Many of us expected robots to be a part of our future, but perhaps not in the way we imagined. Instead of doing our jobs and being served hors d'oeuvres (like Rosey Robot from The Jetsons), HE wants to think about us.

ChatGPT and other virtual assistants can provide us with mountains of information on any subject under the sun in seconds – but how useful are they?

I wanted to see what ChatGPT had to say about marketing. my business PostcardManiahas been helping 118,342 small business owners across the country with effective marketing strategies for over 26 years. How did ChatGPT's tips compare to what we've learned?

Related: ChatGPT is powerful – and can wreak havoc if you don't know its 5 fatal flaws

I put this request on ChatGPT and was surprised by what I found.

Search: Recommend marketing strategies that will generate new leads and sales for a small business in 100 words or less.

This is what ChatGPT advised:

1. Content Marketing: Create valuable content (blogs, videos) that address customer pain points.

2. Social media advertising: Targeted campaigns on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

3. Email marketing: Engage potential customers with newsletters and personalized offers.

4. Referral programs: Incentivize current customers to refer others.

5. SEO optimization: Upgrade search engine rankings with targeted keywords.

6. Partnerships: Partner with complementary businesses for mutual promotion.

7. Local events: Organize or participate in community events to build local awareness.

It's a good start. However, ChatGPT missed these three recommendations that can improve the trajectory of your business (I know because they were key to my journey to $100 million in annual revenue).

They neglected reputation management and social proof, which 93% of consumers check before buying

An overwhelming number of people check Google reviews. A report was found 93% of shoppers look at them before making a purchase. This means you can lose 93% of prospects if you create good comments it is not a priority.

The good news is that it's not as complicated as you might think. People most often go out of their way to leave a negative review – 95% – while only 47% take the time to post a positive comment.

The key is simply to ask! And it's not even a challenge when you can automate requests through email or text messages. According to explorative70% of consumers will leave a review if asked.

The Podium online platform was a game changer for us because you can send review requests to several different platforms from one central panel.

After we started using Podium in 2020, our number of reviews increased 250% from 2020 to 2022. As of July 2024, PostcardMania has over 2,795 five-star reviews on Google, BBB and Trust Pilot.

Related: 6 Proactive Ways to Promote Good Reviews and Increase Your Online Reputation

They didn't recommend direct mail marketing, which generates 6x more revenue per lead than digital sources

Since 1998, I've been sending out postcards every week to generate leads and connect with customers. Since then, I have only increased my posts and we are now up to 232,000 postcards per week. The only time I cut direct mail marketing it was in 2008 during the recession, and that mistake crippled our income until we corrected our posts.

I have also followed the growth that postcards have created. From 2019 to 2023, I increased our post volume by 16%. At the same time, our revenue has grown by an average of 15% every year. This is a perfect example of how the amount of marketing you do drives your return.

I've also found that direct mail leads generate six times more revenue than digital leads. We analyzed 114,373 customers who converted to sales in 2023 and found that postcard customers generated 600% more revenue from digital sources ($37.09).

However, there is a science behind the effectiveness of direct mail. A study that tracked each participant's eye movement and heart rate while engaging with mail, found that people experienced more excitement and desire when interacting with print ads compared to digital.

Because of the tangible nature of mail, people also remember print ads better than digital ads. A study found that when asked to name the brand of an ad they had just seen, 75% of participants could recall the brand after direct mail. Only 44% of recipients could recall the brand after the digital ad – a 70% difference.

With so much data backing up direct mail, leaving it out of your annual budget would be a big mistake.

They failed to mention the biggest success factor: how much you have to be marketing – a massive amount

ChatGPT neglected to inform readers exactly how much time, money and effort they should allocate to marketing.

In my decades of experience running a business with over 380 staff, I understand marketing plans it may end up on the back burner. So much goes into running a business that too often entrepreneurs think a simple marketing plan is enough. This is the furthest thing from the truth.

In fact, most of my clients hate it when I tell them this…

Marketing is the biggest differentiator between businesses that survive and those that thrive.

Related: The Growth Hack My Clients Hate Most Is The One That Promises The Biggest Financial Rewards – Here's What You Need To Know

You should trade as if you are an athlete training for your last chance at Olympic gold. The survival and ultimate longevity of your business is on the line; why would you market like you were playing t-ball?

Even if you have a limited budget, put as much as possible money in your marketing as much as possible. I even suggest you find areas where you can cut back and reallocate funds to your marketing (as long as it doesn't put jobs at risk).

Whatever you decide to do – whether it's social media advertising, SEO, direct mail – just give it your all. You won't regret it, and it's likely that you'll not only beat your competition, but you'll win the gold…that is, the gold of increased revenue.