Friction in the age of AI

There's a tension in digital marketing right now.

Before I dive in, I should caveat that I am a naturally suspicious person.

After growing up in a school run by an alleged Catholic cult and being a competitive debater up until I was 20, my spidey senses start to tingle when there's swelling hype around something.

After SXSW, I was still as skeptical of AI's huge promises as before. It promises to democratise content, give time back to the ordinary person, more efficiencies, more profit, less cost, the promises keep going...

But because of AI, there is more content being pumped out than ever.

This is the tension I'm noticing...

Hey marketers - you gotta get down and dirty

It was only this year that I felt like I was good at marketing. Why? Because it was the year I committed to doing my own marketing.

I had the evidence, tests and experiments to prove to my clients that what I'm recommending is working. I've been testing different incentives, formats, warm up activities, and messaging throughout multiple channels for my own brand. By doing so, I'm discovering what is working right now, not 6 months ago.

But not only am I feeling better at my craft. My clients trust me more.

It is of my opinion that marketers need to get down and dirty with their own marketing. I said all this in a recent conversation with the wonderful and highly intelligent, Penny Locaso. I secretly admitted that I didn't think I was a proper marketer until I was marketing for myself. "Who would trust me if I didn't do it for myself?" I said.

She exclaimed. "Ah! You saw a values misalignment in your own business".

Bingo!

My business didn't click for me until I solved this misalignment. Until I put my own reputation, time, energy and brand on the line with my marketing, could I feel fully comfortable with clients trusting me with their own.

Speaking of values misalignment...

Throughout all this testing, experimenting and validating, I started to - like most marketers - obsess about removing friction.

We have to capture consumers' attention immediately and then deliver an insight, promise or product with as little friction as possible.

This is at odds with my own values.

I believe that:

Friction breeds commitment. If it’s too smooth, too easy, too instant, we lose the grit that makes something worth sticking around for.

Friction breeds depth. It’s in the pause, the conversation, the gritty figuring-it-out process where lessons and loyalty form.

Friction breeds meaning. It forces us to slow down, feel our edges, and decide what really matters, not just what’s most convenient.

This is the type of brand that I want to build. I want to work with the clients who recognise this, who understand that fire tests gold.

But the algorithm is not so favourable to that, making it hard to cut through when you value friction.

As a marketer, I am balancing this tension - maintaining some level of friction to ensure I am attracting only the best-fit clients, but also removing enough to make my business visible.

Sorry, I have only ponderings - not answers

Unfortunately, I do not have concrete answers to any of the questions I've just asked, just streams of consciousness that ponder them, not resolve them.

I know, annoying. Sorry!

I'd love to hear from you, though. Is friction something you value? If so, how do you navigate the tension between saturated and frictionless algorithms with the need for friction? I'd really love to know!

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Interested in working with a marketer who values friction?

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