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Hosted by Steve Phipps of Wayfind Marketing, The Growth-Minded Marketing Podcast simplifies marketing for B2B CEOs ready to grow with confidence. Each episode offers real-world strategies, step-by-step coaching, and inspiring CEO interviews—all designed to help you align your marketing with your business goals, stop wasting time and money, and scale without the stress. If you’re a growth-minded leader tired of vague advice and underperforming tactics, this is your next step.
Steve: Is AI actually helping your
marketing or is it just making it
easier to do the wrong things faster?
We are seeing a lot of CEOs and
marketing teams get super excited about
ai and understandably it saves time.
It can lower costs.
It gives you the ability to create and
crank out content like never before.
AnnieLaurie : But here's the thing.
AI has made it easier to publish
content, but it hasn't fixed the root
problem, which is people are still
creating content without a strategy.
We've
Steve: Exactly.
It's like giving a race car to someone
who doesn't know where they're going.
They'll get somewhere fast, but who knows
if it's the right or the wrong destination
AnnieLaurie : Like, we often say
throwing spaghetti against the
wall, but with a slingshot, you
get more spaghetti on the wall, but
it doesn't mean it's gonna stick.
Steve: So today we are going to talk
about why strategy still matters
maybe more than ever, and how to use
AI the right way in your marketing.
Welcome back to the
Growth-Minded Marketing podcast.
I'm Steve Phipps.
AnnieLaurie : And I'm
Annie Laurie Walters.
Steve: And this is the show
for Growth-minded CEOs.
We want to lead their company,
their team, and themselves with more
confidence, clarity, and purpose.
AnnieLaurie : Now, today we're
diving into a hot topic, AI in
marketing, and it's certainly not a
new topic, but everybody's doing it.
We're gonna be talking specifically
about the danger of creating
content without a strategy and how
to avoid falling into that trap.
Steve, what are you seeing
with clients these days and
businesses that are trying to use.
AI to generate more content.
What are the trends?
What are the pitfalls?
What are you seeing?
Steve: Well, the number one trend is
this, and is companies and individuals
and solopreneurs are publishing
more content than ever, but they're
not always seeing better results.
They're churning out blogs and social
and videos and certainly a lot of emails.
But most of it's not tied to their
business objectives and there's really
no strategy around what they're doing.
AnnieLaurie : Got it.
So basically content for content's
sake, not really content tied
to a customer journey or sales
goal or anything like that.
Steve: Yeah, EE, exactly.
It's now that AI makes it easy, people
think, well, all I have to do is tell
it to create a blog post and that's.
Enough, but it's not, and it's
not that AI is the problem
it's how people are using it.
If your marketing was chaotic
and haphazard before ai, well now
it's just gonna be faster chaos.
AnnieLaurie : Yeah, I like that.
Faster chaos.
Steve, I gotta ask you.
You and I went to college
here in Tennessee.
Did you ever go to Opry Land?
Did you ever ride the rollercoaster chaos?
Steve: I did not.
I did not.
AnnieLaurie : Ah, well we have a good
friend that we went to union with
who actually wrote the definitive
guide on all things Opry Land.
So anyway, if you don't know about
Aubry Lynn, you should check it out.
But faster chaos.
All I can think about is.
That roller coaster.
It was at the time one of the largest
indoor coasters in the country.
But sadly, it's been
dismantled and torn down.
But anyway, I digress.
Let's get back to concept.
We don't want faster chaos.
We want to be very intentional
and very strategic.
We wanna use AI to do things faster,
but it has to be done with purpose and
with clarity, and not just haphazardly.
So let's get into.
How our guide framework
can help us do that.
Steve: Yeah, absolutely.
And before we do the thing that I will
say to people who are wanting to use
ai I'll say this in my presentations,
is if they don't have a plan, if they
don't know who their audience is,
if they're not training AI to create
effective content, all they're doing
is creating crappy content faster.
AnnieLaurie : Right?
Steve: And so, right.
We need a hashtag, no crappy content,
AnnieLaurie : but if taking hashtags
away, we can't do hashtags now.
Steve: So,
AnnieLaurie : you know,
Steve: long live the hashtag, but long
AnnieLaurie : live the hashtag.
Steve: So getting back to have a
strategy if you don't have one,
the tools aren't going to save you.
AI is not your strategy.
Chat, GPT, Gemini, Claude.
Gr pick your tool.
It is not your strategy.
And that's why in our framework,
the very first step is generate
your story and your strategy.
Because if you don't have one,
you're wasting a bunch of time
and it's just faster chaos.
AnnieLaurie : Right?
Just checking boxes.
But hey Steve, before we get into
this, let's zoom back out for
a second and why don't you just
take a second and walk us through.
The guide framework, who it's for,
how it helps CEOs and just set
the table, so to speak, for what
we're about to talk about here.
Steve: Oh, absolutely.
So the guide framework is the
framework, it's the marketing
system that we've developed.
You can go back to some
of our earlier podcasts.
We'll link to it in the show notes.
But the guide framework is five parts.
It's generate your story and your
strategy, upgrade your online
presence, inform with content,
develop and execute your sales plan,
and evaluate and adjust the results.
And the reason that we created
this is because the tools, some of
the tactics are going to change,
but the strategy still holds true.
And so we wanted a framework, we wanted
a system that businesses could implement
or that we could implement for them
that is going to stand the test of time.
And so that way the heart
of your marketing is.
Constant, it's steadfast and it
gives you the tools, the framework,
the the perspective that you need
to execute marketing intentionally.
And it's a filter you can use to evaluate
the tactics and the messages so that
you know whether or not it's on target.
And in this particular era that we're
in, it just happens to be AI is the
tool and it still needs a strategy.
AnnieLaurie : Okay, so let's ground this
conversation in the guide framework.
What does it mean to generate
your story and your strategy
when it comes to content?
Steve: Ultimately it means you're
starting with the big picture, you
know, to borrow from Stephen Covey.
You're starting with the end in mind.
It's thinking through things such
as, who am I trying to reach?
Who's my primary customer?
What are the pain points that they
are experiencing that we help solve?
What's the journey they're on?
What are the steps and the processes
that they're going through to
gather information to try to
solve the problem that they have?
And it's also about how you want
to use your content to help move
them closer to being a customer.
AnnieLaurie : Yes, so it's not
just like, let's write a blog about
whatever keywords are trending to
get a lot of traffic to our website,
because that's just a waste of time.
I've actually talked with people
who have worked with agencies who
just wrote blog posts about really
anything just to get traffic.
Their website, and that's
not really gonna be helpful.
That's not gonna close deals
for you , that's not gonna move
the needle in any direction.
What you need to be doing is asking and
answering the questions that the ideal
buyers are asking right now, and keep
it focused on that, and not just write
content for content's sake, but instead,
how can we answer the questions that
our ideal buyers have in meaningful ways
that also align with our business goals?
Steve: And that's a key
thing that you said.
One, yes, you absolutely need
that clarity because you want
your content to be a tool.
You don't want it to become a distraction.
And if I can think of people that we've
worked with in the past who had written
articles that were getting thousands of
visits per month, but because it wasn't
questions that their buyers were asking.
They weren't getting leads,
they weren't getting customers.
They were getting traffic,
but it was the wrong traffic.
Right.
And so that, again, having that clarity
of who you're targeting, what their
problems are, how you can answer
their questions, that's what you need.
AnnieLaurie : Yeah.
So what we wanna do is use strategy to
avoid checking the marketing box and
publishing a ton of AI generated blogs.
Without any connection to KPIs or sales
metrics or even their ideal audience.
Steve: Y you're right,
because that's not marketing.
Well, for some people, that's marketing.
But we would say that's just busy work.
AnnieLaurie : Yeah.
It's not meaningful marketing.
It's not marketing.
It's gonna move your needle.
So
Steve: e, exactly.
AnnieLaurie : So, so here's a
good question for our listeners.
Do you know what role content
plays in your customer journey?
Think about that for a second.
And Steve if someone is not able to
answer that question immediately, how
would you recommend they get started?
Steve: So if somebody's not even
sure where to start, the first thing
I would suggest that you do is.
Create a, a description of
who your target customer is.
And you can use AI tools to help you
do this, but you wanna understand who
are they, what's their pain point.
Now we do a lot of work with B2B
companies, and so often it's what's
their role in the company, what's
the problem they're trying to solve?
What are the questions
that they're asking?
What's the information they need
in order to make a buying decision?
So as you think through those types of
things, you're also thinking through
what are the steps that they're taking?
If this is somebody that doesn't know
your product or service, what are
the questions that they're asking
at the beginning of that journey?
If it's somebody that's experienced
with what you do, but maybe they're
working with one of your competitors,
what are the questions they're asking?
Where are they starting their search?
These are all things that if you're
in the industry, you're in the space.
These are things that you probably already
know, but maybe haven't thought about
and mapped out so that you can use it to
begin creating content to answer their
questions at each of these stages, the
tactics of how you get the content in
front of them, it's a little bit of a
different conversation, but the net of
it is you've gotta understand who they
are, pain points, how they feel about
it, the questions they're asking, and
what's the basis of their decisions.
Then you can create content, written
video, audio to get in front of them
at the right time to move them forward
to the next step in the process.
AnnieLaurie : And I would say too,
if you're creating content and you're
like, Ooh, I should share this with the
sales team, they might could use this.
That's the key.
You're on the right direction.
Steve: Well, and you know, I'm glad you
said that, Annie, Laura, because I think
the other thing to think about here is.
A lot of times because marketing
and sales end up in silos, they're
not communicating, and so marketing
creates content, sends it to sales.
Sales doesn't like it.
They gripe about the leads
that are being generated.
They're not qualified,
et cetera, et cetera.
That's where if you get your sales
and marketing teams together.
Do a brainstorming session or have your
marketing person shadow a salesperson
for a little while to get to hear what
are the actual questions that are being
asked by your buyers so that you can
create content to answer those questions.
So the sales team can be a great resource
if you ask them the right questions.
They can give you the information you
need to create effective marketing content
that is helpful, that the sales team can
use, and they can also be effective for
helping drive traffic to your website.
And I would say for any of our
listeners who maybe you've got a
question about this, maybe you're
struggling with where to get started.
Reach out to us.
You can send an email to
podcast@wayfindmarketing.com
and I will respond to your emails.
So again, podcast@wayfindmarketing.com.
Now, AI is a powerful tool.
Use it all the time.
It's baked into just about
every other tool that we're now
using, but it's important that
we always start with strategy.
AnnieLaurie : When we use AI to create a
blog post, we first define who it's for,
what stage of the journey that they're
in, what action we want them to take,
and how it supports the sales process
. Steve: Then we shape
the prompts accordingly.
And you can train AI to create
great content, but only if
you give it great direction.
And I think it's also worth noting
sometimes it's using multiple
tools and it's not just a set
it and forget it type process.
You still need to be involved.
To make sure that it's
good, solid content.
AnnieLaurie : That's such a good point.
I mean, you can open LinkedIn and look
at any of the marketing influencers who
are talking about how to spot AI easily.
You know, I oh cha, GBT wrote that,
you know, like, it's easy to see if
you're, that you're not putting any
effort into it, that you're not trying
to train your, bot of choice to write.
Your voice and to say things that
you would say or that your team would
say, like speaking in the brand voice,
but also too, just like the words
you use, the language you use, the
how how you formulate your sentences.
Like all of that stuff, you
really gotta dial it in.
But the good news is once you dial
it in, it's dialed in and you've
trained your GPT for example.
To talk like you, then it's going to
talk like you, and then you can continue
to fine tune it over time, but it's not
something you have to start from scratch
and teach it to do every single time.
So I think that's one of the benefits
of really training the AI tool you're
using to create that great content.
Steve: Absolutely.
AnnieLaurie : It's actually
like hiring a freelance writer.
You wouldn't just hire a
writer and say, here's my idea.
Go and write an article.
You would still prepare a brief and
give them goals, objectives, tell them
what you want the content to accomplish.
You might give them an outline, so you
really need to treat your AI writing tool
in the same way as you would a human.
AI isn't supposed to be replacing
our thinking and our strategy.
It is supposed to be speeding
up the process, but it really
requires a human involvement and
monitoring to make it work well.
Steve: Absolutely, and when
you can get AI dialed in.
It's aligned with your strategy.
It's creating content that
resonates with your audience.
Well, at that point, AI
becomes a force multiplier.
It's amplifying and accelerating
what you're able to do.
AnnieLaurie : One thing too that
we have used it a lot for that I
think is worth mentioning here, is
just to play devil's advocate too.
You know, After it's written something,
say, based on everything I've
trained you on, go back and read this
and tell me if you think it would
resonate with our target audience.
. If you're trying to rank on page one
for a certain keyword, you can go out
there and ask Chi GBT, for example, to
evaluate the top 10 results and suggest
ideas that you might not have thought of
that they're not writing about either.
Looking for those blue
ocean opportunities.
So anyway, Steve, let me ask you this.
What are some examples of ways CEOs
or marketers can train their AI
tools to actually support strategy?
Steve: It is easy to get
AI to create content.
You give it a few instructions
and it will create content.
It is built to do what you want
it to do, to get it to support
strategy and strategically driven
content that's on the mark.
You gotta have a strategy to begin with.
If you don't have a strategy, if
it's just kinda hit or miss and your
content is going to be hit or miss.
So for AI to be able to support
your strategy and help you
execute it, you gotta have one.
And then when you have one,
so again, who's your audience?
What are their pain points?
What are the key messages?
What is your brand voice?
Thinking through what the buyer's journey
looks like, all of these things, you feed
that into ai, you educate it, you equip it
you can use AI as a brainstorming partner.
And then Laurie, you were talking a
minute ago about training AI and asking
the questions and having to vet things.
A simple prompt.
You can use, whether it's a blog post, an
email, a strategy, whatever it is, ask it.
What's missing?
What would make this better?
If you're feeling cheeky, you can ask it.
The question, why does this suck?
I don't remember who I
learned that one from.
But you ask it, you challenge it.
It's almost like.
