Facebook Marketing in an AI World

I recently hosted a free online training – Facebook Marketing in an AI World – which was an expanded version of the presentation I gave at the annual Social Media Marketing World conference on February 20 this year.

The following is a summary with key takeaways. And, you can watch the full replay here, embedded below:

The launch of Meta AI

On April 18, 2024, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and co-founder of Facebook / Meta Platforms, announced with great pride the launch of an entirely upgraded Meta AI experience with the company’s new, state-of-the-art Llama 3 AI model.

“Big AI news today. We’re releasing the new version of Meta AI, our assistant that you can ask any question across our apps and glasses. Our goal is to build the world’s leading AI.

We’re upgrading Meta AI with our new state-of-the-art Llama 3 AI model, which we’re open sourcing. With this new model, we believe Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use.

We’re making Meta AI easier to use by integrating it into the search boxes at the top of WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. We also built a website, meta.ai, for you to use on web.

We also built some unique creation features, like the ability to animate photos. Meta AI now generates high quality images so fast that it creates and updates them in real-time as you’re typing. It’ll also generate a playback video of your creation process.

Enjoy Meta AI and let me know what you think!”

Mark Zuckerberg

I’m Mari Smith, premier Facebook marketing expert, often referred to as ‘the Queen of Facebook.’  I joined the platform on ‘Star Wars Day’ May the 4^th, 2007 and just celebrated my 17^th year ‘Faceversary.’ As much as Facebook can be frustrating for so many reasons, I’m still very passionate about the entire Meta empire and the positive good the company has done, and still can do, in the world.

Meta / Facebook turns 20

Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook, Inc.) just turned 20 years old on February 4, 2004.

Zuckerberg shared a montage of achievements over the years on his company’s twentieth anniversary: February 4, 2024. The clip ends with a very young Zuckerberg (probably no more than 20 years old but looking more like 15!), saying that the goal was to get 500 members and now they have 100,000.

“When we first launched, we were hoping for, you know, maybe 400, 500 people. Now we’re at 100,000. So, who knows where we’re going next.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta’s stats today

Today, Meta Platforms boasts a whopping 3.2 billion people per day using at least one Meta app. That is, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Meta Platforms is a trillion-dollar company, currently number six in the list of the largest American companies by market cap.

Building the metaverse

A quick look back over the last few years, for context:

• 2021: Zuckerberg goes ‘all in’ on building the metaverse. Parent company changes from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms, Inc.
• 2022:  The “year of efficiency.” Massive layoffs, tightening up budgets, streamlining projects, letting go of anything not producing.
• 2023: Zuckerberg declares a “Turbo-charged” focus on AI. Threads app launches.
• 2024: Meta plans to focus on Business Ais. “AI will be our biggest investment area in 2024,” stated Zuckerberg in late 2023.

Keep in mind that artificial intelligence is a component of the metaverse. No, Zuckerberg has certainly not ‘given up’ on helping to build the metaverse.

Zuckerberg has been playing the long game with AI for over a decade and is determined to lead the way in this field, no matter what.

In 2013, Mark Zuckerberg tried to buy British-American AI research lab, DeepMind. It was acquired by Google in 2014. Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput talked about this just on a recent episode of The Artificial Intelligence Show podcast.

Meta started introducing generative AI features in 2023, including launching its ‘Imagine with Meta AI’ text-to-image creation tool. Personally, I was heartened that the company chose to automatically embed a watermark on all images. Meta is leading the way here. Should all AI produced content have some sort of watermark? What do you think?

AI’s future is about way more than generative AI or AI chatbots.

Mark Zuckerberg has long been obsessed with ‘Domination’ and top Roman emperors. He is determined to dominate in the field of AI – artificial intelligence. As well as AGI – artificial general intelligence. Meta is a trillion-dollar company.

Zuckerberg and team have tens of billions to invest in building a world class AI assistant for everyone in the world. Or at least everyone that uses any Meta app or service.

Will Meta’s AGI Model Crush GPT-4?

With the massive amount of money that Zuckerberg and team are investing into NVIDIA H100’s (graphic processing units needed to power AI), it’s certainly possible Meta AI will end up dominating the world of AI. To put the investment in perspective, it’s somewhere between $14-18 billion by the end of this year to buy the GPUs necessary to power Meta AI.

