Marketing is Broken! ...and AI is to Blame.

BuildEmpire's Head of Marketing, Laura Caveney, reviews what is potentially the year's biggest disaster event.

Remember when all it took to build an engaged audience on LinkedIn was to show up, share your knowledge, and not be too cringe about it?

When people saw your posts when you posted them? And when your content had a shot at organic reach without needing to spark outrage?

Yeah. That’s over.

In the last year or so, the tectonic plates under marketing’s feet have shifted. What used to work - thoughtful content, useful tips, showing your face once or twice a week - now gets swallowed by the algorithm void.

The noise has gone up, the reach has gone down, and you’re left with a bitter taste in your mouth for sweet revenge against the robots.

Let’s talk about what’s going on.

The LinkedIn letdown

LinkedIn used to be the platform for building a professional presence. And more than that, a place to find really good tips you could use yourself. You could post a tidbit of knowledge and see real conversations unfold in your comments.

LinkedIn used to be the platform for building a professional presence. And more than that, a place to find really good tips you could use yourself. You could post a tidbit of knowledge and see real conversations unfold in your comments.

Now?

We’re in a social feed that feels more and more like Facebook in 2012.

The algorithm has tightened and engagement is throttled unless you post constantly, play to trends, or luck out with a comment avalanche.

Or… get flooded by AI bots.

Great posts tank. Mediocre bait thrives. Carousels are out. Videos are in. Wait, no, text posts are back. Or maybe polls. Or newsletters. Or webinars. It depends on the week but don’t ask your marketing lead, they might have a breakdown.

It’s not just annoying, it’s totally unsustainable. Especially if you’re running a small team or you’re a one-person business trying to do good work, not just perform for the feed.

It’s not just LinkedIn: SEO is a dumpster fire

Back when Twitter/X started imploding, we shrugged and moved on. There were other channels.

One key channel for every marketer was organic (known as SEO). Optimising blog content to rank on Google used to be a solid strategy. But AI has steamrolled traditional search, and we’re stuck creating mediocre content to tick a box.

Now, Google’s results are clogged with content that reads like it was written by an alien trying its best to not be caught out in a corporate meeting.

Actual thought leadership gets buried beneath “helpful content updates” and zero-click answers. Good luck ranking for anything meaningful if you’re not running an SEO factory or paying Google to skip the queue. And worst of all: AI itself is the queue.

Tools like ChatGPT are giving people answers without them ever hitting your site. So now we’re having to claw at new stats like impressions, and forget about traffic. And the worst bit? AI doesn’t even credit you; it remixes you.

So it’s not just LinkedIn that’s on fire.

What used to work (that doesn’t anymore)

Community building gets drowned out unless you already have a following to move people over.

You used to be able to build that community with thoughtful commentary but that gets drowned out by hot takes, trends, and performative vulnerability.

And being useful is no longer enough. You also have to be loud and “engaging” (whatever that means this week).

Posting consistently on LinkedIn used to feel like a sure-fire way to build community.

But now it feels like feeding a machine that only rewards content that mimics the algorithm’s favourites.

And having a strong network doesn’t guarantee they’ll see anything you post and if they do it might be 3 weeks later…

So, what now?

Honestly?

We’re in the weird bit. The post-content-marketing era. The “everything’s changing and no one has a map” era.

But here are some things that still seem to work or at least offer some hope:

• Narrower, braver positioning, aka being specific and opinionated, stands out more than ever. Generalists are getting washed out, so be brave and stand above the parapet.

• Off-platform content is your friend, so think podcasts, newsletters, and communities that you own. They’re harder to grow, but much more defensible.

• Dark social channels like DMs, LinkedIn communities, group chats, and WhatsApp threads. The conversations are still happening; they’ve just gone underground.

• Trust-based marketing. We’ve always known it, but people buy from people, not brands. The more human and transparent you are, the more people remember.

• Most of all? We need to stop pretending the old playbook works. It doesn’t.

Final thoughts

There’s no single fix. But there is a growing appetite for honesty in our space.

From what’s broken, what’s not working, to how we can reimagine visibility, influence, and connection without burning out or selling out.

If you’re struggling to market your L&D business or eLearning product right now, you’re not alone.

The game has changed. And the only way forward? Stop playing the one that no longer serves us.

Laura Caveney is Head of Marketing at BuildEmpire.

Connect with her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-caveney