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How to Build Trust When Everyone Is Using AI

Marketing Espresso · 2026-06-29 · 33 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

36 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density8 / 20
Originality7 / 20
Guest Caliber7 / 20
Specificity & Evidence8 / 20
Conversational Craft6 / 20

This episode explores the trust crisis emerging around AI-generated content in marketing and personal branding. Tanay, founder of the Strategy Studio, and host Bec examine the contradiction between consumer expectations and marketing reality: 75% of consumers aged 18 - 34 are fine with AI use if brands are transparent, yet most brands remain silent about it. The conversation dissects a case study involving an academic who used AI to condense 40,000 words of research into a newspaper opinion piece - revealing how difficult transparency becomes when AI's role spans a spectrum from minor editing to complete generation. The core tension: AI should reduce thinking effort, not thinking responsibility. Tanay and Bec argue that the real problem isn't whether marketers can create enough content (AI makes that trivial), but whether that content communicates a clear point of difference. They push back on the 'be everywhere' doctrine, especially when powered by AI, showing how scattered, volume-based strategies dilute brand authenticity. Drawing on insights from marketing strategist Naomi Simpson, they emphasize that in crowded markets, specificity and genuine voice - not generic AI-optimized copy - drive real brand building. The episode challenges solopreneurs and small business owners to decide what they want to be known for before outsourcing creation to LLMs.

Key takeaways

  • →Define what your brand should be known for before using AI, not after - AI should enhance your existing strategy, not replace strategic thinking about your point of difference.
  • →Transparency about AI use requires specificity: a simple 'AI was used' label doesn't clarify whether you fed 40,000 words of your own work or asked the tool to write from scratch, eroding trust through ambiguity.
  • →Narrow platform focus with authentic voice outperforms scattered presence across all channels, whether powered by humans or AI; the problem isn't AI but the underlying strategy of 'more for more's sake.'
  • →Your tone of voice, ideal customer definition, and competitive differentiation should come from you, not from an AI tool - these are the three foundations AI needs before generating content.
  • →Content without real purpose and authority is a distraction that damages rather than builds your brand, regardless of how efficiently AI can produce it.

In this episode

  1. 1Introduction to AI and Trust in Marketing
  2. 2Transparency and Hypocrisy in AI Use
  3. 3AI Slop and the Content Quantity Problem
  4. 4Finding Your Niche Over Being Everywhere
  5. 5Strategy First, Technology Second
  6. 6Authenticity and Point of Difference

Mentioned

Marketing EspressoThe Strategy StudioTenayClaudeSydney Morning HeraldSmart CompanyNaomi SimpsonWhite FoxLinkedInSubstackInstagramYouTube

Guests

Tanay

Topics in this episode

Content marketing strategyAI-generated content ('AI slop')Transparency in AI usePoint of difference and brand positioningPersonal branding and thought leadershipSydney Morning Herald AI opinion piece caseTone of voice in copywritingPlatform-specific marketing strategyEmail list building and audience ownershipNaomi Simpson marketing frameworks

Questions this episode answers

What percentage of consumers are okay with brands using AI if they're transparent about it?

75% of consumers aged 18 to 34 said they are fine with brands using AI provided the brands are transparent about its use, according to a report Tanay cited; however, that drops to just 7% for consumers over 65.

Why did the Sydney Morning Herald remove an AI-written opinion piece even though the author had deep expertise?

The piece was removed because it violated editorial guidelines requiring transparency, and the hypocrisy was exposed: the author had written about why students shouldn't use AI, yet used it herself to condense her own 40,000 words of research into the article.

What does Tanay mean by 'AI should reduce your thinking effort, not your thinking responsibility'?

AI should handle execution and refinement tasks, but you remain responsible for strategy, voice, point of difference, and ensuring the content serves your brand purpose - not outsource those decisions to the tool.

Should small business owners try to be present on every social media platform?

No - the better approach is to identify which single platform your ideal customer actually uses and build deep community there, then protect your audience by capturing emails, since you don't own your social media followers.

What three things should you tell an AI tool before asking it to generate content?

