, they make teams sharper, buyers more confident, and sales conversations much more productive.
Three use cases where custom GPTs can actually earn their spot in your tech stack.
I’m sure you’ve been there: searching Slack for that one message, digging through shared drives, or pinging someone for a process document…for the third time.
The right Custom GPT can put an end to the wild goose chase.
When trained on your company’s internal resources - SOPs, onboarding decks, Notion wikis, Google Docs, they become fast, reliable source of truth. Not just for your ops team, but for anyone in the organization.
This isn’t about speed, it’s about consistency, accuracy, and reducing internal friction that slows down high performing teams.
If your website chatbot opens with “Hi! How can I help you today?” - you’re already behind.
Custom GPTs trained on your content, offers, and buyer FAQs can act as digital educators, not just answer machines. These bots do more than simply reply - they explain, walk through scenarios, and clarify next steps in a way that feels helpful and not like a sales trap.
The best part? The conversation feels human, because the GPT has been trained on your voice, your resources, and your customer journey, not someone else’s canned script that is good enough.
Let’s face it: most sales enablement lives in slide decks that no one opens.
But your custom GPTs can change that. When integrated with your CRM, case studies, and product info, they become an on-demand sales sidekick.
No more scrambling before a call or searching endless files. Reps get what they need, when they need it, all within the flow of work. It’s not just helpful, it’s how modern sales teams stay sharp.
Custom GPTs aren’t just a trendy add-on. When built with purpose and trained with care, they create real lift across your business. From internal clarity to buyer trust to sales momentum, these Custom GPTs help everyone to work smarter, not just faster.
It’s not just that buyer want fast answers, they expect them and hold any brand they interact with to this high standard. The baseline has shifted. AI tools have trained people to expect real-time responses, instant quotes and 24/7 availability. IF your brand lags even for a little, today's buyers are quick to make assumptions: you’re behind the times, or you don’t care enough to solve their problem and make their life easier. Whatever the reason, the point is - They. Are. Gone.
Whether they’re on your site at 2 PM or 2 AM, buyers expect immediate access to information. If they can’t get a quote, a product comparison or an answer to a basic question right away, they don’t wait, they click away. Fast responses only help if they’re actually useful. Substance is what holds attention, not speed alone. But you still need to connect the dots between speed and substance. Instant answers only work if they’re actually useful.
This is where most businesses still get it wrong. Mass-blasted emails, generic chatbots and follow-ups that clearly weren’t written with the buyer in mind. They screen “you’re just another lead for us to close, take your money and move on.” AI can help fix that, but only if you train it well. Smart GPTs and CRM-powered flows can customize experiences at scale, from follow-ps that reference a specific need, to product recommendations that actually make sense. Real personalization makes people feel seen, and that builds trust faster than any funnel ever could.
Buyers don’t just want speed and personalization, they want autonomy and control. They want to browse on their terms, skip the sales pitch if they’re not ready, and make decisions without friction or pressure. If your site is gating pricing or requiring a call just to see basic options, you’re already behind. The best buyer journeys now include tools that empower users to guide their own experience: self-scheduling, self-pricing, self-assessments. The more control you give the more confident (and likely) they are to buy.
This isn’t a future trend. It is already happening. AI isn’t just shaping workflows, it is reshaping expectations. If your brand can’t deliver on speed, personalization and control, buyers will move to one that can.
Making AI work isn’t about chasing every tool, it’s about starting small, testing smart, and proving value step by step.
Before AI can do anything useful, your data has to be in order. Think of it like trying to bake a cake with ingredients scattered across five different kitchens, you’ll waste time, make bad decisions, and probably burn the cake. AI isn’t magic. It’s only as good as the ingredients (your data) and the kitchen (your tech stack).
If your CRM, CMS, analytics tools and customer data live in silos, AI can't connect the dots. Instead of helpful insights, you’ll get vague suggestions or worse, completely wrong answers that break trust and hurt more than helps.
If you can’t clearly see what’s working (and what’s not), AI will start guessing. That’s not strategy, that’s a risk. Every smart automation, personalization, or optimization depends on clean, trackable data, flowing through your tech stack.
