How would you promote a product in the age of AI “slop”?
I don’t want to rant here (but I probably will a bit)... 😀
Almost every ad visual, but also a lot of organic content on social media, is very generic and created by AI (I get it, it’s a cheaper and more scalable way of promoting). But when everyone does it, it becomes really hard to stand out and differentiate yourself.
I feel like it’s not just on the internet anymore, but even on TV.
So, how do you stand out in a time when there is an overload of information and AI slop everywhere around us?
The only possible solutions that come to my mind are guerrilla campaigns in physical spaces, whose impact is then amplified by social media sharing, basically some kind of mediated experience that people talk about online.
I know this will depend on the type of product, but how would you approach this?
Replies
It's incredible how good our brains have become to detect AI generated content. I guess like with everything in life, there are no shortcuts. I shifted to writing without AI again. It might not be as polished but I do think it lands better and ultimately reflects what I want to stand for. I could see a world where AI generated content (especially in Ads and Marketing) prompts a negative effect to the product that is being displayed.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@andreas_rubin_schwarz I think that there is a huge number of people who do not know how AI works. We are living in the bubble, I think.
Receiptor AI
I get the guerrilla idea but i'm not sure the doomsday scenario happens. Platforms will just remove the slop before users leave, and models will eventually write the way you do anyway. So maybe the feed just gets better overall.
The harder question is if everyone's posting decent content, how do you cut through, and i don't think the answer changes much, it's still the same distribution game. Who vouches for you, which influencers, which partnerships, showing up in the right rooms
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@luigi_receiptorai Marketing seems to be the most crucial role in this era (to make you visible – distribution)
I think the problem is getting the right message, for the right audience, at the right time, and on the right platform. When I get my content right (regardless of writing with AI or myself) it performs well. When I miss the mark, it underperforms.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@you_x_you_i The thing is many people are disgusted and even when you write well, they can have bias "another piece of content"
Warmup Inbox
Leave typos in your copy ;)
#DyslexicThinking
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@fabian_maume Some AIs do it to sound more human :D
Distinctiveness is the new distribution. When every feed is full of generic AI output, the brands that look and sound unmistakably themselves get remembered and cited — by humans and by AI agents doing the recommending.
But on the other side, I do get why people are just pushing more and more AI content on social media and even ads. The entry barrier to access the resources for doing such activities are no more. And for the most of them, getting the message out is just more than enough.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@sanjeev617 I can't say... some ads are really good, but some (most of them) are off, even when there are possibilities of using AI for executing the idea.
@busmark_w_nika I agree, the possibilities are endless. At the end of the day, AI is a tool—a very powerful one. But what truly drives impact is how that tool is used to create something meaningful.
I agree everything is harder because it's now easier to produce, so there is more, much more noise. So the only way is to focus on the differentiators and unique problems you solve - rise above the noise by being different... oh and don't try to sell on price, that won't cut it!
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@mark_trowbridge what will add the value so that producers could ask for more money (despite generating things by AI):
@busmark_w_nika I think the value shifts from production to judgment.
AI makes it easier and cheaper to create content, code, designs, and products. What becomes scarce is knowing what to create, for whom, and why.
The people who can command higher prices will be those who bring:
• Original insights and ideas
• Deep understanding of customer problems
• Strong personal or company brands
• Trust and credibility
• Strategic thinking and curation
• The ability to connect disparate information into something genuinely useful
AI can generate outputs. It can't easily replicate experience, reputation, taste, relationships, or unique perspectives.
As production becomes commoditised, differentiation becomes more valuable.
What cut through for me was posting the unglamorous specifics: a real bug, the actual fix, a number smaller than I wanted. Generic AI content can't fake a concrete story it didn't live. The slop is scalable but it has no scars, and scars are what make people trust you.
minimalist phone: reduce your screentime
@theuniverseson I love the paralel with scars you used :) poetic!
Go narrower, not louder. I launched a training app for one specific type of lifter today, and the only things that have moved the needle are unscalable: real conversations with personal trainers, individually tracked links so I know which human sent which sign up, and replying to every single comment myself. AI slop is generic by definition, so specificity is the moat. If your copy could belong to any product in your category, it now reads as slop even when a human wrote it. The bar is not "human made", it is "obviously made by someone who knows this niche".