What’s going to make your marketing stand out as everything gets louder and more automated?

In today’s episode, I’m diving into my predictions for where things are headed—and what you really need to focus on if you want to stand out.

From the growing importance of messaging and creativity to the role AI is starting to play in shaping content, I’m sharing what we’re seeing on the front lines with clients and inside my own team.

Plus, we’ll talk about why polarizing content matters more than ever and how to meet your audience exactly where they’re at. If you’re ready to stay ahead of the curve, this episode is for you.

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READ THE EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Emily Hirsh: 

 Hello everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I hope you guys are doing amazing. I am preparing to leave for Costa Rica in two days. I’m so excited it, it actually feels unreal right now because I have so much to do before I leave. I actually this morning. Had to write out on a piece of paper and coordinate between my husband and my nanny, who I am so grateful for both of them, like the kids’ schedules, because it’s a lot.

And when I used to leave, it’d actually be easier, but with the amount of like T-ball games, soccer games, soccer practice, jiujitsu, it’s like who’s driving who and when. So I’m so grateful for their support, but. And that’s just a small piece of all that has to get done before I leave. But I’m so excited to be back in the jungle and I have such incredible women and female entrepreneurs that are coming to this retreat and they have no idea the agenda.

They have no idea what we’re doing, but I have so many like guest facilitators and workshops and things planned. It’s, it’s unreal. All right, so today what we are talking about in the podcast is my predictions for marketing, being on the front lines and conversations that we’re actually having as a team right now on my team, specifically related to ai I wanna talk about, and then maybe a few other predictions.

So first of all, with ai, I think that the direction we are heading in the. The amount of importance that will be around messaging and your copy and your creative is going to massively increase because it seems that the direction meta Facebook is moving in is where they want you to be able to go in and set your ad and just set your budget and be like, go like Target.

All the targeting and everything up to Facebook and AI right now. Obviously, you can go in and put parameters around interests and you can put lookalike audiences, and we are seeing this trend towards this broad targeting where you actually set up the ad and you let Facebook choose who to show it to.

Now, why messaging becomes really important in this scenario is because. It’s doing all the work, right? Like the messaging, the copy, and the creative, and yes, the algorithm a little bit in terms of Facebook, knowing, okay, this type of person is who responds to your ad and your profile in general. But it’s doing all the work in terms of attraction.

And so I think we are seeing this shift where messaging has always been important. Copying creative has always been important. More important than targeting, it’s gonna be even more important. Which is interesting because you’ve also got simultaneously ai, you know, helping you create copy, helping you create creative and create graphics, and it’s just not there yet where it can really do a good job with those things.

I think it can that, that’s my opinion, but. Our team does sometimes use AI to not, sometimes like we use, we can use AI to start the process in terms of copy and creative, but the thing is, it just is still like overly polished. And I know you can tell it like, Hey, don’t be overly polished. Talk more casual.

But it just doesn’t, it doesn’t have the heart behind it. And I, I don’t know if it will get there. I know a lot of people think that it will and. It probably will, which is kind of sad. But right now, like the heart and the emotion in copy and creative still has to come from you and humans. Now, here’s what AI can’t do, and I don’t think we’ll be able to, I don’t know, I’m, I’m not gonna say never ’cause I have no idea with ai, but.

You have to know your ideal customer’s emotions, that pain, that frustration, and that desire, that deep, deep, deep understanding to be able to create the copy and create the creative. So I think that the level of specific copy and specific creative that we create, that speaks to the pain points, the level that that must.

Improve is only gotten bigger because, so I’ll give you an example. We’ve got a client right now where they spend a pretty good ad spend and we’ve been testing these more broad audiences with their targeting and the importance of. Messaging has gotten so big that we have done entire like hour long meetings on just messaging angles, on digging deeper in the copy and coming up with creative that is different and AI can’t do that, and that is what’s doing majority of the work when it comes to their ads.

So I think that your understanding of your ideal customer. Your understanding of them. And again, that emotional connection is gonna continue to heighten with the rise of ai because that’s the thing that AI can’t do. You have to feed that to them. And Facebook seems to be moving in this direction where they want you to trust them more and more, which means your copy and your creative is gonna do the majority of the work.

So that’s one. Prediction, but you know, it’s like I, I talk about messaging all the time, and it seems like every year messaging just gets more and more important. And I think that’s because that is because the noise gets louder, and as the noise gets louder, then the need to stand out becomes even more important.

And the way you stand out is through your messaging. Another thing that I’ve been talking about a lot with, um, clients and, and people I coach in my mastermind is the importance of polarity in your content and in your messaging. So this is related to messaging, but I wanna say this ’cause it might spark some specific ideas.

Just today on a coaching call I told. A couple of people, I said, I want you to sit down and I want you to make a list of the things that, like if you were in conversation about what you do and the, the, the results you get, but like you were talking about your industry, like you’re talking shop, right? What are the things that you would be like fired up about?

