Mastery Over Madness – How Trivera Avoids AI Tool "Shiny Object Syndrome"

by Tom Snyder on Jan 30, 2025

If you’ve been in digital marketing as long as we have, you’ve seen this pattern before. A new technology emerges, and suddenly every marketer and agency is scrambling to prove their expertise by posting endless lists of tools, each claiming to be the key to success.

We saw it with the web in the ‘90s. Social media in the 2000s. Marketing automation in the 2010s. And now, AI.

Lately, that hype has reached a fever pitch. Case in point: theresanaiforthat.com, a site that catalogs every AI tool on the market, currently listing over 10,000 and growing. That site was what sparked our internal discussion, because while some might see an overwhelming buffet of possibilities, we saw a reality check.

At Trivera, we take a different approach. For 30 years, we’ve helped clients avoid the pitfalls of Shiny Object Syndrome, the compulsion to chase every new tool, platform, and buzzword without first asking the critical question:

“Does this actually make us better?”

And by better, we don’t mean busier, trendier, or more AI-dependent. We mean: Does this help us deliver stronger results that actually convert?

AI isn’t just about efficiency for efficiency’s sake. Any AI tool we use must directly contribute to what we do for our clients to improve their ROI. That means helping us:

• Increase engagement, conversions, and revenue for our clients
• Create high-quality, optimized marketing assets faster
• Drive measurable improvements in website performance, SEO, and customer acquisition
• Reduce time spent on non-revenue-generating tasks so we can focus on strategy

If a tool doesn’t help us produce more revenue at a lower expense for our clients, it doesn’t belong in our workflow. Period.

The AI Hype Cycle: Why More Tools ≠ More Expertise

Every week, new AI marketing tools flood the market, each promising to revolutionize content creation, SEO, automation, and customer engagement. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the more tools you use, the more advanced your strategy becomes.

But here’s the truth: Most of these tools are just different ways to ask AI the same questions.

Many agencies flaunt their AI “expertise” by throwing out lists of 50+ tools, but when you peel back the layers, what are they really doing? They’re just using fancier prompts. Tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, and others are simply pre-trained versions of ChatGPT, optimized for specific tasks. Rather than hopping from tool to tool, we focus on mastering AI inside the platforms we already trust—because that’s where real expertise is built.

Trivera’s AI Adoption Process: Zen Mastery Over Experimentation

We don’t waste time evaluating every shiny new AI tool that hits the market. Instead, we:

1. Master What We Have – We go deep into the AI capabilities of the tools we already use. Whether it’s HubSpot, Google, Adobe, or our SEO platforms, we make sure we’re getting every last ounce of value from them before looking elsewhere.

2. Monitor AI Advancements—Casually – We keep an eye on AI innovations, but only through the lens of how they affect our existing tools. If a tool we already use is actively improving its AI capabilities, great! We stay focused and keep working.

3. Evaluate Gaps Only When Necessary – If an essential function is missing and isn’t being improved in our current stack, then we start looking. But we don’t just test blindly. Instead, we:

   • Consult with our marketing community peers and industry leaders to get real-world feedback.
   • Talk to our contacts at our existing platforms to see if improvements are coming.
   • Only then, explore new options that fill the gap without disrupting our workflow.

This approach ensures we never waste time chasing tools that don’t move the needle for our clients.

Avoiding the AI Gold Rush Mentality

Think back to our blog from 2023 where we asked: AI – Powerful Tool or 2024’s Shiny Object? The answer, then and now, remains the same: AI is transformative only when used strategically.

Instead of overwhelming ourselves (and our clients) with an ever-growing stack of tools, we focus on making smarter, more efficient use of the AI inside the tools we're already using to drive demonstrable results. We trust the developers of our platforms to integrate AI effectively, allowing us to refine strategy instead of constantly switching software.

Real Expertise Isn’t Found in an App Store

The agencies constantly chasing the next big thing are easy to spot. Their blog posts are filled with lists of “must-have” AI tools, but there’s no clear strategy behind them. They’re betting that more tools = more credibility, when in reality, real expertise comes from knowing when to say no.

At Trivera, we don’t play that game. We’ve been here long enough to know that the best marketers aren’t the ones using the most tools - they’re the ones using the right ones.

The Bottom Line? AI is a Means, Not an End

If you’re looking for an agency that will throw a hundred tools at a problem and hope one sticks, there are plenty of options out there. But if you want a partner who understands that AI is only as powerful as the strategy behind it, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve been helping brands avoid Shiny Object Syndrome for three decades. AI won’t change that.

About Tom Snyder

Tom Snyder, founder, president and CEO of Trivera, a 28-year-old strategic digital marketing firm based in suburban Milwaukee. Tom has been blogging since 1998, sharing the insight gained from helping businesses and organizations reinforce their brands by taking full advantage of digital and web technology as powerful tactics.

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock