Throughout history, with new technologies and new discoveries, people jumped quickly onto the bandwagon, hoping to take advantage. Unfortunately, this ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’ can be detrimental to a marketing strategy, and in the worst case, can be detrimental to the business as a whole.
In the early 20th century, after Marie Curie’s groundbreaking work on radioactivity and the discovery of Radium, the element was seen as a wonder material. Its mysterious, glowing properties captivated public imagination. From watches to beauty creams, and toothpaste, companies dove headfirst, hoping to catch on to this new phenomenon.
During the 1920s and 30s, manufacturers claimed that Radium could enhance dental hygiene and health, making teeth whiter and gums stronger. You know, cutting-edge stuff! However, it turned out that exposure to radium led to severe radiation poisoning.
What is Shiny Object Syndrome?
Shiny Object Syndrome is the tendency to get distracted by the latest trends, tools, or technologies. It leads, unfortunately, to an over-eagerness to jump on every new platform, software, or technique that promises quick wins.
A Couple More Examples
My first example is only a few years old. Remember Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)? In 2024, how many people are still talking about it? Don’t get me wrong, NFTs do have their use cases, but the popularity of NFTs hit a high during the pandemic, with video games specifically over-zealously embracing the technology. Video game developers were so keen on NFTs that they started popping up everywhere: special characters, weapons, and even property that could be purchased… and sold. It backfired tremendously to a point where some quickly made U-turns, or in the case of EA, are still being sued in Belgium.
In the early noughts, Flash technology allowed for highly interactive and visually impressive websites. Unfortunately, many companies too slowly began to realise that Flash not only had performance and compatibility issues but also had a lot of security vulnerabilities, making it a target for hackers.
And the first example I can think of when it comes to viral marketing is probably the Blair Witch Project. Hugely successful, and since then, every company I can think of has at least tried to ‘go viral’, and sometimes, it can have disastrous results. The worst one that I can remember is in 2011 when Mountain Dew decided to hold the “Dub the Dew” contest, in which they asked fans to submit names for a new flavour. Unfortunately, one of the names that was submitted, and made it to the list of finalists, was “Hitler Did Nothing Wrong.” It sparked a huge backlash on both social media and the news.
The New Shiny Object
It seems like every announcement we see these days revolves around Artificial Intelligence (AI). Yes, there are massive benefits to harnessing and utilising AI. It has an amazing ability to analyse massive amounts of data, predict consumer behaviour, and automate tasks. It’s so easy to get yourself embroiled in its, well… shininess.
I was recently speaking with a realtor who was so excited about engaging with an AI service to take care of his marketing needs. Before I continue, it should be said that this realtor is a commercial realtor, not a residential realtor. This means not only is his target market rather specific, but the sales cycle can also be extremely long. From what I could ascertain, he wanted to use this provider to help him write content as well as put together social media posts for him.
Strategy Over Tactics
It’s amazing how often I come back to Sun Tzu’s quote from the ‘Art of War’. One of the many great quotes is, “Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Regarding this realtor’s enthusiastic chase towards this shiny object, red flags immediately started going off in my head.
AI is imprecise. AI is an aggregation technology. It takes information from all over and gives you what it thinks is the answer that you’re looking for. But because of this, it also doesn’t write for a specific audience. It’s one thing to use AI to help you brainstorm ideas; it’s another if you rely on AI to create the content for you. This problem is exacerbated if you’re relying on an external team to massage the content for you, if they’re doing it at all. They’re not you, and they also aren’t speaking specifically to who you are targeting, even if the service provider you’re using is industry-specific.
We all have limited resources. Is AI really the best allocation of resources? Long-term investment into this service will require significant time and money. Because commercial real estate sales cycles are generally quite long, it could be a very long time before you see any results. With commercial real estate, there also tends to be a very long nurture cycle. This goes back to my first point. Because there is a long nurture cycle, you’re speaking specifically to several people over a long period of time and nurturing that relationship for when that potential client might be ready to pull the trigger towards a transaction.
When it comes to commercial realtors, and this is true for coaches, consultants, and many smaller businesses as well, you are your secret sauce. Relying on an external AI service for your marketing needs doesn’t take advantage of all the things that make you who you are. This means that your secret sauce isn’t singing. Your secret sauce isn’t shining. Your experience and personality aren’t going to show. All the things that make working with you unique get lost.
Instead, I’d argue that for a commercial realtor, it’s actually more important to do things personally. Not only for all the reasons I’ve just stated, but it’s about building relationships. It is by building relationships that will allow you to speak more directly to your potential client’s needs and figure out what problems there are that your potential client needs help resolving.
One of the best things that we can do when nurturing potential clients is remembering what they’ve said. Not only remembering the problems that they need help with but being able to speak in their language. One client that I was nurturing had mentioned that they were looking for a ‘shock and awe’ package to present to his potential clients. He only mentioned it once, but when it came time for me to present my proposal to him, I specifically included as one of the deliverables an itemised ‘shock and awe’ package and titled it as such. But the proposal was specific to him and his needs. AI isn’t able to do this.
Not only would this benefit a commercial realtor with that specific potential client, but other words and phrases that are provided to you from that specific potential client might be words and phrases that you can use towards other potential clients as well, even if they’re at the very top of the funnel. They can be used within your social media copy. They can be used in your article writing. And they can certainly be used in audio and video scripting as well.
Conclusion
So while using Artificial Intelligence for marketing offers some truly exciting possibilities for your marketing needs, over-reliance on the technology, especially when you’re using an external service provider, might not be the answer that you’re looking for. Instead, make sure you’re focusing on your business goals, building a solid brand strategy, and formulating a marketing strategy from it that will help you continuously work towards those goals; using AI as a tool rather than a crutch. In marketing, the latest and greatest isn’t always the best.
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