Here’s a clip from Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement on January 18, 2024, about Meta’s advances and plans with artificial intelligence:

“Hey everyone. Today, I’m bringing Meta’s two AI research efforts closer together to support our long-term goals of building general intelligence. Open sourcing it responsibly and making it available and useful to everyone in all of our daily life. It’s become clearer that the next generation of services requires building full general intelligence, building the best AI assistants, AIs for creators, AIs for businesses, and more that needs advances in every area of AI from reasoning to planning, to coding, to memory and other cognitive abilities.”

Mark Zuckerberg

“Over time I think a lot of us are going to talk to AI’s frequently throughout the day. And I think a lot of us are going to do that using glasses,” says Mark Zuckerberg wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

The Wolf is at the Door

Ben Angel, bestselling author who has predicted trends in business, health, tech and marketing for nearly two decades just recently launched his newest book: The Wolf is at the Door: How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World. I led a free live masterclass in March, interviewing Ben about his new book: AI Marketing Unleashed. Would you like to check out the replay?

From Ben’s book:

“Social media’s allure, deliberately crafted to seize our attention, pales when compared with the cutting-edge integration of AI and personalization.”

Ben Angel

Social Saturation and now AI Saturation

Everyone is in overwhelm. Trying to keep up. It’s exhausting.

“Everyone is shouting PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT! …when they should be shouting PILOT!
PILOT! PILOT!”

MARI SMITH

We must learn to discern the use of AI in marketing, not constantly shouting ‘PIVOT, PIVOT, PIVOT!’ feeling the need to try out every new AI tool.

Rather, strive to select only those AI tools that add value to your business and start shouting ‘PILOT, PILOT, PILOT!’ instead.

Identify relevant team members who can run pilot tests internally then roll out more widely when appropriate.

Consider the Piloting AI course from the Marketing AI Institute.

Meta AI recent launches:

Over the past six months or so, following are the various updates and new products that Meta has released pertaining to AI, including generative AI:

1. ‘Write with AI’ text prompt – to help craft your Facebook posts. Perhaps some folks are using this and finding it practical and enjoyable. MEH, MAYBE?
2. Imagine with Meta AI – first launched late 2023, this tool is now integrated with Meta.ai and baked into all Meta platforms. Image generation has improved over the past few months. Over time this could be a viable alternative to DALL•E, Midjourney, etc. So long as people can be made to look much more photorealistic. MAYBE?
3. AI Stickers – available inside Stories & Messenger. Probably not much uptake here. MEH
4. Celebrity AI chats – big PR stunt to draw attention to what Meta is doing with AI. NOPE!
5. Meta AI in Facebook Groups – automate responses, drawn from previous posts. Proceed with caution! This feature may not quite be ready for prime time. Some users are finding the AI is approving all kinds of posts and comments they prefer to keep out of their Facebook Group. Other Admins are finding posts made on their behalf without permission. Hm. MAYBE?
6. Custom AI chats for your business – coming at some point. There’s massive potential here for pre and post sales customer support, lead generation, nurturing relationships and more. YES!
7. Meta.ai – launched/upgraded on April 18, 2024. Now available on desktop in certain countries. More countries coming very soon. Massive potential here to become the go-to tool for billions of users around the world instead of any other AI assistant / generative AI platform. YES!
8. Meta AI integrated with all Meta apps – launched on April 18, 2024. Now available in certain countries. More countries coming very soon. Go to the search bar and see the Meta AI blue circle icon inside Facebook, Messenger, Instagram Direct (DMs), and WhatsApp. There’s huge potential here to become the go-to tool for billions of users around the world instead of any other AI assistant / generative AI platform. YES!
9. Meta AI baked into Meta Business Suite and Meta Ads Manager – no doubt coming soon! This will also be huge. Social media managers, marketers, creators, businesses, and brands of all sizes will be able to take advantage of real-time AI generated content. Imagine generating image, animation, text, voice + video, too (at some point no doubt!). Then schedule, publish and measure all without leaving Meta. YES!!
10. Meta’s AI-Powered Discovery Engine – per Zuckerberg’s opening remarks of the Q1 Meta earnings call on April 24, right now about 30% of the posts you see in your Facebook feed and more than 50% on Instagram are AI-suggested/recommended. This is often the bane of many people’s lives because they are no longer seeing content from friends, family and other people and pages they follow. However, suggested content is driving an increase in time spent on Facebook by 7% and Instagram by 6%. Having this element of ‘surprise’ – not knowing what you might see in your feed, keeps users coming back for more.