What you want to be known for, what you want to say that competitors aren't saying (your point of difference), and the language and tone you personally would use to speak to your ideal customer.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

8 / 20

A handful of useful points emerge - particularly the transparency spectrum argument and the content-quantity critique - but they are buried under extensive filler, personal anecdotes, and meandering tangents about the host's podcast schedule and a White Fox hoodie. Insight-per-minute is low.

AI should reduce your thinking effort. It shouldn't reduce your thinking responsibility.
nothing erodes trust faster than being able to spot AI when it wasn't declared

Originality

7 / 20

The framing of AI disclosure as a spectrum rather than a binary tag is the freshest idea here, but most other arguments - know your brand, quality over quantity, don't spread yourself thin - are standard content-marketing recycling from the past decade. The 'thinking effort vs. thinking responsibility' line is quotable but the surrounding thinking is conventional.

AI should reduce your thinking effort. It shouldn't reduce your thinking responsibility.
I believe the issue now is not whether you can create enough content, it's whether the content you create is it communicating a clear and memorable point of difference

Guest Caliber

7 / 20

Tanay Sanders is a genuine practitioner - former journalist, messaging strategist, small-business founder - but her experience is at the solopreneur/SMB level, not at scale. She brings lived examples but no evidence of having operated in high-stakes B2B environments, and the second business (Unwind Co, under 2,000 followers) underscores the modest scale.

I've never had to market a product based business before so I was very much back in the trenches learning how to do it
it's just over 12 months now since we started that Instagram account, and it's very much still growing. It's under 2000 followers

Specificity & Evidence

8 / 20

There are a few concrete data points - the unnamed report's statistics, the Sydney Morning Herald academic case with 40,000 words, and specific follower counts - but the report source is never named, the Naomi Simpson quote is secondhand, and most strategic claims are delivered without supporting evidence or named client results.

75% of consumers age 18 to 34 said that they are fine with brands using AI, provided the brands are transparent about its use
she had put in over 40,000 words of her own academic material

Conversational Craft

6 / 20

This is a mutual-validation session between two peers rather than an interview; the host frequently inserts long personal monologues, never challenges a claim, and the guest is met with responses like 'Perfectly said' and 'Yeah, I love that.' There are no probing follow-ups and the episode drifts far from its stated topic without redirection.

Perfectly said.
Yeah, I love that. I love that. That. Like, I think that's a really great way to look at it.

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Share of words spoken

  • Speaker B62%
  • Speaker A38%

Most-used words

content29marketing21back19love15interesting14point13piece11podcast10write9last8chat8create8first8linkedin8enough8known8

Episode notes

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Marketing Espresso, I’m joined by Tahnée Sanders for a very honest conversation about AI, content marketing, originality, transparency and what it really means to show up online in a world flooded with generic content. Tahnée and I start with the thing a lot of business owners and marketers are quietly thinking right now: we are all using AI in some way, but many people are not being completely honest about it. Whether it’s helping tidy up a LinkedIn post, pulling key ideas from a podcast transcript, generating show notes, summarising research or shaping a first draft, AI has become part of the way many of us work. But the real question is not simply whether we should use AI. The better question is: why are we using it, how are we using it, and what are we outsourcing in the process? We talk about the rise of what Tahnée calls AI slop - content that might technically be fine, but feels generic, forgettable and disconnected from any real point of view. We unpack why this matters for business owners, especially when so many brands are creating more content than ever, but not necessarily creating content that says anything meaningful.

