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I’ve seen many small businesses do well on TikTok and Instagram by eschewing all fancy graphics and technology, and just talking into their phone’s camera like

I’ve seen many small businesses do well on TikTok and Instagram by eschewing all fancy graphics and technology, and just talking into their phone’s camera like a normal person. “Hey I’m Joe, I just opened a cafe down here. It’s always been my dream, etc.” The more quirky and human the video, the better it does. I know this new tool looks to be for static graphics; but I do think the same thing applies. Not using AI-generated polished graphics will become a differentiator.

vasco 1y ago
Yes but those guys need their marketing to work. Most marketing people just need to spend a budget. For those guys now they can pump out infinite crap to spend their budget so that you rEMemBeR tHeM lATer.
bko 1y ago
I think you might be seeing guys who do that well so it's a bit survivorship bias. For most, if you just record yourself talking for 1m and watch it back as a video it's incredibly painful and awkward. The filler words, tangents, weird pauses. It really made me have respect for great speakers
- keiferski 1y ago
  No, I have seen plenty of awkward people talking about their new business. The awkwardness is inferior to charismatic speakers, for sure, but it's still better than generic AI slop marketing content.
  - ojr 1y ago
    I did this with youtube for a while but I have to swallow my pride, (AI thumbnail, engagement bait title, AI voice narration) is better than pure loom-like organic video for ads
  - gretch 1y ago
    All of those people have already pass through a filter of self-selection There's a person out there that's 1) knows how to bake amazing cookies 2) has no desire to record tik toks Why is that you need both of those things combined to have a successful cookie business? Can't we desire a world where just being good at baking cookies is good enough? You don't ALSO have to record a bunch of tik toks?
    - sowbug 1y ago
      Some products are so good they don't need marketing. Some marketing is so good the product doesn't matter. But most of the time you need both. Even https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis had a great product (idea): if doctors wash their hands, fewer of their patients will die. But his marketing (personality) was off-putting, and his ideas weren't accepted until after his death.
awillen 1y ago
This works for the subset of people who have a good story or a real connection to their brand, but that's just not most businesses. I buy and operate e-commerce brands, and I can't do it both because I really don't want to be on camera and because "hey I bought this company that sells leather handle covers for cast iron pans, and I personally don't use them but the cashflow was good" is not so compelling as a message. Sometimes you just need messages that convey the value proposition of the brand. (And FWIW they are nice handle covers, I just prefer to use a kitchen towel to grab my cast iron.) That said, I think video generation is at the point where someone will probably develop a product that fakes the kinds of videos you're talking about in the near future.
- soulofmischief 1y ago
  * * *
  - awillen 1y ago
    I would say a couple of things: 1. Just because I don't use something doesn't mean that I think it shouldn't exist or be sold. People can make their own choices. A product isn't bad or useless or unnecessary because it doesn't align with my preferences. I'm fine with people being able to make their own choices about what they buy. Also, I generally don't think people should have to live a totally ascetic lifestyle. I have three monitors - certainly redundant, but fine. I have art on my walls - could've gone without that. I have a dog who I buy toys and food for - not strictly necessary. These things are all more than fine in my book. 2. There are other reasons to be in business besides deeply caring about the business itself. The biggest benefit to this business is that it doesn't require a lot of day-to-day work, and I can do that work whenever I want. That means I can almost always be there for my kids. That's what matters to me. I would take a job that I don't particularly care about that lets me put them first over one that I'm deeply passionate about that takes them away from me any time.
    - soulofmischief 1y ago
      Thank you for sharing your perspective. I do agree that we don't need to extremify asceticism. I certainly own useless crap. I think I do specifically have a minimalist approach to kitchens inspired by setups such as hundred rabbits' https://100r.co/site/cooking.html https://100r.co/site/cooking.html plus I also am becoming increasingly concerned with my carbon footprint given the climate-related extinction event we are currently facing, and that probably strikes out personal promotion of any unneeded kitchenware. I'm curious about the economics of what you do, if you've ever written about it elsewhere.
spaceman_2020 1y ago
What you’re talking about is the primary marketing collateral. But any good marketing campaign needs a ton of secondary or even tertiary marketing collateral The first “real video” you talked about is meant to grab attention and tell users, honestly, what the product is about But they’re not customers - yet. They need to be reminded about your brand again and again You can’t run the same video every time - for one, its repetitive. And for two, its disruptive on the wrong channels You will need static images and basic videos and even tweets across platforms to remarket to your audience That’s where tools like this come in handy. You grabbed attention with the first video. But now you need to tell users that if they buy tomorrow, they get 15% off.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 1y ago
  How is any of that making humanity better? How is any of that making the world a better place for us and our children to live in?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - xwolfi 1y ago
    Who cares, the goal is to make money...
    - nektro 1y ago
      our current problems summed up in a single sentence
  - spaceman_2020 1y ago
    This is a b2b product. Its not meant to make the world better. But maybe a business that’s actually making the world better by making better, healthier stuff uses it, gets more customers, and makes the world better
EnPissant 1y ago
I'm sure that's the kind of content AI will excel at creating.

