Marketing is dead

Remember when marketing was all about selling stuff with ads? Those days are gone, my friend.

These days, if you want to reach people and build a loyal audience, ‘marketing’ as we know it won’t cut it.

"But Kirsty, I'm literally reading your marketing newsletter right now."

I hear ya. Stick with me – I promise this will make sense in about 30 seconds.

People are drowning in marketing messages. Our social media feeds are an endless stream of ads, our inboxes are bursting with promo emails and our phones ping constantly with notifications trying to get us to buy, donate or sign up.

And what do most of us do? We tune it out.

I'm predicting social media as we know it won't be The Thing for much longer. People are wary of centralised platforms (mentioning no particular billionaire-owned, ex-bird site). I know, because I’m ‘people’. So are my friends. So are my audience members.

In the near future, as we’re already starting to see, I predict that people will choose smaller, more tailored channels and communities for their social networking – channels like Discord, Whatsapp and individual membership sites for niches they’re interested in.

The answer isn't more marketing

In this future, the answer to Knowing Your Audience doesn’t lie in knowing their age, gender, favourite colour, star sign or whatever. 

The answer lies in connecting with your audience in an authentic way — making time to understand what they want and what challenges they face. It will be about telling stories that matter to them. Not stories about your brand – but stories about the change you can create together, changes that reflect your audience's hopes, fears and desires.

How AI can help

But it’s not just the channels and focus on meaningful storytelling that’s changing in marketing.

You’re a purpose-driven marketer, but don’t be a hero and/or get left behind because you think AI is the devil and will take over the human species. (I mean, it might… but not just yet.)

Use AI like it’s your personal assistant handling the admin, while you focus on what really matters: finding the human connection and telling stories that resonate.

Here's what to delegate to AI:

• The technical stuff
  Let AI handle your SEO descriptions, tags and basic optimisation. It's brilliant at following technical rules and guidelines.

• First drafts
  Use AI to create rough drafts of routine content like event announcements or newsletter templates. Then add your human touch to make them sing.

• Content planning
  AI can help generate content calendars and suggest topics based on your goals. It really can be like having a super-efficient PA.

• Research and data 
  Let AI help compile and analyse statistics, research and background info. It can process vast amounts of data faster than we ever could.

Here's what to keep human:

• Your connection to your audience
  AI can't spot a compelling human story or understand its emotional resonance. That's your superpower. You need to understand what makes your audience tick and what their challenges and aspirations are way before you pump anything into ChatGPT or Claude.

• Adding nuance
  The subtle touches that make content feel authentic and relatable? That's all you.

• Building connections
  Real relationships with your community, interacting and emphasising with their hopes and fears – that needs the human touch.

• Strategic thinking
  AI can suggest tactics, but understanding what will truly move your audience to action? That's where you come in.

The future of marketing isn't about algorithms or automation — it's about authentic human connection, powered by smart use of AI.

People won't engage with AI-generated marketing messages. They will engage with stories that make them feel something, with messaging that shows them a way to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Savvy audiences are seeking these stories and human connections in increasingly different ways, and via increasingly different channels.

Make your words unignorable 👇️ 

Master The HERO Framework and learn the exact method I used to go from writing $5 articles to:

• Heading up Marketing & Comms teams

• Securing huge international brands as freelance writing clients

• Raising my hourly rate by 7,150% (no kidding)

👉️ Check out The HERO Framework

🐝 Shoutout to beehiiv for powering and helping me grow Write Like You Mean It. If you’re looking to up your email game, I highly recommend.