If you've ever had a workout partner or
a trainer, you worked with a personal
trainer, if you are doing a bench press
or you're doing squats or you're running
you're doing tempo runs or something
along those lines, you can always do more
When somebody challenges you to do more.
And AI is similar in that
when you challenge it to do
better it, it can and it will.
So those prompts become really important.
But if you want it to help support a
strategy, you've got to have a strategy
in the first place, which that's one
of the main reasons why we created our
framework and why we work with people
to help them, whether we're building
it for them or coaching them to build
a strategy that gives you a launch pad.
For creating content, and again, AI
becomes a multiplier and it can help
you create really great content faster
and more efficiently, or it can help you
create crappy content faster and more
effectively, or I dunno how effective
it is, but faster and more efficiently,
AnnieLaurie : they can help
you create crappy content.
Check boxes.
I wonder if you can like.
Share without naming names, is there
a way to share, just when you're
talking about, you know, a approaching,
churning out AI content without a
strategy creates scrappy content and.
There are a lot of people out there
trying to sell businesses on, Hey hire us.
We have an AI tool that is going to
create lots and lots of content for
you, so you don't even have to train
a GPT or figure any of that out.
And you recently put that to the test.
Do you feel like that's
something you could share?
Steve: Share?
So super high level.
It's very difficult for a company
to get quality expert level content
again, if you don't have the strategy, if
you don't have the details to dial it in.
So we know that Google for years
and with AI and strategy, GPT
and perplexity now in the mix.
Quality content, expert content.
When I say expert it is
content that shows expertise.
It shows that you know
what you're talking about.
It is specific, it's giving
examples, it's giving statistics it's
demonstrating your unique perspective.
It's not just generic.
And so to go to a third party service,
whether they're AI driven or not.
Or to go to some type of an AI tool
that's not designed to really rifle
in, it's going to be very difficult
for you to get that level of content.
So as the adage goes, if it seems
too good to be true, it probably is.
And so I would just say in
general, the principle is the same.
Just because AI can speed things
up doesn't mean it doesn't
require effort and energy.
And guidance to get it working.
But once you do get it dialed in,
then it absolutely can help you do
things more efficiently, faster, and
it can help you create content that
you might not have created on your
own because of the knowledge that
it can bring to the table as well.
But it can do it with your voice and
it's in alignment with your strategy.
AnnieLaurie : So the main point we're
driving home today is do not just churn
out content for content's sake, whether
that be using AI to make a video using
AI to write a blog post or social media
content or newsletter, or anything.
Don't do it without a strategy.
I think we've made that
super loud and clear.
So here's the deal.
If you don't have a strategy and you've
basically been all about marketing
tactics without any strategic backbone
behind those tactics, we have got
the perfect solution for you, Steve.
Tell 'em what they can do.
Steve: Head over to wayfind marketing.com
and take the free guide
marketing assessment.
It is a free tool that walks you through
key questions about your strategy, goals,
messaging, the buyer's journey and more.
AnnieLaurie : And what I love
about it is that it's not going
to spit out a generic result.
It gives you insights specific
to where you are right now.
It is custom just for you.
So if you don't have a clear marketing
goal in mind, that will be obvious when
you take the assessment, or if you're
creating content without knowing your
ideal client, having defined personas,
then that's going to come to the surface.
This guide marketing framework will
help shine a light on where the gaps
are in what you're doing, and then.
Give you actionable ideas on
how to start filling those gaps.
Steve: And this assessment's
not for everybody.
Sometimes people don't wanna take
an assessment like this because
it's a little bit uncomfortable.
It's pointing out the things
that you're not doing.
But if you are serious
about wanting to implement.
Marketing a strategy, a framework that's
going to help you grow your business
for the long run, because it's based
on principles and not just tactics
that are gonna change, then you'll
find a lot of value in this because
once you know where you are, it's a lot
easier to figure out what to fix first.
AnnieLaurie : Yes.
And just to reiterate, we do
have an entire podcast series on
our guide marketing framework.
We will link the podcast episode
specifically talking about story and
strategy here in the show notes below.
Steve: This episode is brought
to you by Wayfind Marketing.
If you are listening today and realizing
that you don't want to have to figure
out all this strategy stuff on your
own, the good news is you don't have
to, whether you're overwhelmed or.
You just want a trusted guide.
We're here to help.
You can go to way find marketing.com
and schedule a discovery call.
We'll talk about where your marketing
is today, where you want to go, what
the cost of not having a strategy is.
Then how to build an effective
strategy that's going to help
you get to where you want to go.
AnnieLaurie : That's it for this episode.
Don't let AI become a shortcut to nowhere.
Use it strategically.
Steve: Content is only powerful
when it's connected to purpose.
Start with strategy.
Let everything flow from.
AnnieLaurie : And be sure to like
and subscribe to this podcast so
you won't miss our next episode.
Steve: We'll see you next time on
the Growth Minded Marketing podcast.