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Written by Clare Martin, Founder, Blue Cactus Digital

If you think AI can replace your marketing strategy, you’re probably not using it correctly.

Time to debunk a myth. I often hear people tout AI as the ultimate marketing strategist. Enter a prompt, hit generate, and voilà, strategy sorted. But trust me, if it were that simple, brands would be ubiquitous, and marketers would all be sipping cocktails on the beach rather than pouring over competitive analysis, user journeys and attribution data. 

Spoiler alert: they’re not.

I’ve built a digital agency, launched tech startups, and created AI tool BrandBot Studio. I’m no superhero, I’ve had my fair share of burnout, (twice, actually, with one episode ending with paramedics at my door). If you want to understand how best to execute strategy to grow your business, I’ve lived the messy reality behind the polished outcomes. And here’s something I’ve observed: innovative teams aren’t asking AI to think for them; they’re using it to execute what they’ve already decided.

Let’s cover the basics. According to McKinsey, 78 per cent of companies now use AI in at least one business function, and nearly 71 per cent regularly deploy generative AI in areas like marketing and sales. In small and mid-sized businesses, roughly 38 per cent are already using AI in marketing, recruitment, and customer service. Meanwhile, SurveyMonkey found that 88 per cent of marketers use AI daily. That’s not just hype. AI is everywhere.

Yet only around five per cent of adopters report meaningfully transforming any business domain. The gap isn’t about a lack of data or budgets; it’s about a failure of context. Strategy isn’t plug-and-play; it’s deeply human, rooted in clarity, courage, and culture.

The opposition, let’s call them the “AI-first optimists”, will argue that AI can analyse your audience, craft a brand’s tone of voice, suggest campaign ideas, even draft positioning statements. And yes, they’re correct up to a point. AI can aid brainstorming, write faster, and free you from minutiae. But the moment you skip human input, you lose differentiation. I’ve seen clients generate tons of posts that feel robotic because the AI was never provided with the human insight that makes a brand shine.

What’s consistently effective is the hybrid approach. Start by defining what you stand for, who you serve, and what you uniquely deliver. Only then do you bring in the AI tools, like BrandBot, which is designed to transform those core decisions into consistent, on-brand content at speed. One governance firm with a slim marketing team used our tools to build a campaign in under an hour, not to eliminate strategists, but because they had already done the heavy lifting and needed execution muscle.

Smart teams lead with strategy. It’s about safeguarding your headspace so you can ask real questions, explore deeper positioning, and refine customer understanding. AI then amplifies your thinking, not replaces it.

Consider the alternative: teams that rely blindly on AI often drift. One week, it’s uninspired memes; the next, it’s a tone-deaf thought leadership piece dripping with clichés. AI can produce quickly but can’t tell you why or for whom. Real strategy demands that we answer those questions first.

When things go awry, it’s usually due to one of two failures: an obsession with tools instead of insight or an assumption that AI is a strategist rather than a surefire amplifier of what already exists. You’re essentially outsourcing key decisions to a black box without a sense of your brand, context, or customers.

What we’re advocating is a practical approach. And if you doubt me, look at the data. McKinsey also notes that employees using AI to automate tasks free up nearly a month of productive time each year. The real benefit comes from using the limited time you have to enhance your strategy, exploring new channels, refining messaging, embedding values, and testing authenticity. That’s where transformation occurs.

So if you want AI to work for you, don’t start with ChatGPT. Start with clarity. Who are you speaking to? Why should they listen? What change are you trying to effect? Once those answers are clear, AI becomes the turbocharged engine under the hood, not the driver. That’s how smart teams make strategy stick. And if you’re ready to build into your plan first, AI will help you build out faster and better than ever before.

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