Artificial intelligence is already built into digital marketing. It’s in your writing tools, your ad platforms, your analytics dashboards, and your video editors. This isn’t about whether to use AI anymore; it’s about how to use it well.
Used intentionally, AI can speed up production, sharpen ideas, and take repetitive tasks off your plate. Used carelessly, it creates generic content, weak strategy, and unnecessary risk. Like any powerful tool, the outcome depends on the standards behind it.
Let’s get straight to it. Here is our team’s list of the practical do’s and don’ts that will help you use AI in digital marketing without losing your voice, your quality, or your judgment.
DO… Turn Off “Train Model Allowed” Settings
Before you even get started using any AI, decide if you’re alright with your usage being used to train the AI model. Some common AI programs, like ChatGPT, are automatically enabled to allow training in the Account Settings. If you don’t want the AI model to learn from you, manually turn off any “training allowed” settings in your account. There some AI tools (like Gemini) that do not have training automatically turned on, but may have other settings enabled that give it access to proprietary assets like your Google Workspace. Be sure to fully investigate the settings of any AI you want to use, and disable any that make you uncomfortable or could lead to legal repercussions.
DON’T… Write Weak Prompts
This is especially important if you’re using generative AI for content writing or if you’re using AI to “collaborate” through ideas. It’s easy to just type in a blog topic and let the AI write it all for you, but you’re likely to get a generic article that does not sound like you or your brand’s tone and voice. AI is a tool to help you work, not a replacement for doing the work. Long, thoughtful prompts are usually more helpful for getting a fulfilling response. We’ve even found that having a “conversation” with the AI can enhance brainstorming and refine results better than one-sided commands. The more original thought you can put into it, the more authentic and intentional the outcome will be. This leads to content that will more effectively connect with your audience while remaining close to your brand voice and style.
DO… Edit Videos With AI
One of the easiest, most helpful tasks AI can perform for digital marketers is editing video content. For example, our team uses quso.ai (previously called vidyo.ai) to pluck engaging clips from our 10 Minute Marketing podcast episodes for social media. Many of the tools you’re probably already using in your content creation and productivity processes like Canva, TikTok, CapCut, Adobe, and Evernote, already have built-in AI editing tools for transcriptions, captions, cleaning up pauses and filler words, smoothing out grainy film, and more. Allowing AI to edit these types of menial tasks in the background of your workday frees up significant time and energy for you to focus on actually running your digital marketing program.
DO… Doublecheck Everything, Always
Everyone remembers a few years ago when the telltale sign of an AI image was too many fingers on human hands. No matter how you’re using AI—to generate content, to research, to brainstorm, to populate analytics charts—it’s crucial to doublecheck the results it offers you. Always verify the results provided by AI, regardless of how you are using it, whether for content generation, research, brainstorming, or populating analytics charts. There is (currently) no air-tight AI model; they can all misunderstand your command’s intentions, make mistakes as simple as too many fingers, or even “hallucinate.” Always fact-check information’s sources, review visuals with human eyes for accuracy and tonal storytelling, and edit written content by hand for colloquial quirks and brand voice. We’ll say it again: AI is a tool to help you work, not a replacement for doing the work!
DON’T… Impersonate Anyone Without Permission
It’s no secret that AI can pose a legal problem if you’re using it to clone any real person’s image or voice. This is especially key for marketers living in places implementing measures to protect people from deepfakes, such as Denmark’s pending law to give citizens copyright over their likeness or the European Commission’s investigation against Grok. Always have documented permission for any use of someone’s likeness, including collaborators, influencers, brand ambassadors, team members, and yourself. If you’re working with an influencer, make sure it’s clear in your contract if AI twinning, or mixing AI with real footage, is allowed and to what extent.
DO… Disclose AI-Generated Content
Trust is a crucial part of the customer-business relationship, and most people can tell when a video or an article was generated with AI. Ensuring your audience feels confident in the integrity of your AI use in marketing is paramount to retaining their loyalty and maintaining your brand’s reputation. If you use AI to generate content, especially audiovisual content, always disclose that you’ve done so. Depending on the content format, any regulatory rules your business is subject to, and where you’re publishing it, this could mean adding a disclosure in the compliance section of your video, writing it in the post caption, or selecting the “made with AI” button that platforms like Instagram and YouTube provide. On internet-savvy networks like TikTok, you can even relay AI-generated content just by adding the sparkle emoji, ✨.
DON’T… Stop Doing Your Job
We want to emphasize again that AI is merely a workflow enhancement. It cannot think or perform at your same level of intelligent connection and creativity. Your job is still to create, advertise, optimize, and measure your brand’s digital marketing efforts, and to build connections by participating in conversations across online channels. AI’s job is to help you do those things faster. It must be used wisely in the workplace, just as you would on social media or when sending an email from your work account. Engaging with AI responsibly and effectively for digital marketing includes everything we covered here:
- Give it useful prompts to create authentic and resonating content,
- Use it for menial background tasks to lighten “busy work” from your workload,
- Always double-check its creative and research results,
- Take legal and proprietary precautions every step of the way.
If you’re running a digital marketing or social media team, we recommend documenting official AI Ethics & Standards Guidelines just like you would a Branding Guide, if your IT and Legal Departments haven’t already provided one company-wide.
Resources for Marketing with AI
For a full breakdown of AI tools we recommend for different digital marketing team members and tasks, our co-founder, Sonja Crystal Williams, has listed all her favorites on her blog. A few tools we’d like to point out that can start supercharging your workflow immediately include:
- Intro Level: Grammarly. Use this for text editing, like improving pre-written email or blog content. It’s more than a spellcheck. We use its AI feature to rephrase text and also recheck AI content created from other tools.
- Intermediate Level: NotebookLM. If you have Google Workspace, you have access. Use this AI tool to build infographics, slide decks, or audio clips. Great for making deliverables more engaging and accessible.
- Expert Level: ChatGPT Agent Mode. Use this advanced feature for deep research and basic coding. It can even act as a whole virtual assistant for you.
You can also check out our “No-Fluff Guide to Social Media Marketing in 2026” blog for an updated list of AI features recently integrated into all the major social media apps. In particular, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are leading the way in how to mix AI into video marketing content responsibly.
Final Thoughts
As AI gets used more for digital marketing, content creation, and social media, consumers will be able to tell real, human-focused content versus AI-generated content that was created with less thoughtful prompts. Continue to center your marketing on what your online community, metrics data, and brand values show resonates with your audience. Along the way, we hope these AI Do’s & Don’ts help you get more out of your marketing life!
If you’re interested in more help strengthening your digital marketing program, productivity, and digital marketing team skills, please Contact Us. We offer custom training to empower your marketing team’s strategies, as well as social media content creation services, paid ad campaigns, and digital marketing audits.