Full transcript

33 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: Marketing Espresso making marketing as enjoyable, energizing, and digestible as your morning coffee. Hello. Hello. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Marketing Espresso. So grateful you have chosen to, uh, tune into the body as always. I know there's heaps of options out there. So grateful you've chosen this one. And I have been a little bit neglectful of the podcast over the last couple of months, which is why the last two have been a little bit rushed, however rushed as they may have been. I'm gonna argue that I've brought you some incredible wisdom from some incredible guests, because I have amazing marketers in the network that I'm in and the people that I collaborate with and the people I get to do work with every day. Obviously, it was Mel last week and this week it's Tenay. And Tanay has been on the show previously as well. But we knew that it was time for another chat because everything's evolved in the world of AI since she came on last time. And I knew that we would have a good chat because she's been recently delving into a lot of she's been sharing a lot of articles and stats and things to her social media and to her world that I find fascinating and that have opened up lots of conversations around ethics and AI, which I always find is a really interesting conversation also around what are the limits and what are we being judged for when we use AI? So, so Tenay, if you haven't listened to the other episodes, go and find them. Highly recommend them. But she is the founder of the Strategy Studio, and in the Strategy Studio, she supports small businesses to get their message sorted because she knows from many, many years of experience that clear messaging and effective marketing is actually the key to helping you create a business that gives you some freedom. And she knows it's possible she's created one herself. But also she does have many, many years in marketing as her back. And she's especially talented because she's a former journalist, so she gets words, everybody. So she's a former journalist turned copywriter, uh, and massive messaging strategist, which is why she's the person to have this conversation with you and why today we're going to be talking about all things AI and how to really get your messaging right through that to stand out and avoid this AI slop, because we know that it's really zeitgeisty at the moment. So I hope you guys love this chat, have a listen, reach out to myself, reach out to Tanay, all her details will be in the show Notes. I hope you love this chat. You know, where you can leave feedback, so don't be afraid to do so. Also, don't be afraid to, uh, leave me a review about the potty. Send me an email. If there's something that's on your mind or there's someone that you can recommend putting forward for the podcast, or there's a topic that you want to learn more about, reach out to me, say hi. I don't bite. I swear to God. And I would love to hear who is listening. Have a great week, guys. I'll be back in your ears next week. Tanay, you're back with me again.

Speaker A: Oh, I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me, Bec.

Speaker B: I'm glad you're here too, because it's. I put a call out. I'm being very honest about this because we were talking about the fact that our years have not been the way that we thought that they would be and that we've been playing catch up and blah. The potty, unfortunately, has been one of those things for me where it's been like, I have not been prepared, which is the first time in five years. But thankfully you answered my call out, like, with something that was like, oh, yes, we can talk for days on this and I'm going to pass over to you and be like, what are we talking about today? Hello, everyone.

Speaker A: Love it. I know you and I could chat for hours. When I saw your call out, I was like, oh, Oh. A conversation I'm loving having at the moment is in this kind of world of AI slop that I think we can all identify with, coming back to this root question of why are we doing it? And having a bit of a reckoning maybe about our relationship with AI. So I think that's kind of where I'd like to go today.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I love it because we were just talking offline then and we were saying, like, one of the things that you said, and I'll let you introduce the data and all of the stuff, but one of the things you said is that we're all using it, but we're kind of all lying about it. Like, it's like I'm the first person to judge and be like, oh, my God, there's so much chic content out there at the moment. However, I also don't. I don't use it to do my first drafts, but. But I do use it to tidy up my content. So it's not like I'm guilty. It's some of my LinkedIn posts have been through AI. Like, my show notes are, uh, actually 100% AI, but that is purely because no one's reading my show notes. Okay,

Speaker A: let's be honest. I know.

Speaker B: And they're like, they're probably pretty terrible, although I think Leah does a great job of making them somewhat not terrible, but we're all using it. And I'll pass back over to you to give me the stat that you told me, which I think was really fascinating, actually.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And I use it too. I'm not trying to be here on a soapbox saying, why are we all using AI? Like, that's not what this conversation is about. But a report that came out last week said that more than 80% of the public believe that they can identify AI generated content. And what was more interesting to me than the stat is that 75% of consumers age 18 to 34 said that they are fine with brands using AI, provided the brands are transparent about its use. And that was probably the clincher for me. I know that's kind of a slightly younger demographic when you go to over 65. That stat dropped to just 7% of consumers being okay with AI use. But I think we would probably expect that just based on exposure to the technology. But I thought 75% being okay with it as long as we're transparent about it. That, for me was the, um, yeah, no one is. And this conversation for me became really interesting a couple of weeks back when it was revealed that an academic from a university had used AI to write an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald. And when it was revealed that she had used AI to write the piece, it caused a big stir. Sydney, uh, Morning Herald took it down because that was against the editorial guidelines. And the biggest part of it was the hypocrisy because the opinion piece was actually about students shouldn't be using AI in the creation of their ideas for writing papers, etc. So I think there is an element of hypocrisy there for sure. But what happened was she had put in over 40,000 words of her own academic material. She's been researching, writing about, teaching about this topic for a very long time. So she used AI to reduce 40,000 or so of her words into a short column for a newspaper. And this, to me, is the really interesting thing. If everyone says okay, we would be okay with it if she was transparent. How do you be transparent and communicate the extent to which AI was used?

