One thing I always like about small businesses is that customers can actually get to know the people behind them. I think that’s something special, and something we have to be careful not to lose as more of us start using AI to help with our marketing.
And I understand why we’re using it. Creating content can be challenging and time-consuming, especially when marketing is only one of the many things you have to get done. It’s not always easy to know what to say or how to say it, and AI can make that easier. It can help you organize an idea, work through the wording or create an image quickly when you don’t have a lot of time.
But the content still needs to sound and feel like it came from your business and from you.
Sometimes I see social media posts that are polished and well written, but they don’t really sound like the person behind the business. The same thing can happen with images. They might look good, but they don’t always look much like the actual product, the business or what customers would recognize.
Bring yourself to AI.
You still have to bring your own ideas to it and be intentional about what you want to say. AI can help with the wording, but your experience and understanding of your customers still have to come from you.
There are real people behind every small business, and real people on the other side of the marketing too.
When I talk about the human side of marketing, I’m not talking about making everything personal. I mean knowing who your customer is, understanding what they need from your business and communicating in a way that sounds like you.
For a small business, that matters because the people you’re marketing to are often the same people you see in your store, talk to on the phone or meet at an appointment. They may already know you. What they see in your marketing should still feel connected to the business they actually deal with.
And customers seem to be noticing this too.
A 2026 Gartner survey of U.S. consumers found that 50% said they would prefer to give their business to brands that do not use generative AI in consumer-facing messages, advertising and content.
Here in Canada, an Ipsos survey found that 45% of Canadians said they would trust companies and brands less if they used AI in advertising images or video.
I don’t think those numbers mean small businesses should stop using AI. But they are a good reminder that how we use it matters, especially when trust and personal connection are already such a big part of small business.
That’s also one of the reasons I developed my Human Marketing Connection Method. I want small businesses to be able to use tools that make marketing easier without losing their own voice in the process.
If you’re using AI to help create content, start with your own idea. Give it the context it needs about your business and your customers, and use it to help you work through the wording.
AI and the other tools we use for creating content are going to keep changing, and I’m sure we’ll keep finding new ways to use them. I think that’s a good thing. But none of those tools knows your business or your customers the way you do. They don’t have your experience or the relationships you’ve built with the people you serve.
That’s the part I don’t want small businesses to lose
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