When most people hear “AI in marketing,” their minds go straight to science fiction. Robots taking over. Machines replacing people. Or those wild agency claims of “3,000% growth in two weeks thanks to AI.” Let’s be clear: that’s not what this is.

AI is not magic. It’s a tool — and like any tool, it’s only as good as the person using it. For small and medium businesses, it’s a tool that can change the game.

What AI Can Actually Do… and Can’t Do

The practical benefits are simple: speed, cost, and scale. Tasks that used to take days or weeks can now be done in hours. Projects that used to cost tens of thousands of dollars can be delivered for a fraction of that.

Here’s a concrete example: not long ago, producing a high-quality ad with video, sound editing, studio time, booking talent, and post-production could cost $20,000 or more. Today, with AI-driven editing tools, we can deliver campaigns of comparable impact for around $1,000. That’s a game-changer for SMEs.

Even better, AI lets us repurpose existing content. A still photo can be transformed into a short, engaging video. That’s ethical AI use: starting with your original content, knowing the source, and enhancing it. We’ve done this for Saltwater Weddings, where photos became dynamic video ads that punched above their weight online.

That’s not replacing creativity. That’s removing barriers. If you’ve got a great message, there’s now nothing stopping you from telling it well.

Levelling the Playing Field

For decades, big companies had the upper hand. Huge budgets meant more reach, more production quality, and more frequency. SMEs had to make do with scraps.

AI changes that.

With the right strategy, a smaller business can now compete head-to-head with larger competitors. You don’t need a million-dollar budget to get agency-quality campaigns in front of your audience. You need smart use of AI, a clear message, and expertise to tie it all together.

This is where experience still matters. AI doesn’t replace knowledge. It amplifies it. Without the expertise to understand human behaviour, audience psychology, and campaign dynamics, AI will just churn out average work. But when guided by experience, it becomes an accelerator.

The Ethical Line

I want to be clear about one thing: AI has to be used ethically.

We’ll never use AI to fake someone’s likeness or voice, or put words in someone’s mouth that they never said. That’s deception. But ethics goes beyond deepfakes. It’s also about ensuring messages are accurate, respectful, and aligned with the truth.

What we do use AI for is practical and honest:

• Turning photos into videos.

• Speeding up editing and production.

• Generating ad variations for testing.

• Helping personalise copy across different audience segments.

Used properly, AI reduces costs, opens doors, and gives smaller businesses a level playing field. Used poorly, it creates noise.

The Big Drawback

Here’s the risk: AI makes it too easy to flood the world with content. Most of it will be generic, templated, and indistinguishable.

But marketing has never been about who can post the most. It’s about who can deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. AI doesn’t change that. In fact, it makes it more important.

The truth is simple: “shit in, shit out.” If you feed AI weak ideas and poor prompts, you’ll just get average output faster. If you bring real experience, strategy, and human insight to the table, AI lets you scale that.

Spinach Effect's Approach

At Spinach Effect, we use AI as part of a proven process. We don’t promise miracles. We don’t inflate numbers. What we do is combine decades of experience with the smart use of technology to deliver campaigns that work — and do it more cost-effectively than ever before.

AI is not the future of marketing. It’s today’s competitive advantage. For SMEs, it’s the best chance in history to compete with the big end of town.

Curious about how AI can lower your production costs?

👉 Contact Spinach Effect today! https://spinacheffect.com.au/home