Speaker B: Good point. Because, like, I saw this on your. I commented on Facebook. And you were like, go check out the LinkedIn. And I was like, laughing because I think for me the issue is the hypocrisy. Right? Like, I was like, oh, Lord. Like, because if a student puts in 40,000 words, you're still like, no, it's unacceptable because someone else wrote your piece. Right? So it's like, okay. And I think that, like, because we were talking about this as well, don't outsource, like, your thinking and don't outsource. I almost think, don't outsource your creativity. Because I think like, when it comes to writing and when it comes to doing that, like, some people hate it, I get it. But like, it's in the process of writing something, I think you think about new ways of looking at it or you reflect on what you've learned or. But having said that, 40,000 pieces of, you know, copy or content or thoughts or like, that's a lot. But having said that, if she's a thought leader on this, which she obviously is, should you need AI?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And also. But what extent did she use it? Did she just go to Claude and be like, morning, Claude, Sydney Morning Heralds asked me to do an article. Can you just take my 40,000 pieces of, you know, my 40,000 words that I've used previously and make me a piece? They need it in this format. Like, was she that lazy or was there a first draft? Like, we don't know. We don't exactly.

Speaker A: And that's, I think, where the transparency piece becomes hard. Because to add a simple tag that says AI was used in the generation of this article can mean so many different things. It can mean exactly as you said. She threw in 40,000 words and it generated it for her on one opposite end. It could also mean she said, with no input, Write me an 800 word opinion piece on this topic. Or on the complete other end of the spectrum, it could mean she gave it 40,000 words, she told it the opinion she wanted to have, she gave it the three key arguments and it created the article for her. And there's such a spectrum there that just having a little AI was used tag does nothing to communicate that. So I think that's the interesting piece that's going to continue to be debated at least over the next year. Because I think that in this world of AI scale slop, to a large extent, we're all looking for someone to trust. And nothing erodes trust faster than being able to spot AI when it wasn't declared.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And also AI being declared, but Us not understanding the extent to which it was used. The way I like to think about it is, AI should reduce your thinking effort. It shouldn't reduce your thinking responsibility.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. I love that. That. Like, I think that's a really great way to look at it. Because it's like, I don't know. And then there's also the judgment that comes with knowing. Like, if I saw this, uh, article was generated by AI, like, I'm gonna judge. I'm not. Yeah, I'm not sitting here thinking, I'm not gonna judge. I'm gonna be like, but why don't you love your brand enough to create your own content? Like, because that's. But it's like, people could say that back to me because they'd be like, then why bit? But I'm like, that's because. And I don't put every piece of art thing I write through it. But I know that if I'm having a day where I'm really throwing too many Beckisms at my Word document, and I'm like, this actually just doesn't flow well. I'll pop it into Claude and be like, I created this article. It's for this purpose. I can see there's points that aren't flowing well. Can you just help me tidy up the flow? Like, simple, right? But when it comes to, like. Yeah, I guess when it comes to the writing, I enjoy. But I enjoy it. So it's not fair of me to, like, judge someone that's vocal and then might prompt AI using their voice, because they're really good at that. Like, I also do that, too. Like, when I'm lost for, like, content, I just throw a podcast in there. I'm like, hey, in this podcast episode, I spoke about xyz, can you pull out some key pointers of things that I could write more on?

Speaker A: Perfect. But I think that is a great use of AI. But I think you just highlighted something there that's really important. You and I both enjoy writing, and it probably comes more naturally to us than it does to other people. And I don't want people listening to this to think, oh, well, all well and good for you guys. You can write. What about when I can't write? That's why I'm using AI in the first place. And I really do understand that opinion. And you know that position with AI, because that is what it's made easier for people. I think there's nothing wrong with AI helping you write your content, but I would say you can't decide what you want your business to be known for. And that's where I think the slop in inverted commas is becoming so prevalent. We're not stopping to decide what we want our business to be known for before we're outsourcing to AI.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: That, to me, is what's becoming more and more noticeable.

