AI is everywhere—and that’s precisely the problem.
Once a bold claim, “now with AI” or “at the speed of AI” has become the new “cloud-based.” Tech companies shout it from their hero banners. Service firms wedge it into their sales decks. Everyone wants to prove they’re keeping up. (This image from the Gobbledy newsletter speaks volumes, don’t you think?)
However, as messaging about AI capabilities becomes increasingly prevalent, its impact diminishes. According to one study, a product or service using AI had no significant effect on buyers’ willingness to pay for it.
Yes, you need to be using AI. Yes, you should probably talk about it. But if you think AI alone is differentiating you, or should even be your primary message, that ship has sailed.
So, how should AI usage fit into your messaging?
Focus On The Customer Value
Too often, companies position AI as a primary benefit, labeling their products or services as “AI-enabled,” “powered by advanced AI models” or “built on LLMs.” But customers don’t care how futuristic your offering sounds. They care about what you say it can do for them—and whether your brand is trustworthy enough to deliver on those claims.
Compare these two messages:
1. “Our solution is powered by advanced AI models.” It’s generic and tells the customer nothing.
2. “Our AI-driven risk engine flags financial anomalies five times faster than manual review, saving clients an average of $20,000 per month.” It’s specific and connected to customer value.
If AI allows you to deliver a faster outcome, a more accurate result or a new capability that wasn’t possible before, lead with that. But be sure to connect the dots. Focus on the outcome AI helps your product or service achieve, and use messaging around AI to explain how you do it.
Not Every Efficiency Is Customer-Relevant
Another trap is assuming that all AI benefits are messaging-worthy. Sometimes, AI’s best use cases are in internal operations, such as streamlining workflows, reducing overhead and boosting profitability. That’s valuable for your business. Your chief financial officer or board will probably want to know about it. But that doesn’t make it meaningful to your customer.
Buyers want to know how you (and your investments and innovations) help them. Unless your internal gains directly translate into improved speed, service, quality or price, they don’t belong in your marketing messages.
Internal AI use may be best shared in investor materials, contract language or even an AI policy. But if there’s no clear customer value, keep it out of your customer-facing messaging.
Lean Into Your Marketing Foundations
Determining which information belongs (and doesn’t belong) in your customer-facing messaging requires more than instinct. It takes a clear strategy to guide your AI messaging.
When in doubt, return to your strategic marketing foundations. These fundamentals are more important than ever in a world that’s moving faster. Your AI messaging should align with your go-to-market strategy. It should reflect your mission, positioning, ideal customer profile and unique value proposition.
Pay attention to your market. What’s everyone else saying? If your messaging sounds the same as your competitors, it is the same. In crowded markets, you need bold, differentiated statements, and you need to back them up. If your use of AI is part of what differentiates you, great. But don’t build your brand around AI just because everyone else seems to be—especially if you don’t have the capabilities or impact to back up your claims.
Avoid AI Messaging Misfires
In certain instances, overrelying on AI in your messaging can do more harm than good. Companies can lose credibility because prospects assume AI means automation, which means lower quality. Procurement teams can pause deals because an AI mention triggered a new layer of risk review. You thought AI would signal innovation, but it ends up slowing you down.
All messaging (not just AI-related) should be created by putting yourself in the shoes of all potential audience segments. A board might laud AI-driven efficiencies, but a customer might wonder if those same efficiencies mean your team is now cutting corners.
Your messaging needs to address these potential perceptions—explicitly or implicitly. If AI is part of your product or service, be prepared to explain how it enhances (not replaces) the value you deliver, and make sure your team is well-equipped to address any concerns or objections confidently.
Find The Right Place For AI Messaging
Even when AI does provide customer value, you don’t necessarily need to talk about it anywhere and everywhere. AI messaging doesn’t always belong on your homepage. Maybe your AI capabilities are best detailed on a services page. Maybe they’re included in a white paper. Maybe they’re referenced in your customer-facing AI policy or embedded in contract language.
Not every message belongs in every channel. Resist the impulse to put AI front and center if it’s not a core differentiator.
A Smarter Way Forward
The pressure to say something about AI is real. In many industries, not mentioning it at all could raise eyebrows. But saying the wrong thing could be worse.
Don’t slap “AI-powered” on your messaging just to check a box. Instead, define your value. Clarify your articulation of customer/client outcomes. Then, determine the role AI plays in how you tell that story. (By the way, if you’re one of the many tech-focused companies that have had AI in their solutions for years but never talked about it, now is probably the time, provided you follow the guidelines covered in this article.)
The strongest messaging doesn’t center on the technology itself. It conveys how you use it to solve problems, deliver results and create value your competitors can’t match.
Originally posted on Forbes