Are AI Flyers Hurting Your Brand’s Authenticity?

There's an instinct among certain business owners to keep up with the latest marketing trends, and right now, the trend is AI flyers. They're scattered across social media and aside from sales and promotions, can communicate a lot about what or who a brand is. The instinct is understandable, and for many business owners, a quick solution that can potentially elevate their brand is exactly what they need.

The low barrier to entry seems attractive to someone who's already strapped for time and may not be able to afford a professional designer on a weekly basis, but here are a few things to consider and ask yourself before putting one of these flyers together.

How often will you produce these flyers and are you prompting a design refresh each time?

Design consistency may be how these become easier for your audience to digest. In a sea of lookalikes, think about how you'd want your flyer to stand out.

What does using Generative AI say about my brand? (If people even notice)

This is two-fold, and the short answer is that it depends on who's seeing the flyer. Someone working in marketing might be able to spot this quicker, but a regular of yours likely already has their own opinions on Gen-AI. We can't say with certainty that your audience feels one way or another, but before you post, ask yourself what you want to communicate in the first place. How might your audience respond to this in a flyer vs a short video posted on social media?

What does it cost to use Gen-AI?

Many LLMs might not cost you anything up front to create a flyer. The actual cost is in long term engagement across social media. Opinions on this technology are almost split, and one downside could be forming a negative community sentiment. If each flyer you create looks similar, engagement will likely plateau and/or slowly decrease over time.

Should I actually use Gen-AI?

It's easy to see so many other businesses in your community us Gen-AI, and imagine they're seeing a huge response to it. Stop here and think; if something like an AI flyer can be produced in seconds, its likely going to be consumed in a fraction of that time.

So, all of this to say, if you're on the fence about creating an AI flyer, or have already produced many of them, it could be helpful to stop and think about what you're actually communicating. In many cases, audiences are getting value out of knowing what you have going on and these same audiences might also respond to something else like a short video or handmade flyer.

A client recently said to us, "The reality is that partnering with a marketing firm is too expensive, and depending on who you're working with, may not even be as effective as I hoped."

We hear this almost every day, but it doesn't have to be that way. Simply put, it's a tough decision, and one we recommend making with more intention.