Speaker B: Yeah. And you and I had this chat offline as well about the more is more like, we're all caught up in this content game. Like, I remember back in the day when, like, content marketing was like a new thing.

Speaker A: Yes, right.

Speaker B: Do you remember that? It was like, oh, my God, if you're not doing content marketing, you are behind the, like, eight ball. Like, and content marketing was this huge rage. It's just become a thing now. And it's like, we've forgotten. I constantly keep feeling this way. And it was funny. I went to a growth summit event last week, like, by Smart Company, and Naomi Simpson spoke and, like, she is the godmother of, like, marketing. Right. Like, she's a legend. But even she was saying she's like, we've forgotten the foundation, foundation stuff of marketing. Like, content marketing. Once again, it's a part of marketing. It's not the whole of it. But I think because there's so much hype around free advertisement, visibility, like, all of this stuff. And it's like, yeah, but if it's just. I remember having a chat with a business coach that wanted to argue with me that you should be posting to LinkedIn like, three times a day. I was like, but why? Like, why? I'm not interesting. I'm not interesting. And like, I don't have three things that are worth anyone listening to me saying every day. Like, like, I'm. I don't have a big enough ego to think I'm that important or have that much to say. But I think, like, to your point, it's like, what do you want to be known for? Because, like, when you hammer down into that, I think you fall out of the need for this content loop and this more for the sake of. More to, like, get in people's feeds. Because I think, like, at some point you're just annoying.

Speaker A: Perfectly said.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: The issue used to be, as a small business owner, can I create enough content? That absolutely used to be the challenge. Uh, to me, that's not the challenge anymore. If you want to create more and more content, you can. The tools are there available to you. I believe the issue now is not whether you can create enough content, it's whether, uh, the content you create is it communicating a clear and memorable point of difference. And I would argue that a lot of content out there at the moment has become more for the sake of more, not more for the sake of communicating something clearly with a point of difference.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I think also in communicating the way that naturally comes to us because we can get AI to generate videos for us now. So if you hate producing a video, you can create a pretty good bloody video of yourself using AI. Right. And look, I would like to think I could pick it up, but having said that, I'm not stupid enough to think that I can in every single instance. Right. But it's like back in the day, I remember when I would give marketing advice, especially to solopreneurs or like business owners that wanted to grow personal brand. It was like, what channel do you feel comfortable? Is it writing? Is it talking to a camera? Is it podcasting? And this is why everyone has a podcast now too. And people are even generating podcasts through AI just like throwing their voice in there. So suddenly we've become the master of every single, like, channel and every single type of content. And it's like, that's just actually not accurate. And I think to your point, it moves us so far away from honing in on that, what am I good at? Like, where are my strengths and why am I doing this? Because, like, that, like, I know video naturally didn't come for me. And then everyone said, oh, I really like you on video. And I was like, okay, like, but for me, like, I know communication for me, like, I don't think twice about it. But for some people, it's just not natural to like to write or to podcast or to video and it's okay. And I think we've, because we've been caught up in this. Like, but I have to be good at everything to build a personal brand. I know. Do you feel the same way?

