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In this episode of the Human-First AI Marketing® podcast, Mike Montague sits down with veteran CMO David Poulos to diagnose one of the most common but costly mistakes in small business marketing today: relying on AI without a clear strategy. They unpack how AI often becomes a shortcut to mediocrity, amplifying generic content, skipping the hard questions, and ignoring the very thing that actually drives growth: knowing your customer and having a plan that respects them.

From AI-generated outreach to broken funnels and retention blind spots, this episode is packed with real talk for marketers, founders, and business leaders. You’ll learn why automation doesn’t fix a lack of clarity, how strategy needs to lead technology, not follow it, and what marketing malpractice looks like in 2025. Plus, they explore how to stay relevant without sounding robotic, and why context is the most underutilized ingredient in AI marketing today.

Key Takeaways

1. AI without strategy is malpractice.
Using AI tools without a defined audience, offer, and marketing plan only accelerates poor decisions and creates more noise.

2. Tactics don’t scale if the foundation is broken.
Many businesses rely on tactical tools (SEO, email, social) without a strategic plan, so they plateau, stall, or misfire at scale.

3. Best practices are just “average practices” in disguise.
What worked for someone else won’t necessarily work for you; strategy must be customized to your business, your team, and your buyers.

4. Most AI tools optimize for mediocrity, not excellence.
Without human guidance, AI trains itself on the mean, not the top 20% of high-performing content or campaigns.

5. You can’t outsource understanding your customer.
No AI tool will replace the human work of listening, testing, and developing real audience insight.

6. Don’t automate what you haven’t validated.
Automating unproven or broken processes can tank results faster. Make sure the process works before you scale it.

7. Retention is greater than acquisition for long-term growth.
Chasing new customers while neglecting your existing ones creates a “leaky funnel” that no amount of AI can fix.

8. Cold outreach is getting smarter, but still needs human backup.
AI can write better intros and personalize emails, but it’s still up to your team to have real conversations and build trust.

9. Fail fast, but don’t skip the learning loop.
AI lacks the built-in reflection humans have; it needs input, feedback, and correction from humans who understand what “success” looks like.

10. Your strategy should evolve faster than the tools.
With new AI tools popping up daily, your competitive edge is your ability to adapt your thinking, not just your tech stack.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

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