You’d be like, everybody thinks this, but it’s actually this, or. You know, everybody does it this way, but this is what they need to be doing or this is what they need to focus on. Or, I know everybody thinks that they need to try this, but it’s actually this. So for example, something that I would say is like, I know everybody thinks they just need to go start ads and that’s gonna pour in the traffic, but really their problem is their messaging.

And until they solve their messaging, then they’re not going to. Stand out and, and that’s not maybe like the most polarizing thing, but another polarizing thing I could say is like, the templates like really, really harp on the fact that I don’t think templates work for marketing. I don’t think that you can take a template, use it and execute it without infusing it with you.

So what are those things? What are those things that really separate you and. Make it make you stand out and, and are polarizing. Like some people might hear them and go, I don’t like that. I don’t agree with that. I don’t like that. Doesn’t resonate with me. Doesn’t align with me. That’s good because that many people that are doing that, there is just as many, if not more people who are like, they get me.

Like they understand. Exactly how I’m feeling, what I’m going through, what I want. So I told my clients, make a list of those things and then let that drive your content and your messaging. And so my prediction is the louder the online space gets, the louder your industry gets and the people that are there supporting your ideal customers, the more need for polarizing content and.

And, and really leaning into saying the things you’re afraid to say because you don’t want the backlash because you don’t want the judgment. It’s hard as a creator, right? Like we we’re, we’re wired to be accepted and to fit in with the tribe and to not stand out. But as a creator, like the more you can do that and stand out and not fit in, but like walk your own talk whatever, walk your own walk, I don’t know the better your content will do.

So my prediction is that again with ai. That is something that AI is gonna have a hard time doing. Like those, those original thoughts and that original information is going to be really hard for AI to replicate. And so as you grow, I think like the volume of content is gonna grow, right? Because you could use AI to like write books and write the blog posts and write all the content and create this like mass production of content, but it’s.

Not gonna have the depth and the heart behind original thoughts and ideas. Like I, I don’t know if AI is gonna ever, I hope AI doesn’t replace that and take that. Um, but as the watered down surface content, as the creating a volume of content becomes easier. It’s the depth and the wisdom and the original thoughts that are going to be extremely valuable.

This is a side note, ’cause I don’t think this is a prediction, but I was having this conversation with a friend when I was in San Diego who was like, I wonder if like our, our, our like trade secrets, our process like. The things that right now is taught in marketing to like share outwardly, right? It’s like give a ton of value.

Overgive, people still buy, I wonder if it’s gonna flip and you sell that now and AI executes it. We’re talking like 10 years down the line. But think about it. It’s an interesting thought right now in marketing and in business, what works the best and what you’re taught is. You know, teach a webinar on your entire process, teach a webinar on what you’re doing, and then people pay to have the shortcuts pay to have it done for them, pay to have it in, in a product that makes it easier for them.

But if AI were able to get to a place where all you had to do is feed it, that idea, does it become where that’s what’s sold? And then AI executes it. I don’t know. I’m not gonna say that’s a prediction, but I do predict that in the next. Maybe not one year, but the next three to five years, there’s gonna be a lot of shifts because of ai and it’s, it’s all the things, it’s scary to think about.

I don’t like thinking about it. I’m like, but I’m comfortable here. I’m comfortable as it is without AI taking over, but it’s inevitable. And so you’ve gotta just kind of embrace it. I do believe at my core. I really do believe, I mean, part of it’s like I hope, but I do believe that AI can’t completely replace humans.

Like there is an innate wisdom and a heart behind us that when you operate from a place of using your experience and your wisdom and your gifts. I don’t think that can be duplicated with ai. So the question is gonna become, okay, how do we amplify that more? How do we work with AI to make that valuable?

Um, and I don’t have all the answers, but I do think, yeah, AI is gonna make an impact. And these are some of my short term predictions. Couple more predictions that I have. I think long form content’s coming back in the form of. Like, there’s a reason I’m doing the podcast like this. Um, not every one of my episodes is gonna be an interview, but I think there’s a reason why people like to just hear like real conversations.

I think there’s a reason that Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Yvonne Diary of a CEO, those are all massive podcasts, um, are becoming entertainment, are becoming news sources. I think that, you know, YouTube TV is gonna become tv. People are gonna get their news from, influencers are gonna get their inner entertainment from in influencers, and I think that people enjoy.

Listening to conversations. And so there’s a reason why this is part of my podcast. I wanted to do this for a while, but it’s like you can’t fit in a good conversation in 20 minutes. So I still wanna have the like actionable short to the point podcast. But I think that people enjoy the longer ones that like they could have it on in the background.

And I had this realization myself because for the longest time my husband listens to Joe Rogan. Yeah, I know. So controversial. Um. My dad does. And I was always like, I do not understand how you are listening to like a three hour long podcast. Like I could never do that. And then I started for fun because I went to the comedy club in Austin.

I started listening to Theo Vaughn. I love comedy and his podcasts are also long. And I was like, oh, I get it now. It’s not about like consuming every. Piece of their content. It’s like you have it in the background and you’re laughing and you’re hearing this conversation, but like, if you miss three minutes of it because you zoned out, you know, your kid interrupted you, it’s fine.