Speaker A: Yeah, I do. And I think we also need some self reflection on why do we feel that way. And if it's because that's what's being demonstrated to us, is it being demonstrated to us by people that we know like, and trust? Right. And if it's not, like, why are we doing it? Because the message I think rewind even three years ago was if you want to be a thought leader and if you want to have influence, you need to be seen in all, all of the places. That was very much the strategic advice a few years back. And yeah, there's still some people that are giving that advice. But I would argue I don't think that everyone's ideal client, customer, consumer is on all of the platforms. And having your niche has never been more powerful than it is at the moment. And I think the niche applies to not just your expertise, but where you share that expertise. I truly think it's okay to be known as the person that shares their thought leadership on substack or on LinkedIn or maybe Instagram is your thing and that's where you build your. Built your community. I honestly think that's okay as long as. And this is always going to be my caveat as a marketer, uh, that you take that offline in some capacity in terms of do you have their email address? Like, can we please just never put all of our trust into the social media platform people, because we don't own that audience and we never will. So that to me will always be a fundamental. That it's not just enough to have the presence if you can't have any other way of interacting with them. But the point still stands that I don't believe we need to be in all of the places, especially if the only way we're able to do it is by trusting AI to do it on our behalf.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I think the other, uh, thing as well, like, to your point about, like, the advice being like, you've got to be everywhere. Personally, I like, that was pretty advice back in the day. I like, I still think it's advice and I thought it was advice then. And the reason, depending obviously on who you're going after. Got a caveat with that, right? Yes, for sure. Like, some people did have to be everywhere. Okay. And for them, like, sorry, but when you see the people that have really nailed certain channels and had great success in them, it's not because they spread themselves thin prior to AI being able to help them spread themselves thin, Right?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Now it's really easy to spread yourself thin because AI is going to help you produce all of the stuff that you need constantly, all of the time. And when I had clients that would be like, oh, but like, I just think, like, I see people on Instagram and I'm like, your clients aren't there, but they would still push ahead. And it's like their Instagram hasn't really grown since, you know, for three years. And it's like it's never going to because the people aren't there. Your topic's not important there. People don't give a there. You know, maybe your people here, like, they're on substack or they're on LinkedIn. Or they're on YouTube. Like, and the people that I think went really narrow, focused, and went deep, man, they've grown communities on those channels, and they've probably done it without expending so much energy as the people that went wide and far and then now are like, sweet. AI is helping me continue this absolutely scattered approach to my marketing.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Like, I think. And that. I don't know, maybe I'm being harsh, but I feel like that's. It comes back to that. We didn't look at foundations because we got caught up in the hype of there's all these free channels, and it's like, they're not free. They take up your time.

Speaker A: I think exactly what you said there applies to AI. We're getting caught up in the technology without going back to the strategy behind why we're using it.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, what do we want to be known for? And have we actually communicated that to the AI tool that we're using? Like, a bit of a checklist for me or that I would share with a client is, yes. What do you want to be known for? What do you want to say that you don't believe your competitors are saying? Like, that's going to help you have a point of difference. And what language would you personally use to communicate with your ideal client, your ideal customer? Don't outsource that tone to an AI tool. Like, I feel like you need to be able to tell AI those three really important points before you say to it, okay, and now create the content for me. Yeah, you just need something in it that has a grain at least, of authenticity to it.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that, because I do think one of the other things AI does really well is it copycats, obviously, because that's what it's been trained to do. So, like, people that go produce me a marketing strategy, which I've had many, uh, discussions with, you know, tech people or, once again, business coaches that are like, yes, you can just get AI to produce these stuff. And I'm like. But it misses that uniqueness. And I think, like, Naomi Simpson actually backed this up. Like, I was kind of sitting there nodding, going, oh, thank God I'm not crazy. Because she's like. She's really successful and saying, like, echoing what I think. And it's like, in a world, it doesn't matter whether you're B2B or B2C. In a world where consumers have so much choice, the best thing you can do is really articulate what your brand stands for and why you're different. And the brands that nail. That they nail their marketing. Like, we. I don't. I have never seen a generic, boring brand go viral.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Right. Like, even, like, we drove past the White Fox, like, headquarters here to do the other day, and Matt's like, but, man, like, their jumpers are so

Speaker A: I

Speaker B: was like, well, yeah, babe. But like, look at how successful they got. Because they were like, we're just going to produce a hoodie. We're just going to produce a hoodie and we're going to virally, like, you know, but it's like, whether you think their hoodies are shit or not, like, apparently Matt does. Who knew? But, you know, they nailed who they were trying to get in front of. They nailed what channel they'd use. And now they've gone depth. Right. Like, I did a piece around, like, they're not just viral anymore. You see them on buses, you see, because they nailed the first channel and then went, like, a little bit broader with where they. Because I know they had to. Right. They kind of. They weren't going to go any more viral than they had.

