Stop Using AI-Generated Graphics

in Your Marketing

For small businesses, your brand is your unique identity. It shapes how your prospects and customers perceive and remember you. Your brand includes your visual identity (your logo, color palette and fonts) as well as your voice and tone. Most agree that your brand is an important part of your business’ marketing foundation.

Unfortunately, many small businesses are weakening this foundation by using AI-generated designs for their marketing materials. While AI can be a quick, easy and cheap way to create graphics, the results are often a generic, forgettable and cluttered design that can dilute your brand rather than strengthen it.

When you use AI to design your flyers and graphics, you lose key elements of what makes your business distinct, memorable and uniquely you. Instead of reinforcing your brand, AI often produces designs that look similar to countless others online.

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“The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.”

-Gary Vaynerchuk

Small Business Marketing Trends

Interested in how other small business marketers are allocating their marketing dollars and where they’ve seen the most effectiveness? Here’s some info from a LocalIQ 2026 Small Business Survey that might help you strengthen your marketing strategies:

Small Business Marketing Strategies and Channel Usage

·        Three most used marketing channels are unpaid social media, (66%), social media ads (56%) and email marketing and SEO(both at 53%).

Social Media Platform Trends

• Facebook remains dominant at over 90%, with Instagram at 74% and LinkedIn at 48%.
• TikTok usage dropped from 34% to 22%, possibly due to platform competition and instability concerns.

Marketing Effectiveness and Satisfaction

• Video marketing and reputation management lead in satisfaction, despite lower usage.
• Customer referrals are the top source of new customers, especially for smaller businesses.

Source: LocalIQ 2026 Small Business Survey

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Marketing & Event Resources | 203.543.1455 | jocelynm@marketing-er.com | marketing-er.com