vasco 1y ago

Yes but those guys need their marketing to work. Most marketing people just need to spend a budget. For those guys now they can pump out infinite crap to spend their budget so that you rEMemBeR tHeM lATer.

bko 1y ago

I think you might be seeing guys who do that well so it's a bit survivorship bias. For most, if you just record yourself talking for 1m and watch it back as a video it's incredibly painful and awkward. The filler words, tangents, weird pauses. It really made me have respect for great speakers

keiferski 1y ago
No, I have seen plenty of awkward people talking about their new business. The awkwardness is inferior to charismatic speakers, for sure, but it's still better than generic AI slop marketing content.
- ojr 1y ago
  I did this with youtube for a while but I have to swallow my pride, (AI thumbnail, engagement bait title, AI voice narration) is better than pure loom-like organic video for ads
- gretch 1y ago
  All of those people have already pass through a filter of self-selection There's a person out there that's 1) knows how to bake amazing cookies 2) has no desire to record tik toks Why is that you need both of those things combined to have a successful cookie business? Can't we desire a world where just being good at baking cookies is good enough? You don't ALSO have to record a bunch of tik toks?
  - sowbug 1y ago
    Some products are so good they don't need marketing. Some marketing is so good the product doesn't matter. But most of the time you need both. Even https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis had a great product (idea): if doctors wash their hands, fewer of their patients will die. But his marketing (personality) was off-putting, and his ideas weren't accepted until after his death.

awillen 1y ago

This works for the subset of people who have a good story or a real connection to their brand, but that's just not most businesses. I buy and operate e-commerce brands, and I can't do it both because I really don't want to be on camera and because "hey I bought this company that sells leather handle covers for cast iron pans, and I personally don't use them but the cashflow was good" is not so compelling as a message. Sometimes you just need messages that convey the value proposition of the brand. (And FWIW they are nice handle covers, I just prefer to use a kitchen towel to grab my cast iron.) That said, I think video generation is at the point where someone will probably develop a product that fakes the kinds of videos you're talking about in the near future.

soulofmischief 1y ago
* * *
- awillen 1y ago
  I would say a couple of things: 1. Just because I don't use something doesn't mean that I think it shouldn't exist or be sold. People can make their own choices. A product isn't bad or useless or unnecessary because it doesn't align with my preferences. I'm fine with people being able to make their own choices about what they buy. Also, I generally don't think people should have to live a totally ascetic lifestyle. I have three monitors - certainly redundant, but fine. I have art on my walls - could've gone without that. I have a dog who I buy toys and food for - not strictly necessary. These things are all more than fine in my book. 2. There are other reasons to be in business besides deeply caring about the business itself. The biggest benefit to this business is that it doesn't require a lot of day-to-day work, and I can do that work whenever I want. That means I can almost always be there for my kids. That's what matters to me. I would take a job that I don't particularly care about that lets me put them first over one that I'm deeply passionate about that takes them away from me any time.
  - soulofmischief 1y ago
    Thank you for sharing your perspective. I do agree that we don't need to extremify asceticism. I certainly own useless crap. I think I do specifically have a minimalist approach to kitchens inspired by setups such as hundred rabbits' https://100r.co/site/cooking.html https://100r.co/site/cooking.html plus I also am becoming increasingly concerned with my carbon footprint given the climate-related extinction event we are currently facing, and that probably strikes out personal promotion of any unneeded kitchenware. I'm curious about the economics of what you do, if you've ever written about it elsewhere.

spaceman_2020 1y ago

What you’re talking about is the primary marketing collateral. But any good marketing campaign needs a ton of secondary or even tertiary marketing collateral The first “real video” you talked about is meant to grab attention and tell users, honestly, what the product is about But they’re not customers - yet. They need to be reminded about your brand again and again You can’t run the same video every time - for one, its repetitive. And for two, its disruptive on the wrong channels You will need static images and basic videos and even tweets across platforms to remarket to your audience That’s where tools like this come in handy. You grabbed attention with the first video. But now you need to tell users that if they buy tomorrow, they get 15% off.

HeatrayEnjoyer 1y ago
How is any of that making humanity better? How is any of that making the world a better place for us and our children to live in?
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- xwolfi 1y ago
  Who cares, the goal is to make money...
  - nektro 1y ago
    our current problems summed up in a single sentence
- spaceman_2020 1y ago
  This is a b2b product. Its not meant to make the world better. But maybe a business that’s actually making the world better by making better, healthier stuff uses it, gets more customers, and makes the world better

EnPissant 1y ago

I'm sure that's the kind of content AI will excel at creating.