You can still enjoy the content. Whereas like, you know, a podcast that’s just, let me, let me teach you like what I’m doing right now. Let me teach you this. You wanna hear the whole thing. You kind of need to hear the whole thing to get the entire. Value from it, but a conversation back and forth that’s maybe longer, but it’s like watching a show.

You don’t have to hear every word. And I think that people are, we’re burned out, right? We’re. We’re overstimulated with information and knowledge. And I know I get to a place in my day where like there’s absolutely no way that I could like read a nonfiction book, listen to a business podcast or a nonfiction book on Audible.

Like I’m at my capacity, but I still wanna consume. ’cause it is relaxing. It gives you something to do while not just like. Having to think. And so I think that the, those that longer form, but lighter content but still valuable, valuable in the way, like maybe it makes you laugh, maybe it gives you an idea, maybe it gives you inspiration.

Maybe you just like listening to people talk. I just think that’s gonna be the direction that we go in. Um, I mean, there’s a reason that I have the podcast like this, that’s another prediction of mine. And of course that doesn’t mean, oh, go start a podcast with that longer form content. But I think that people.

I think people are at their max with information that they can take in, but yet still wanna be entertained and still want connection. So how do you meet to your ideal customer and garner their attention because attention is currency. So that’s another prediction for this year. My last prediction is I think that we’re gonna have to get creative.

With getting leads to actually consume the free things that they signed up for and or even shortening customer journeys. So I’m testing this right now and it is working. It needs some refinement, but it’s working, so I’ll share it with you, but know that it’s in testing mode. Um. So one of our goals that I, I shared on actually a previous podcast, is to get more calls booked, more sales made in an evergreen way.

And so I was, think I put myself in the shoes of the ideal customer that we’re going after to get those calls booked. And I thought, you know what, like what would be the ideal experience for them? You know? Yes, we could, um, yes, we could send them. A lead magnet or a webinar training and like, if they watched it, if they consumed it, they’ll be, they will have so much value they’ll wanna buy.

But I, when I put myself in the shoes of the entrepreneur who’s overstimulated, exhausted, um, you know, is, is got too much information, too many decisions to make a lack of time, a lack of capacity. A lack of energy. They need help, but they need the shortest route there. So we created a funnel that is.

Basically the concept of, um, like A-V-S-L-A video sales letter, but it’s a case study and it’s about a 10 minute video where I am walking through step-by-step the most successful client that we have, or one of our most successful clients in like her entire strategy, step-by-step and. There’s no opt-in.

It’s just like right on a page, no opt-in. And then it goes straight to book a, um, business review call. So the call has value behind it. It’s book this call and we’re gonna actually do a little audit on your business and we’re gonna tell you on that call what you could do to improve your marketing. Um, and we’re getting a ton of calls booked.

We have to improve our show up rate a little bit, which makes sense ’cause these are cold leads who they don’t really have an. Much of a buy-in. Now, one thing we do do on this strategy is we make it clear like, don’t book this call if you’re not gonna consider working with us. Like we’re gonna deliver this awesome business review for you, but don’t book the call if you’re like just trying to get the business review.

And we’re doing cold traffic to that as well as retargeting ads. And then I have another layer of like specific content ads for this ideal customer that we can then show this case study to. But it’s interesting because it is working. Um, and I think that people were gonna go down this route of like, if you can connect with me enough as a potential customer and you can connect with me enough to where I trust you.

Then I’ll take the next action, even if that’s a buy book, a call, like I’ll take that action. But you have to build that trust and you can build that trust through content. But I think we’re gonna have to lessen the hoops that somebody has to jump through and actually the duration of funnels, and then back it up with a bunch of consistent, nurturing and consistent bringing you back to the offer.

Now, I’m not saying for every business that the right thing to do would have like a no opt-in strategy at all. I am not saying that. I think it was. It is a good strategy for me to test, and I do go to a book call, so that call is kind of serving as my webinar, but it’s a custom, you know, one-on-one experience with someone.

So it’s an interesting strategy, but regardless, I think my prediction is we’re gonna have to meet our audience and potential customers where they’re at, which is. Overstimulated, overwhelmed, max capacity, lacking time, too much noise. And that’s like one of the biggest challenges you’re up against as an entrepreneur doing digital marketing, right?

Because you’ve got to stand out and you’ve gotta be able to not just get someone’s attention, but keep their attention and keep their engagement, and then. Get them to take actions. So the more we can meet them where they’re at, the more we can make that easier. The more we can build the trust fast and the buy-in fast and the, I stand out, I am better.

I am different than the other things that are out there and I can solve your problem. ’cause people still want their problem solved, but they’re lacking time. The easier we make that experience, the less resistance, the less steps, the less hoops that we have to jump through to do that, I think the better it’s gonna convert.

So that is another prediction. All right, everybody, I hope you found these helpful, gave you some ideas for things that you might implement in your marketing, and if you’re like, okay, I want this implemented for me, I need help, you can go to helpmystrategy.com and book a call with our team. I will talk to you on the next episode.