It’s easy to get distracted by the latest AI tool that promises the world in a 90-second product demo. But if your stack can’t support real integration or action on the insights, it won’t matter. Confusing flash with function is a waste of time.
Even the smartest AI tools can’t produce gold from garbage. If your tech stack is disjointed, outdated, or cobbled together with manual workarounds, your AI outputs will be generic, disconnected or simply wrong.
Your AI is only as smart as the system behind it. If the stack is weak, the strategy will be too.
No. Most teams don’t need more tools, they need better integration. Start by making sure your core systems (CRM, CMS, analytics) are connected. AI can’t deliver results if your data is stuck in silos.
You’ll get vague or even harmful results. AI needs full context to give smart insights. If data is scattered or outdated, it takes a guess…and those guesses break trust with your team and your buyers.
Probably not. The issue usually isn’t tool quality, it’s tool coordination. Focus on cleaning and syncing what you already have before expanding your stack.
If you can’t clearly see what’s working and why, your stack is holding you back. Attribution isn’t optional anymore, it’s how AI learns what actions take next.
Too many AI projects fail because the team picked the wrong place to start.
If your team is already stretched thin, the last thing they need is a “cool” AI tool that disrupts their current workflow and doesn’t solve a real problem. It’s an unnecessary add on that no one wants to deal with. Skip the hype and focus on what’s actually annoying your team right now. What tasks feel like they’re stuck on repeat? Where is work piling up because nobody wants to deal with it?
That’s where AI earns its keep.
Your first project won’t be flashy, but it will be helpful.
Consider:
These are all great candidates because they’re easy to test, don’t require major approvals, and won’t break anything if they flop. Simply put - they save time AND build momentum.
Your goal isn’t to overhaul your entire strategy. The goal is to show your team (and your stakeholders) that AI can make life easier, today.
Pick something small enough to launch in a week or two, but meaningful enough that people notice the time saved or the friction removed. When it happens, that quick little win becomes your north star.
Once you launch, don’t just move on. Document what worked, and what didn’t work. Capture the glitches, the surprises, the “we thought this would help in this way, but it didn’t” moments. This is what helps you build an AI playbook that’s real, repeatable, and tailored to your team, not just advice you found in a webinar or a post on X.
AI fluency requires ongoing skill work, habit building, and confidence. The best training programs focus on practical skills marketers actually use every day, not theory.
Most marketers don’t need a lecture on the history of artificial intelligence, they need to know how to use it. Effective AI training in 2025 is grounded in the day-to-day realities of marketing work. That means building confidence in three essential skills:
These are the new marketing fundamentals, regardless of role.
AI changes fast. Traditional one-size-fits all courses can’t keep up. The best training programs now look more like LIVE playbooks, customized to your company’s tools, workflows, and use cases. Instead of watching another video about ChatGPT basics, marketers need examples that match their own assets, tone of voice, and campaign goals. Think:
If it doesn’t look like what you’d actually do on the job, it won’t stick.
No matter how good your training materials are, if the team isn't bought in, or doesn’t feel supported, they won’t use the tools. The best programs pair hands-on learning with change management support.
AI training isn't about making everyone an expert overnight. It’s about giving people just enough confidence to try, and enough support to keep going.
Definitely not. You’re not turning marketers into engineers. Focus on three skills: prompting, vetting, and adapting AI output to your brand and goals.
YouTube is a decent start, but not enough. Generic courses don’t stick without real-world application. Your team needs examples and workflows tailored to how they actually work.
Start with small wins. The best way to overcome skepticism is to show how AI makes their job easier. No one needs to be fully “bought in” on Day 1 - they need a reason to try.
The real gap in AI Marketing is mindset, structure, and readiness. Downloading the latest app won’t fix that. What matters is whether your team knows how to use AI to earn buyer trust, scale your strategy, and drive measurable revenue.
That’s exactly what we do with the Endless Customers Coaching & Training Program. We work side by side with your sales and marketing teams to build the skills, systems, and confidence they need to thrive in the age of AI.
Ready to see where you stand? Take our free AI Marketing Readiness Quiz. You’ll get a clear score and the exact steps to take next — whether that means small, quick wins or a full coaching plan to set your business up for lasting success.