You're never gonna believe it, gang: Marketers forgot about the customer in this A.I. craze (Whoops!)
This week, I was honored to be the opening keynote speaker at a new event in Odense (where Hans Christian Andersen was born!) called the Content Summit, from the amazing Mette Will, who also runs the country's top events about email marketing and about LinkedIn. (I also gave a talk about public speaking after my keynote, which was super nerdy and fun.)
The city was wonderful. The people, more so.
Me and new pal, LinkedIn mega-star Jasmin (Jay!) Alić
I was here to talk about (what else?) how to grow your business by thinking resonance over reach. Tech platforms and companies don't want you to believe that the human element is much more important than their tools. They want you to constantly chase attention—because you do that kind of work on their turf. In Denmark today, I spoke about how to stop chasing attention and become the buyer's pick.
And speaking of the buyer and what they pick, I'm starting to notice a very curious pattern in the AI discussions online. There's one big missing piece to the conversation. This came up during our speaker dinner the other night, in fact. I was asked my take on this moment, and I tried to summarize it without isolating others in the room who might be bigger fans of AI than I am.
"Well," I said, wondering how in the world to calmly explain the things I normally scream into my pillow, "I know we all talk about what AI can do, but I haven't heard much about how it does."
That took a moment. Maybe it was the wine. Maybe the fact that English was everyone's second language. But eventually, photographer extraordinaire Matthew James Harrison chimed in. "Holy sh*t, I haven't heard anyone talk about their results." (Fun fact: Matthew was the lead singer and guitar player for a pretty successful band in the UK. The band's genre? "Pinge," he told me. Punk. Indie. Grunge. Pinge. I love that word now.)
But Matthew agreed. We hear an awful lot about the capabilities of AI. We also hear a lot about what people just did with the tool, as they rush to LinkedIn the way my kids rush into the kitchen and hold up a piece of paper to me. "Look what I did!"
Yes, that's well-covered. That's ubiquitous. And we're all very proud of you. But we're also grownups building businesses. How did that perform?
We are drowning in examples of what AI can (or maybe could) do, and even more posts of people squealing about what they just did.
But ... HOW DID IT DO?
Did your customers like that? Did they enjoy your content more? What's been your customers' reactions?
I feel like saying to The Internet right now, "You remember 'customers,' right? The objective in business? The group you're allegedly building stuff for? You see, customers are—wait where are you going? Are you really going to—no, stop watching Sam Altman clips. No, customers, guys. See to build a business you have to AAAAAND you're gone. I'm just gonna find an ocean and walk slowly into it, cool? Cool. Fun chat. Fun times. Great game. Way to hustle out there. I'm dead inside."
*One hour of staring at a wall later.*
Alright, I can see my screen again.
Where were we? Ah yes: AI does stuff. But how does that stuff actually do? Do ya feel me? Are ya with me? Can I get an AMEN?!
When it comes to using AI in marketing, all the emphasis seems to be on the output. Efficiency gains. Content production. Automations. I never hear, "And our customers ADORE this stuff way more! They spend more time with our content! They share us more! They TRUST US more!"
Nope. It's all about the work you and I could do and should do and must do. What's missing is how the work is being RECEIVED.
Isn't that what matters most?
Of course, this rhymes with every other trend and heated moment in business in the history of ever. The customer is always the first to lose when people lose their minds at work.
When I entered the marketing world, I remember hearing marketers praise the phrase "talk to customers" like a genius idea. "Start with them. Serve them." (Brilliant!)
Except that felt silly to me.
But I was new, so I went along with it quietly. And by that I mean, I ran my mouth immediately.
Because WTFAWD?*
Shouldn't that be obvious? Don't people create their work FOR the customer? The client? The reader, viewer, listener, audience?
Who ELSE are we thinking about when we make stuff and ship it? Why ELSE would people care, share, subscribe, buy?
*(WTFAWD: stands for What The F*** Are We Doing? It's my acronym of the year.)
We are here to serve the customer. At very least, we should *think about them* and *talk to them* and generally not *hurt them* when we build our businesses.
(Sheesh, the bar is low, yeah? Because seriously, WTFAWD sometimes.)
I know, I know: efficiency and production and automations and output and stuff. Sure, sure. Cool, cool. But sooner or later, people have to (oh, I don't know) CONSUME your content. EXPERIENCE your work.
What then?
Is this better?
Are they happier?
Do they trust you more?
Did you win more evangelists?
Have you even stopped to consider if that's happening?
WTFAWD???
I know AI can DO a lot. I'm not so sure it helps you ACHIEVE much though.
Because I hear it all the time online: you did stuff with AI.
The question is, did you just do that FOR your customer ... or TO them?