by David Meyer
Last month I promised to break down how to measure AI’s actual impact on your marketing outcomes. Spoiler alert: if your main AI metric is “posts published per week,” you’re measuring busy work, not business results. Most small business owners are drowning in vanity metrics while their actual customers are swimming upstream trying to find them.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: AI makes it easier than ever to create content that nobody wants, faster than ever before. But the same technology can help you identify what people actually need – but only if you’re measuring the right things.
Engagement Isn’t Everything (But Everything Isn’t Engagement Either)
The marketing world has a measurement problem that AI amplifies. We’re obsessed with outputs (posts, clicks, impressions) instead of outcomes (customers, revenue, relationships). Your AI-generated blog post getting 500 likes doesn’t mean much if those 500 people aren’t your ideal customers or if they bounced after reading your headline.
At Spoke Marketing, we’ve started tracking what we call “conversation quality” instead of just conversation quantity (okay, at least that’s what I call it and I am going to get it to catch on). Are people asking follow-up questions? Are they sharing your content with context, not just reflexively? Are they mentioning your business in conversations you’re not even part of? These signals matter more than raw engagement numbers.
The Attribution Trap (And How to Escape It)
Here’s where most small businesses get stuck: they want to know exactly which AI-assisted piece of content directly led to a sale. Good luck with that. Customer journeys aren’t linear, and AI’s impact on your marketing is more like seasoning in a recipe than the main ingredient.
But you can track leading indicators that matter. Are you having better conversations with prospects? Are salespeople reporting higher-quality leads? Are customers using language in their feedback that mirrors the messaging you’ve been developing with AI assistance? These aren’t perfect measurements, but they’re better than counting Facebook hearts.
The Human Factor Multiplier
Here’s what we’re learning: AI doesn’t replace human insight; it amplifies it. The businesses seeing real ROI from AI in their marketing aren’t the ones using it to automate everything. They’re using it to become more human – more empathetic, more relevant, more helpful.
Track qualitative feedback alongside quantitative metrics. Are customers saying your content feels more personal? Are they commenting that you “really get” their situation? These signals indicate AI is enhancing your human understanding, not replacing it.
Full Disclosure: We’re Still Figuring This Out Too
Measurement frameworks for AI impact are evolving faster than our ability to implement them perfectly. We’re constantly adjusting our approach based on what we learn from client campaigns and our own marketing efforts. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s progress in the right direction.
Next month, I’ll tackle one of the biggest AI marketing challenges we’re seeing: how to maintain authentic brand voice across AI-assisted content without sounding like everyone else using the same tools. (Hint: it starts with what makes you weird, not what makes you “professional.”)
Because at the end of the day, the best marketing metrics aren’t about what your AI can do. They’re about what your customers can do better because of how you’ve helped them.
***Content Authenticity Statement: ***90% of this content was written by a human. GPT-4 was used for initial research and brainstorming. Claude Sonnet 4 assisted with structure refinement and final editing.
David Meyer is the Chief Marketing Officer at Spoke Marketing. Spoke Marketing (www.spokemarketing.com) provides fully-integrated marketing and sales programs that define and activate the customer buyer journey.