Speaker A: Yes. And your reference there to seeing Naomi Simpson speak@smart company. She also wrote a fantastic article for them. And I actually wrote down something from one of those articles because I just thought it was something I want to keep reading and reminding myself. And she said, content for the sake of content without real purpose and without real authority actually does a disservice to you. It doesn't actually build your brand. It's a distraction. And I just thought that that is right.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's so true. Because, like, you know, we were talking about it, uh, like, about how unorganized I've been this year. And funnily enough, it means that, like, not one marketing channel that I've had this year has been well structured or consistent. And I will be the first person to be like, sorry, plumber, with the leaky taps this year. But, like, life has been happening. Like, life is happening. And that's okay. But having said that, I've barely po. I think I've posted. I could count, I reckon, on two hands how many times I've posted to Instagram this year. I could count how many times I've reshared podcast episodes to socials. I've actually never had more downloads on my podcast than ever. And I get probably more replies to the emails that I do send because they're really thoughtful. Because I'm like, I'm not sending shit. I flat out refuse. And I'm not posting to LinkedIn if it's not well thought out because I know my traction is down at the moment because I've been mia, right? So it's like I have to have half decent content going out or like. And then I went through a little like, sprint a couple of weeks ago and I will say, like, I didn't get the reactions I wanted because it wasn't as like, deeper content. It wasn't what I was probably known for. And I found like, especially with the podcast downloads, that to me has been probably the most interesting thing because I think most people believe you can't have a following on a podcast without social media. And I would argue, yeah, mine's never been better.

Speaker A: And I love that you just shared that because I wrote a piece last week in my own reflection when I realized that I have never created less content than I have in the past six months for the Strategy Studio. But when I do, my engagement has never been higher. And to me that is wild. When the algorithm has never been harder to earn your place in. And I think the reason for that is that in this attention economy that we're all like, fighting to get eyeballs. The more content is not the guarantee of more attention. And it used to be when the algorithm rewarded that, but it doesn't work anymore. But I just quietly love that the more thought through, personalized, intentional content, when done well, can still get you the engagement. To me, it was almost like, uh, in some ways a little permission slip to be like, it's okay, stop being so hard on yourself. And I say this with all the caveats of, you know, that's a luxury. We're both established businesses, we get a lot of word of mouth referrals. I know that hearing this as a startup, uh, business or being much earlier and not having the benefits of networks and things to support you, I understand that would be a really frustrating thing to hear. I just think that needs to be said.

Speaker B: Yeah, totally.

Speaker A: But it does go to show that more, more for the sake of more is not always going to be of value to you.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. And I think it's like, interesting that you've had similar sort of like a similar kind of, I guess, feedback from like, yes, not posting as much because, like, yeah, I just, it's really been it. And everyone I'm talking to, though, interestingly enough, like they're either deleting their meta altogether or they're just like, I'm not there. Like I was at it. Like at the Gross Summit event. I, uh, every single person I met, the first thing they wanted to do was have a chat with me about how much they hate meta. It's like, okay. And then like, LinkedIn wasn't far behind and I was like, yeah, okay. So the general consensus is that we are pretty burnt out as business owners. And look, yeah, I will caveat. Most of these business owners had been at it five years or at least three plus years. Right. Like, which, like, you know, really, in a lot of ways, you're still in startup stage, you're still getting, like, your feet ready, like, finding your feet, doing all of the things. So I do think for you and I, yes, we've built up communities, we've got great networks, we've got referral partners, like, all of those awesome things. But also we built those too. Like, because we didn't just focus on if I chuck a reel out there and it goes viral. Because even, like the virality thing or even like the engagement, it doesn't equal sales anyway.

Speaker A: No.

Speaker B: And I think this is, this is the real interesting thing that I would say to anyone kind of feeling like they need to get this content out. And the pressure that you and I have both felt at different stages in our, you know, careers and in building our personal brands and in building our brands. Like, I think, like, go back to looking at, like, your stats and actually what is working? Like, uh, where's the proof that putting all this time and effort into one channel or one thing or whatever is actually, like, you know, reaping the reward? Yeah. And then if it's not, then go back and start looking at the stuff that you're talking about and go, what do I want to be known for?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And who are the people that would resonate with that?