Note: if you see a meme doing the rounds on Facebook telling you how you can ‘turn off that annoying Meta AI chat’ – no, you cannot get rid of Meta AI. But if you have started a conversation inside Messenger with Meta AI, yes, you can mute it. However, Meta AI won’t proactively start chatting with you unless you engage with it first.

We are living in a time of infinite content with FINITE attention… 

Just because we can crank out hundreds of AI produced content now, it doesn’t mean more content is the answer. We should not be fire-hosing our followers with nonstop synthetic content.

“If your work isn’t more useful or insightful or urgent than GPT can create in 12 seconds, don’t interrupt people with it.”

seth godin

We are being programmed and it’s time to take back control

The message that all the main social media companies have been touting for some time now is that everyone can be a creator. Publish beautiful content and Meta (or TikTok or YouTube) will pay you a lovely big incentive.

However, this is really not a sustainable business model for about 95% of social media business users. If this is your revenue source and you’re happy with it, great – you’re an outlier.

But for most people/entrepreneurs/businesses out there, please focus on building your own business and not relying on third-party payouts! That’s just ‘bonus money’ if you do happen to get some viral content.

Do you need help growing your business on Facebook & Instagram? Check out Mari’s brand new workshop: AI-Empowered Reels, Groups, Ads. If you could use some hands-on help with any one or more of these three key aspects of your social media marketing strategy – REELS, GROUPS, ADS – this super-affordable, deep-dive workshop is for you! Learn more here…

Build your ‘house’ (business) with bricks so the big bad wolf of AI cannot blow you down

Going back to Ben Angel’s book, The Wolf Is at the Door: How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World – his wolf is the one from Little Red Riding Hood. Where the cunning wolf deceives the little girl and her grandmother and gobbles them up.

Ben’s metaphor is to ensure we are all AI literate and do our own investigations and preparations to make sure we are truly ready for the massive onslaught of AI that is already happening.

I chose another wolf from a different children’s fable – The Three Little Pigs. A big bad wolf tries to blow down the houses made by three little pig siblings. One is made with straw, one with sticks, and one with bricks. The wolf easily blows down the first two, but the brick home is safe.

Do not let the big bad wolf of AI temptations ‘blow your house down’ by building with straw or sticks.

Don’t build your house with STRAW:

• Jumping on board every AI app
• Constantly pivoting to the next ‘new thing’

Don’t build your house with STICKS:

• Making inauthentic, synthetic content
• Clone yourself to be ‘efficient’
• Crank out 300 days of content in 30 minutes

Build TRUST & LOYALTY with these 5 BRICKS:

Keep building a strong foundation to prevent your business from being negatively impacted by the fast pace of AI development.

Brick #1: Stay focused.

FOCUS is your most valuable asset! (Says Ben Angel in his book, The Wolf is at the Door and I agree with him!) We live in the most distracted times ever. We must all learn to manage distractions in the digital age. Recommended reading: Indistractable by Nir Eyal.

Brick #2: Matter more.

Don’t strive to get more reach, shares, subscribers, etc. Instead, create content worth sharing. Create email newsletters worth subscribing to. See Jay Acunzo’s work on Instagram: @jacunzo.

Brick #3: Go deep.

“Most companies are trying to ‘boil the ocean’ with their video/small screen strategy,” says Joe Pulizzi, content marketing authority, founder of the Content Marketing Institute.

Instead, they would be “better off taking a step back and saying, ‘Let’s focus on being *great*!! And making a behavioral impact on ONE channel!!! THIS is what we’re gonna talk about. This is our mission, and this is our audience, and this is what we wanna say!!’”

YES! Go deep by creating more quality content on a few social channels rather than spreading yourself too thin across all channels.

Brick #4: Be authentic.

There’s an erosion of trust happening at great speed across all social networks. The antidote is to create authentic, humanized content vs. the temptation to crank out large volumes of inauthentic content. Don’t allow yourself to get overly reliant on synthetic, AI-generated content. Rather, focus on creating more thoughtful, relevant content that resonates with your audience. Authenticity is making a comeback!

With today’s age of AI, the more you can lean into transparency, honesty, even vulnerability, this helps to build trust and genuine connections. In-person events may become more prevalent as AI keeps advancing rapidly. People will crave certainty – knowing something is real or not – by being physically in person with one another.

