A couple of my clients are in a major growth phase, but don’t have much margin to spend on marketing. I toyed with Chat GPT to leverage our budget and–I am not over-exaggerating–it gave me an existential panic followed by great hope and excitement.

The fake company: Surfboard Sammies
What they sell: cured meat the old-school traditional way
Business structure: e-commerce and a brick & mortar cafe
The location: Total Fabrication

I invented the company while I was typing into Chat GPT (maybe I was hungry for a hoagie?), and the whole thing took me 5 minutes tops.

Before you read the prompt and the robot’s marketing plan, what’s my initial take?…

Stankin’ GOOD.

Chat GPT’s marketing plan was stankin’ good.

Clients have paid around $4,000 and up to $10,000 for similar marketing plans (I’ve written them!) Chat GPT will at least save many businesses quite a lot of money.

*For contrast, this AI attempt did not succeed very well… (those faces!?)*

Precise takeaways from Chat GPT’s marketing plan:

The Cons:

Common sense: it says to host a“sponsor a farmers market” in February
- Much of the country is cold in February, so I wouldn’t put $2,000 in a farmers market that doesn’t exist.
Budget: Is $30,000/month feasible for you? Only you and your CFO know. At roughly 11% of the $4,000,000 revenue goal, it’s a significant investment.
Easier-said-than-done: One month put $4,000 into TikTok.
- That is a lot of money to place into one platform for one month, so you better know what you’re doing. (Edit: this was written before January 19th, 2025)
- It’s hard to be effective on every social platform, so choose one(s) that makes the most sense for your audience, your industry content, and your browsing habits.
- Unless you have specific reason to blow $4,000 on one month, I’d spread out that budget on a monthly basis, or into platform where you’re more comfortable.
Timing and ROI: Instagram ads happen more often than July
- If you choose to run ads on any platform, you’ll likely need 3-6 months to get a notable ROI from (especially new) customers on that platform.
- Ask the GPT aliens to expand the ad spends for at least three months at a time
Workflow: Make it look more like a to-do list
- The platforms are here and there instead of everywhere.
- It’s too easy to disregard a marketing plan halfway through the year, because it no longer makes sense.
- I’d break down all the platforms on a monthly basis, so we wouldn’t get confused as we move through the year.

The Pros

Holy mackerel, IDEAS.
- “Host a sandwich-making contest at the cafe?” Great idea.
- Now we can easily discard the ideas we don’t like, and keep building on the ones we do
Clarity: Stop worrying about the plan, and just do the plan!
- To quote the 1998 made-for-TV Disney movie, Brink!, “Don’t think, just do.”
- Even if the plan isn’t great, at it’s best, it’s a to-do list. As time progresses, you’ll learn whether or not your efforts are working and can edit on the fly.

THE BIG ONE!? IT SAVES BEAUCOUP BUCKS

There’s no need for you to pay a marketer to complete this work.

Pre-GPT, I would have charged about $4,000 for similar work.

Post-GPT, I just charged a similar business $500, and we worked side-by-side with Chat GPT as our co-pilot.

*Before “Top Gun: Maverick,” the quote was from the 1998 made-for-TV movie, Brink!, this 90’s kid promises you…*

Cue the panic:

This report gave me a mild panic, because as a marketer, it’s a massive disruption of the way I make money.

I can no longer in good faith charge someone for this type of work.

Luckily, now I can focus on what I really love doing: understanding how businesses work and unlocking their unique path to growth, in perfectly unique ways.

Other marketers, might use Chat GPT and pretend that they came up with it on their own.

Quick rant.

Business owners & brand marketers: If you’re in any common industry (say, insurance, plumbing, accounting, retail…) Ask a robot first, orient yourself to its results, then ask a human marketer to consult on it. Don’t pay a marketer $4,000 when it could have cost you $500.

Agency marketers: Don’t be a lazy cheapskate and pawn off an AI marketing plan as your own. Be honest about the tools that support you, and the benefits you bring in addition to that robot. We’ll have to be clear and concise about our value in order to gain future clients. Don’t charge a client $4,000 for a marketing plan that only cost you a one-hour kickoff call and three hours revisions.

Conclusion? Try a robot before you hire a human

Before hiring a marketing company to complete a marketing plan, ask for one in Chat GPT or similar AI.

Even if you can’t identify the pros and cons yourself, it will give you a good frame of reference. You’ll know the questions you want to ask.

Chat GPT is a brilliant, time-saving, brain-expanding, tool, but it doesn’t really know you.

It’s your marketer’s job to be the perfect click of that last puzzle piece and help you achieve your business growth.

I know I’ll be honest with my clients about Chat GPT, and I won’t charge them for the time it saved. I hope everyone else is as honest too.

Hire a Human

ChatGPT wrote my marketing plan (how’d it do?)