SMB Marketing: You may trust AI, but you customers...
- jcooper78
- May 27
- 1 min read
...maybe not so much.
This was an interesting article in Forbes:
Of course, we have thoughts.
First, as an SMB, your edge has never been volume. It's always been knowing your customers better than an algorithm does. Don't give this away for the sake of 'AI efficiency.' That said, AI has the potential to be a great equalizer or SMBs- sort of like the Colt Single Action Army (SAA) pistol in the American West (known widely as the Colt .45). As saying went, "God created men; Col. Colt made them equal." Aebacus is inclined to add that AI may be the Colt .45 of the 21st century.
Many AI tools are (or appear to be) free or close to it. But your data is priceless, as are your customer relationships. The challenge is, most AI tools lack good old-fashioned judgment. Most SMBs are just buying the tool (and sometimes giving away the data), and forgetting that client relationships can ruined by one inopportune mass email that ignores customer history. So guard your data, put up guardrails, and be sure you continue to exercise good judgment.
The author suggests that a simple exercise can change everything. It's pretty old school, but good ideas never go out of fashion or lose currency. The idea is, simply take a couple of hours to write down everything - literally, everything - you know about your top 20 customers. This can become the foundation of every AI campaign you run as long as you manage it properly.
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