The AI content flood is real, and people are tired of it

We're living in a dark age for visual branding, thanks to the rise in AI-generated branding, AI-generated flyers, AI-generated photos, AI-generated logos, etc. It's impossible to scroll through Facebook without having your eyeballs assaulted by exhaustingly busy posts featuring these abominations.

If you haven't seen the comments on a local Tampa business's posts using AI-generated graphics that say "I'm not coming to your event if your flyer is AI" or simply "AI slop" then you just must not be reading the comments. People are sick of it.

Why AI-generated branding is killing your credibility

Why are people so mad about AI? Because it's ugly. That's not the only reason (hello, impending environmental disaster) but it's why the average person is less excited about your AI-generated posts than you'd like. Maybe someday it'll be able to believably capture the essence of art, but so far it just looks like someone threw ideas into a blender and pressed "OBLITERATE."

Your audience knows you're a small business, they understand that you are probably doing everything by yourself. They know you didn't go to school for graphic design or art or marketing, and they don't expect you to have Louis Vuitton branding on a bargain bin budget. But when you AI-generate your branding, your photos, and your entire brand voice, the message is loud and clear: you don't think creativity is valuable. And if you'll take a shortcut on what your entire business looks and sounds like, what other shortcuts will you take?

What AI-generated branding actually communicates is that you don't care what your business looks like.

Soulless AI captions and AI website copy make you sound like an idiot

Not everyone is a great writer or communicator. It takes a lot of skill to effectively hook a reader, tell a succinct and entertaining story, and compel you audience to take action. But the answer is not to just get ChatGPT or Claude to write everything for you! The answer is to GET BETTER AT WRITING, or hire someone who can do it for you.

You are smarter than you give yourself credit for, and you can absolutely write your own Instagram captions about the job you literally do every single day. Letting generative predictive text write everything for you means you will never develop your own brand voice.

And it makes it so much harder for people to feel connected to you…because YOU are what makes your business special. Not whatever regurgitated slop gets spit out when you type a prompt into an AI robot.

What to do instead: fight back with real branding

People are absolutely craving authenticity. They would rather see you draw your event flyer using crayons than see another generic AI-generated poster. Everyone would rather you post a real photo of your face than a weird cartoon version of yourself. Leave your AI-generated branding in the past and come back to the land of reality.

Real brand photography is your competitive advantage right now

You don't need AI-generated branding, you need real human branding made by a real human person who cares about your real human business. Yes, it costs money, but you know what costs more money? All the customers you're alienating by making your brand completely indistinguishable from every other AI-generated brand in a sea of mediocrity.

Start with just brand photography. You'd be amazed by how a solid gallery of professional photos makes you feel proud of your business. You'll feel inspired to build your marketing strategy around stronger visuals, and your audience will be excited to see what you and your business ACTUALLY look like.