Brick #5: Build community.

Create meaningful, connected communities through a Facebook group and/or possibly a third-party community platform, e.g. Mighty Networks, Circle, Heartbeat, Slack channel, etc.

Gina Bianchini, CEO & Co-Founder of Mighty Networks discovered something magical recently:

“Only ONE THING matters to predict with 93% accuracy whether a community succeeds or fails… and that is, how often members connect or collaborate with EACH OTHER.” 

GINA BIANCHINI, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, MIGHTY NETWORKS

I love this discovery by Gina so much.

It can take awhile, but it’s possible to create a ‘fly wheel of UGC’ as I call it.

My Social Scoop Facebook Group is incredibly active, supportive and meaningful. And 90% of the content and engagement comes from members. My team and I run a ‘tight ship’ ensuring everyone gets an answer, the culture is robust, and the crazies keep out. Lol.

---

---

What makes you unique?

For the past four years, my passion project has been professional studies of The Human Design System. It is a profound tool that is a blend of ancient and modern disciplines including astrology, the I’Ching, Kabbalah, genetics, biology, and quantum physics.

The tool can be used with incredible accuracy for understanding oneself and others, with personal and business applications. When you’re able to stand grounded in what’s unique, special, and different about you and be committed to your own truth, no matter what, it’s much easier to stay focused and not get pulled off track.

To learn more about The Human Design System, you’re welcome and encouraged to join my Superstars community, proudly built on Mighty Networks (aff).

Navigate to the Human Design Basics section for free introductory training and resources. Inside my Superstars community, I also have a free Facebook Marketing Success mini-course, and resources on the topics of social media marketing, AI and the future of business, personal development and deep work.

Be very careful of BSOS: bright shiny object syndrome!

It can be so incredibly tempting to jump on everything ‘new thing’ that comes out today – especially in the world of AI and social media marketing. But remember what I said above – do not be constantly shouting ‘Pivot, pivot, pivot!’ You’ll get dizzy! Lol. Instead, stay focused on building genuine connections with your audience.

“With masses of AI hype, volumes of content, and constant ‘push marketing’ (even though that last part is so 2005!), we need to emphasize connection, relationship building, and fostering strong communities more than ever.”

mari smith

1,000 True Fans

Remember Kevin Kelly’s concept of 1,000 true fans? It’s still just as valid today as it was all those years ago (2008).

You do not ‘need’ millions of followers, constant growth, striving for that viral hit and the ‘holy grail’ of reach, engagement, video view nirvana. Nope. Instead, what if you focused on cultivating connections with the people that truly matter? The ones who love you, love to follow you, and love to buy from you!

Remember what I said above about how we’re all being ‘programmed?’ We’re essentially ‘Meta Marionettes.’ Lol. Like puppets on a string, being manipulated by the AI-powered algorithms, showing us predictive content vs. what we’ve chosen to see. And, not only that, always being pushed into thinking it’s about more, more, more. There’s a reason your stats are red for down (bad!) and green for up (good). Hmph. Take back control, my friend!

Do you need help growing your business on Facebook & Instagram?

• Perhaps you’re struggling to make effective REELS that drive real results on Instagram and Facebook? (Maybe you’re not even sure where to start.)
• You may have a Facebook Group (or want to start one) yet you have no idea how to monetize your GROUP?
• Maybe you’ve tried running Facebook ADS but lost money or gotten plain stuck? (You’re not alone!) Yet, Meta ads could help you 2X or more your revenue this year!

I’d love to support you. Introducing my brand-new program: AI-Empowered REELS, GROUPS, ADS workshop. Coming up on May 20, 21, 22 and a bonus session on May 27.

• Discover how to grow your business by mastering the fundamentals of AI-Empowered Facebook and Instagram Reels, Facebook Groups, and Advertising on the Meta Platforms (even on a super-low budget!)
• Learn exactly how Meta AI impacts creators, marketers and advertisers, what the company is launching soon, and how you can stay ahead of the Meta.ai curve (without losing focus!)
• Plus, find out which AI tools you really need to help you be more efficient, productive, and successful with your social media marketing (and which tools you can ignore!)

Would you like to check it out and come join us?

Learn more at:  https://www.marismith.com/rga-workshop/

---

Some links in this article (Amazon & Mighty Networks) are affiliate tracking links. I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through the link.