Organizing ideas into marketing timelines

Quick Rant - I don’t like when I see an AI image in my feed.

I don’t like that I have to zoom in and analyze an image or video to figure out if what I’m looking at is real.

And I don’t love when my clients want to use AI-generated images in their social media or ads.

They all know my opinion on it. 😂

Ultimately, it’s their business and they can do what they want.

But here’s where I sound like a hypocrite:

I LOVE AI.

I use it constantly.

I use it to build project plans and Gantt charts.

Research local events and audiences.

Organize ideas.

Tweak copy.

And my personal favourite?

Writing reports. Because if a robot wants to help me turn 17 tabs of data into something a human actually wants to read, have at it!

The difference for me is where AI sits in the process.

I want AI behind the scenes helping us work faster, research deeper, organize better and get through the tedious stuff.

I don’t want it replacing the human part people actually came to see.

Your face.
Your product.
Your customers.
Your ideas.
Your weird little creative decisions.
Your actual point of view.

Maybe that’s my line with AI:

Let it do the work. Don’t let it become the personality.

I’m actually going to start qualifying new clients this way so we’re aligned.

What’s your take? AI images or nah?

Am I earning less as a freelancer due to AI? That's a hard YES. But not in the way you would think..
.

I'm still charging roughly the same day rates as I used to five years ago. But.. I am SO MUCH more efficient now using AI that it takes about half the time now to deliver.

Campaigns that would have taken six to eight weeks to get to market, are now ready in a month.

What this means for my clients is that they save valuable marketing budget and delight their stakeholders. What it means for me is that I need more projects! (bummer 🙄).

Word of note. How I use AI doesn't result in producing soulless and bland narrative. I still write my own headlines and creative copy. How I do use AI is for project management and time consuming tasks such as researching a buying persona's pain points and decision journey.

I recently onboarded a new client, Ativion, in the EdTech space. Normally I would be what Cisco call "drinking from the fire hose" during the first week. With AI to help me with research and summaries, I hit the ground running and started delivering on my second day! I couldn't have done that five years ago.

Is AI is taking my role away in the future? Quite possibly. Who can tell. 🤷

But until it does, I'm going to leverage it to scale projects and create efficiencies that benefit my clients and keeps them coming back.

Thanks for listening. ❤️

Curious? https://lucifer.marketing/

5 free AI tools I use every day as a marketer
(no BS)

1. Perplexity
Deep competitor research.
With real sources attached.

2. Claude
Build full campaigns.
Funnels. Content calendars.
Long form strategy.

3. Notion
Turn messy ideas
into clean timelines.

4. Canva
Design posts.
Carousels.
Ads. Fast.

5. Gamma
Create professional
client slide decks
in minutes.

I use them across:
• LinkedIn • Instagram • TikTok • YouTube • X

Which AI tool do you use every day?