386 | The Cost of Sloppy AI Marketing + A Holiday Break with Paul Zelizer
What if the biggest threat to your social impact business wasn’t a lack of technology, but the overuse of AI-generated marketing that erodes your brand’s trust and uniqueness?
BIO: I’ve been a business coach for social entrepreneurs and cleantech companies for the past 18 years, the host of the Awarepreneurs podcast and co-founder of NM Tech Talks and NMClimate.
This episode is sponsored by the coaching company of the host, Paul Zelizer. Consider a Strategy Session if you can use support growing your impact business.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Transcript of The Cost of Sloppy AI Marketing with Paul Zelizer
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Key Takeaways in The Cost of Sloppy AI Marketing with Paul Zelizer
The Risks of Sloppy AI Marketing:
Using AI without thoughtfulness or authentic experience behind the messaging leads to polished language that lacks real value, risking erosion of trust and brand credibility—especially for social entrepreneurs whose work depends on meaningful, market-tested solutions.
"AI can help us communicate more clearly, but when it replaces real gritty experience instead of sharpening it, it ends up sounding impressive while delivering very little value... AI is cheapening our brands, it's eroding our trust, and instead of us helping us grow our impact businesses, it's actually getting in the way."
The Enduring Importance of Relationships:
Despite the growing role of AI, deep personal relationships and real-world expertise continue to be the most effective drivers of major business opportunities, particularly in impact spaces like clean tech and social entrepreneurship.
"They came to relationships, not AI driven marketing... And the people that said you want to talk to Paul are people who've known me and trust me for a long time. So AI can support these outcomes but it can't replace them. You got to have the experience of brand that people can relate to."
Mindful, Substance-Driven AI Use:
The greatest value from AI arises when it’s used thoughtfully, to amplify and polish proven, experience-based ideas—never as a substitute for genuine expertise, sector understanding, and caring about real client problems.
"First be mindful of your audience, be mindful of the problems you're trying to help them solve and use AI to accentuate to polish maybe a thought partnership as you're developing an idea, but make sure the idea and the strategies or the products come from your experience of working in a particular sector."