🪄Tired of “one-click” wonder tools?

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Humpday, homies. And a fine one it is with fall in the air and fantasy football keeping husbands out of wives’ hair across the nation. 

Today, the Feature Story covers a real problem in today’s digital marketing arena→ one-click wonders! I’ve got an embarrassing example that shows why you have to be careful using apps and AI tools promising amazing results with zero effort.

After that story comes the following sections: 

• The Knowledge Base  

• Self Help (action)  

• Facts & Stats (cart abandonment)  

• Get Hacking (double dose today)

Appetizer: The other side of brands doing NIL athlete deals.

Ok, let’s crack open today’s Feature Story…

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Feature Story

One-Click Wonders that Flop

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know AI tools are cool but overhyped way too often.

The most misrepresented promise IMO is the tempting “Do X, with just one click.”

Companies promise apps built with a single click. Websites in one click. Create a proven marketing strategy… in one click.

How long until one click is too much work and some snake oil salesperson promises “in half a click?”

Anyways - I saw this overpromise underliver in-person, 2.7 miles down the road. A little convenience store that I didn’t know existed. 

It’s in a perfect spot that helps me avoid the nightmare of the other two convenience stores near me. 

I’d driven past it, but it didn’t appear open (not a gas station). So, I Googled it. Found the website. It showed off fresh vegetables along with coolers full of drinks. 

The website also noted how the store had served this community for 35 years. Mentioned the manager’s name and their decades of experience in the grocery business.

The Problem 

The store could not be more than a year old! The shopping center was built in 2024. 

Credit to the store. Clean. Had convenient items at reasonable prices. Nice lady at the counter too.

I asked if they had another location or multiple locations. 

“No, this is the only one. We’re new,” she said. 

Of course, I didn’t act like I was Matlock and she was facing perjury charges for the lying website. 

But I did revisit the store’s website that evening. Found the same false claims of being in business for 35 years, and the friendly manager’s vast experience.

And plenty of stock photos of models, not store staff.

Then I clicked on the website provider at the bottom of the homepage. 

“$79 Website. Built in 7 Days.”

That website only took an hour to “build.” It lived up to the “one-click” promise. 

Or very few clicks. But all it was was built. It was a straight-up template that would’ve worked for any convenience store. 

A bunch of made-up stuff about the business. Silly.

I would appreciate a messy website that was at least honest. At least some real input from the owners.

But you get what you pay for. And if you’re only willing to make the effort of “one click,” how much can you really expect out of any tool or platform?

I know. I’m just a curmudgeon looking to hate on these new AI tools promising ease.

Not true. See the quotes below from other folks who’ve been let down by one-click wonders.

Easy-to-Use Tools Letting People Down with Big Promises

From Reddit:

“I’m trying to use AI to build an app; I am vastly disappointed. People pushing these tools are usually the ones selling them. The promise of one-click magic is a myth.”

“Very limiting. The advertising made it look far more capable than it really was.”

“It’s easy to copy-paste, but if you want to edit or modify the website, it’s super difficult. No help docs, and I regret my purchase.”

From LinkedIn

“Tired of overhyped platforms that love to brag: ‘AI this. Automation that,’ but bring little value.”

“90% of the 70,000+ AI tools out there don’t do what they say they can, with only a handful actually working reliably.”

“Most AI tools are a letdown that bloat your tech stack as a bonus!”

Back to the Local Store

Now, is the crappy website full of misinformation gonna make me shop elsewhere?

Nope. The location keeps me out of heavy traffic. And the prices are fair. 

However, it’s a bad look. If the store wasn’t selling commodity-type items, the silly one-click website would make me shop somewhere else. 

For example, next to this store is a cupcake shop. Tasty stuff.

But if the cupcake shop’s website noted how the owner started the business with her granny. How they baked cupcakes using 90-year-old family recipes. How they used no corn syrup. Etc…

And then I went in and saw no evidence of that, I’d be turned off. 

Homemade baked goods are different from candy bars and sodas.

In fact, the cupcake shop’s website showed the business is a franchise. When I talked to the owner while buying a chocolate cupcake, she told me she was from Texas. And her daughter and sister helped her run the business. 

A real person. With a real story that matched the website. Not a template with pretend store facts spat out by ChatGPT.

The Bottom Line

Beware of tools promising one-click ease. 

In the back of your mind, you already know these promises are too good to be true. 

Yet, it’s tempting to take a chance on them because who doesn’t need to save time?

Who wouldn’t like an effective website built in ten minutes?

Who wouldn’t like to have a little robot (AI) create a workable marketing strategy?

You and I both know most of these tools will waste our time and frustrate us.

Plus, if they really could deliver one-click ease, then anyone in the world could do what a skilled marketer or smart business person could do. 

That would put a lot of us in the bread line. So, it’s a good thing these tools underdeliver.

Let’s keep it moving now with The Knowledge Base just below.

Self-Help

The same lesson came from an old-timer I worked with at a factory and the film Braveheart.

The lesson was just worded differently.

• “You know what’ll happen if we don’t go? Nothing.” ~William Wallace

• “We’ll do something, even if it ain’t right.” Leon at the motor factory

Don’t be scared to take action. Unless you like things exactly as they are.

Facts & Stats

Bonus: This factor was by-far the number one reason for consumers sticking with a favorite brand vs. other brands they shopped with. Answer at end of email.

Get Hacking

A specific strategy to implement today

I’ve read lots about marketers feeling let down by their lead magnets.

Nothing special about downloading a “Special Report” anymore. Because lead magnets are everywhere. 

Plus, AI can give people answers they need without giving up their email address to download the lead magnet.

So, what can you replace lead magnets with? 3 options:

1. Offer a personalized experience 

2. Give away a one-of-a-kind item

3. Bribe people with gift cards

Lately, I see number three used to get people to sign up for a demo. 

ALT Hack: If you update an article and use the current year in the headline, be sure the body of the article doesn’t reference LAST year. I see this all the time. 

Real example: “Small Business Statistics 2025” was the headline, but the article references “2024” ten times! Breaks trust with the reader. Wastes their time too.

Thanks for reading Inbox Hacking. Please share it with your peeps - it’s sugar-free but stings a bit.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

Bonus answer from Facts & Stats section: 62% of consumers said "consistently high-quality products” was what separated their favorite brands from other brands they shopped with. The second biggest factor was a full 18 percentage points behind “consistently high quality products.”

“Stories can express the most complicated ideas in the most digestible ways.” ~Sam Balter Junior