by Feeling overwhelmed by the constant demands of marketing content creation? Wondering how to use AI to make your marketing more effective—and feeling exhausted?
In this article, you'll discover use cases for streamlining your marketing efforts with AI—from planning and production to automation and optimization—so you can save time, reduce stress, and focus on what matters most: meaningful results.
How an AI-First Mentality Helps Marketers
AI-first marketing isn't just about using AI tools; it's a complete mindset shift in how you approach your marketing efforts. This transformation requires completely shifting your thinking when deciding how and where you are incorporating AI.
Remember that AI isn't replacing human creativity and expertise—it's augmenting and enhancing them. The most successful AI-first marketers understand where AI-powered tools provide the most value and where human insight remains irreplaceable. By embracing this balance, you can create a marketing approach that's not only more efficient but also more creative, strategic, and impactful.
For example, Angie Carel redesigned her marketing agency with an AI-first approach when she recognized that certain services like logo design were becoming commoditized due to AI advancements. Rather than fighting this change, she embraced it by creating VIDA, an AI-powered visual ideation design assistant that helps clients generate logo concepts for free.
After a client uses the assistant to develop a working concept, Carel can apply her years of expertise to refine and finalize that logo, the part of the process she charges for. By understanding where AI capabilities are heading, she repositioned her value to focus on expertise that comes after the initial design work.
Getting started with AI-first marketing might seem overwhelming. Carel recommends you start by finding practical, high-impact use cases where AI can immediately add value.
#1: Identify Suitable Marketing Use Cases to Pair with AI
A common mistake is trying to tackle too many AI implementations simultaneously.
By limiting your initial scope, you can focus on thoroughly understanding and implementing a few solutions before expanding. This approach builds confidence and expertise that will make future implementations easier.
If a use case has one of the following characteristics, it can likely be improved or run with AI:
- Is It Data-Driven? Examples of these tasks include analyzing customer behavior patterns from website analytics, processing information from large datasets to identify trends, segmenting your target audience based on customer data on demographics or behaviors, interpreting marketing campaign performance metrics, and making marketing decisions based on quantitative information.
- Is It Repetitive? Tasks that follow predictable patterns or require consistent outputs are prime candidates for AI assistance.
- Is It Generative in Nature? Is the end goal to create content you would normally write, illustrate, draw, or photograph, like social media posts, blog copy, images, videos, or music?
After identifying potential AI use cases, conduct an impact assessment to prioritize your efforts. While enterprise organizations might have hundreds of possible applications, Carel emphasizes that you only need to find a handful of high-value use cases to see significant benefits.
Even solopreneurs or small marketing agencies should prioritize projects that will deliver the highest value for the lowest effort.
When conducting your impact assessment:
- Select projects where you already understand the tools required
- Focus on tasks that currently consume too much of your time
- Target processes you dislike doing manually
- Identify areas where efficiency gains would be substantial
This approach ensures that your first AI implementations provide immediate relief and value.
Which AI Moves Actually Matter?
That's what every marketer is wrestling with now. New AI strategies, new tools, new takes every week — but no clarity. Most marketers and business owners are trying to figure out AI alone.The AI Business Society is your trusted guide. Get expert-led training you can put to work immediately. Plus a community of marketers sharing what's actually working.
I'M READY FOR REAL AI RESULTS#2: Solution Mapping
Once you've identified high-impact use cases, the next step is to create a detailed solution map that outlines exactly how AI will transform your process.
Solution mapping is the process of visualizing and planning how to implement AI for a specific use case. It involves identifying all the steps required to go from your starting point (input) to your desired outcome (output) and determining how AI can enhance each part of that process.
Carel's solution mapping approach follows these steps:
3 Days of World-Class Training—Zero Travel!
Couldn't make it to Social Media Marketing World and AI Business World this year? Get all of the great content at a fraction of the price with a Virtual ticket.
That’s full access to recordings of every keynote, workshop, and session—the ones people travel thousands of miles to see. Don't wait. Get your Virtual ticket and enjoy actionable content that you can watch anytime, anywhere.
- Start With a Visual Representation: This creates a clear visual of what you have now and what you want to achieve. Carel uses a pen and paper to describe the input on one side of the paper and the output on the backside of the paper.
- Map the Steps Between Input and Output: In this step, you list every step to get you from the beginning to the end of the process. For visual thinkers, this might look like a flowchart with connected bubbles. For others, a simple outline format works well. For digital solution mapping, Carel recommends tools like Miro or Mural, which allow for visual ideation and collaboration. These platforms help you create comprehensive maps that can be shared and refined with team members.
- Document the Process: Take a photo of your hand-drawn map and upload it to an AI tool like ChatGPT to help you ideate and refine your process.
- Identify Required Tools: Determine which AI tools will be needed for each step of the process.
- Consider Training Needs: Identify and address any skills or knowledge gaps before you build and implement your AI solution.
- Plan for Implementation: Create a clear action plan for putting your solution into practice.
A Multi-Step AI Content Marketing Workflow Example
To illustrate an outline for solution mapping, Carel shares an example of a multi-step AI workflow:
- Each morning, an AI assistant searches the internet for leads in specific categories (snack foods, candy, and ice cream).
- The assistant drops these leads into Slack.
- Another AI assistant picks up the leads and qualifies them based on specific criteria (only products containing chocolate)
- The lead qualifying assistant posts the qualified leads back to Slack.
- A blog-writing assistant creates content about the chocolate products.
- A social media assistant creates posts based on the blog content.
- A repurposing assistant adapts the content for different platforms.
While this is an advanced example, it demonstrates how solution mapping can help you visualize and implement complex AI workflows that dramatically increase efficiency.
#3: From Mapping to Implementation for Marketing Teams
After completing your solution map, put your plan into action by adopting new tools, building automations, or changing workflows.
When first implementing AI in your marketing workflow, Carel recommends starting with tools you already know. For most beginners, these tools will be one of the major AI platforms.
While specialized tools exist for specific functions, mastering a versatile platform like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini provides the most value. As Carel notes, “ChatGPT does most everything that all of these programs do if you give yourself the time and space to learn how to use it.”
More advanced users might benefit from using different tools for different purposes based on their strengths.
“I use Claude because I feel like it's a superior writer, but I do agree that ChatGPT as of today has more advanced functionalities like deep research,” Carel shares. “I'm getting to the point now where I'm using different tools for different purposes based on how good they are.”
As you use the solution, monitor the results and make any necessary adjustments, persisting through challenges and refining your implementation until it delivers the expected value.
Finally, ensure that you continue using the solutions you've developed.
Angie Carel is an AI consultant, strategist, and the founder of Dragonfly Theory, an AI marketing agency designed to help businesses elevate their creativity, amplify their impact, and deliver smarter marketing strategies. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
Other Notes From This Episode
- Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Facebook and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
- Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.
Listen to the Podcast Now
This article is sourced from the AI Explored podcast. Listen or subscribe below.
Where to subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube Music | YouTube | Amazon Music | RSS
✋🏽 If you enjoyed this episode of the AI Explored podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe.
Stay Up-to-Date: Get New Marketing Articles Delivered to You!
Don't miss out on upcoming social media marketing insights and strategies! Sign up to receive notifications when we publish new articles on Social Media Examiner. Our expertly crafted content will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your business. Click the link below to sign up now and receive our annual report!
Curious About How to Use AI?
Our newest show, AI Explored, might be just what you're looking for. It's for marketers, creators, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use AI in their business.
It's hosted by Michael Stelzner and explores this exciting new frontier in easy-to-understand terms.
Pull up your favorite podcast app and search for AI Explored. Or click the button below for more information.