Speaker A: It's so true. And I think I have also experienced this on the absolute flip side in the last 12 months, starting a second business. I had to start unwind code from zero Instagram followers and I had to build a new community around a brand. And I've had to go back to regret. Like, regrettably, I should say I don't love creating content, but that is a new business that I did need to build a community around. But it's been just over 12 months now since we started that Instagram account, and it's very much still growing. It's under 2000 followers. But to me, it was a really interesting experience, interesting experiment in having to pay attention to the data and deciding where our, uh, energy was worthwhile and what our point of difference was. And for me, it's very much been around the Neuroscience side of creativity. Sorry, I should have given some context. And Wine Co creates creative project boxes for women to help them get offline and get out of their head and into their hands. And what has been really interesting to me is I was fascinated with the neuroscience of creativity and how it makes us a better business owner when we get, can learn to flick that off switch. Because I think as uh, particularly as founders, when you have your own business, your downtime in inverted commas is still your business. It can become very hard to find any kind of separation. And for me learning about the neuroscience of creativity and how having time to do the offline stuff actually made me a better business owner. That's what I was fascinated in and that's what I started sharing. And to me it's interesting that the emails that get the highest open rate rates are uh, when I'm sharing those kind of things, they don't always get the best engagement on social media. But that's fine because it's generating great open rates in our emails and great responses and interaction with our customers. And that for me is a really great example of paying attention to what the data is telling you and not just kind of throwing at the wall to see what sticks. Because that's exhausting.

Speaker B: Yeah. Ah, it is exhausting and I think it's a really good point. You have, have started a new business like and you've done it in an, like you've done it in a very different space really to your previous business.

Speaker A: Hugely different.

Speaker B: Like the audiences are nothing the same. Yeah.

Speaker A: And it's service based business versus product based business. I've never had to market a product based business before so I was very much back in the trenches learning how to do it.

Speaker B: Yeah. And I love it. We kind of definitely moved away from our original topic of AI here.

Speaker A: We definitely have.

Speaker B: That's weird. Expected this. So I think I'll bring it, I want to tie it back before we, before we close up. So I think when it comes to using AI, I mean are we like our friend Professor do, how do we feel about her and how do we like for me, I think my takeaway from this and my takeaway of conversations with you and with other business owners is to your point, outsource the effort. But for me it's like don't outsource your creativity and the thing that you should be celebrating in your business because I think a lot of people look at marketing as, oh, marketing, like I've got to do all this stuff. But I think that's because you're caught up with. You don't. You haven't looked at what's actually going to work for the business and then gone. These are the channels that I want to try now, next, later. This is the hypothesis of me trying these channels. Like, treat it like a science experiment. I say this all the time and then have fun with it. Right. Like, do that stuff that you mentioned, like, do not use AI until you can tell what you really stand for as a business. Your unique. Like, for me, it's the uniqueness of your business because that, uh, your competitor can't copy it.

Speaker A: Yeah. And that to me is going, I see as the competitive advantage of the future. It's. It'll come from having a strong point of view, but also the restraint and the discipline to use AI as a tool and not as a substitute for original thought.

Speaker B: And.

Speaker A: And as our use of AI progresses, that is going to become clearer and clearer to all of us who has original thought and who is just contributing to the noise.

Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. Uh, I think that's a really good. Shall we wrap up? I feel like that's a good. Let's do it. We did it.

Speaker A: We bought a circle.

Speaker B: We brought a full circle. Thank you so much for joining me today. Where can people find you?

Speaker A: You can find me at the Strategy Studio or at the Unwind Co on Instagram and you can find me at Tena Sanders on LinkedIn.

Speaker B: Thanks, Tanae. So good having you back.

Speaker A: Thanks for having me. Hi, Beck here.

Speaker B: Just dropping in to say that if you are struggling with your marketing planning, I have got the solution just for you. I have recently launched my marketing planner to the world and I am offering it to you at a 5% discount for listening, uh, to the potty. You can see what's in the planner and how it's going to change your life simply by visiting my website, becchapple.com and heading to the resources section. When you're ready to check out chuck in potty VIP and you'll get your 5% discount. Thanks for listening and I hope that it changes your life.

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