You may have heard the terms ‘Bloomer vs Gloomer’ thrown around when talking about AI.
A bloomer is someone who believes AI is the next great revolution, bringing innovation, endless possibilities, and will make our lives as we know it, better. A gloomer on the other hand, is someone who believes the opposite, that AI could if not approached carefully, will eventually destroy life as we know it in a doomsday-esque fiery explosion.
Finding a balance
Naturally, as marketers, we’re expected to jump onto the AI trend, pushing innovation, creativity, and always staying ahead of the curve. Yet, amid the ongoing “Bloomer vs. Gloomer” debate surrounding AI, where should marketing stand? Is it a sprint to rapidly adopt AI and explore every possibility, or should we be cautious, implementing AI only as necessary?
The ultimate question is, how can we as marketers use AI to our advantage?
As we step into uncharted territory with AI, navigating this landscape requires a strategic approach. To effectively leverage AI’s advantages for marketing success, four critical questions emerge:
How can marketers use AI in practice today?
Marketers can effectively leverage the power of AI in their daily operations by adopting a strategic and targeted approach. Start by identifying specific areas where AI application aligns with your marketing objectives. AI adoption can begin on a smaller scale, then gradually expand across multiple areas of marketing.
Here are a few strategies that marketers can start putting into practice today:
Stay informed
One of the easiest ways marketers can begin to use AI in practice is by optimizing their existing tech stacks by staying informed on AI innovations in the roadmap of existing platforms. One way to do this is by attending conferences and briefings related to marketing tools in use. For example, at Foundry we use Hootsuite for social media management. Recently the platform came out with OwlyWriter AI, an AI tool that helps generate AI captions and winning post ideas in seconds. Once our team knew that tool was available, we were able to integrate and implement it into our existing strategy.
Enhance buyer experiences
The rise of AI has made it easier than ever for businesses to create personalized content at scale, allowing you to connect with your audience on a more individualized and meaningful level. Marketers should leverage AI to tailor their messaging, addressing unique concerns and aspirations of different stakeholders. Whether it’s the CFO concerned about ROI, the CTO focused on implementation challenges, or the CEO envisioning long-term business impact, the GenAI narrative must speak directly to their priorities. Additionally, experiment with AI image and video tools. These tools, like Canva’s AI Image Generator, allow users to create customized snippets and visuals, creating a more engaging and tailored experience for your audience.
Elevate employee experiences
Train employees to use AI effectively, helping to automate repetitive tasks to make work more efficient. AI can help cut down time in various marketing activities like content editing, creating images for blogs, or automating certain tasks. Encourage teamwork for more creativity and efficiency. Numerous programs are available for employees to explore the benefits of AI, one example being Google Cloud’s Introduction to Generative AI course which you can enroll in for free now.
What AI tools are available to marketers right now?
Given that close to two-thirds (61%) expect their spending towards AI projects to increase in 2024, marketers but be ready to explore AI tools available and what will integrate best into their existing martech stack.
AI tools available to marketers right now include:
- ChatGPT – ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI, designed for natural language understanding and generation, capable of performing various language-related tasks through API interactions.
- Jasper – Jasper AI is an AI writing tool that helps you easily create content. You only need to provide simple inputs, and Jasper will generate original, high-quality content.
- Writer – Writer makes it easy to create custom apps to support any use case, including digital assistants, content generation, summarization, or data analysis.
- Typeface AI – Typeface is the generative AI application to supercharge personalized content creation for businesses.
- Adobe Design Tools – Adobe Firefly is being built into Creative Cloud to give people the tools to both generate results quickly and customize them to fit their unique vision.
- Avoma – Avoma is an AI meeting assistant and revenue Intelligence solution for customer-facing teams for startups and scaleups.
It’s important to note that the choice of tools may depend on specific marketing needs. Additionally, Generative AI tools are not going to solve all our problems. Additionally, businesses must have the capacity to implement any technology that they are bringing on.
What are the risks associated with AI?
AI presents significant risks for marketers (ask any gloomer). In fact, only 36% agree that their organization has a policy in place to monitor the use of Gen AI.
This lack of governance can lead to various concerns, including:
- Security and privacy – As Gen AI evolves and becomes more sophisticated, the risks of cybersecurity threats amplify. Security and privacy concerns are the most pressing ethical implications when implementing Gen AI.
- Quality – Over-using AI to write content, posts, etc. you risk not matching brand voice, losing your perspective/POV, etc.
- Trust – Marketers may exploit AI capabilities, leading to manipulative practices, data breaches, and overreliance on automation. This could result in the erosion of trust and long-term brand damage.
- Channel performance – Certain traditional channels, such as cold outreach and cold outbound, may become less effective as AI-driven personalization increases.
- Job displacement – As AI automates certain SEO tasks, there is a risk of job displacement for professionals specializing in routine optimization.
To mitigate these risks, organizations may need to develop policies addressing the specific challenges of Gen AI. This could involve establishing ethical guidelines or implementing required training.
Who should own AI within an organization?
The ultimate question when it comes to leveraging AI in any organization, “What department or role owns AI?” The answer may look different for every company, determining who owns AI depends on factors like its structure and goals.
While this is a highly debated topic, here are three possibilities on who could own AI within an organization:
- Department leaders – Each department leader is given a mandate to leverage AI technology within their own departments. Assigning AI ownership to department leaders could empower each division to leverage AI tailored to their specific needs and goals. In this case CMO’s would become the driving force behind integrating AI solutions to meet the unique needs and objectives of the marketing department.
- Cross-functional teams – Establish cross-functional teams that cut across departments, bringing together individuals with diverse skills, expertise, and perspectives to collectively drive AI innovation across the organization.
- Centralized ownership – Centralized ownership of AI involves appointing a dedicated team or individual responsible for overseeing and driving AI innovation across the entire organization. In this model, a centralized AI unit assumes the role of a strategic hub, coordinating efforts, setting standards, and ensuring a cohesive and aligned approach to AI implementation.
Additionally, organizations should consider implementing some sort of AI ethics, to ensure ethical considerations are prioritized and integrated into AI applications.
Conclusion
As we move forward into the unknown of AI, it’s not just about the speed of adoption but the mindfulness and strategy we bring to the table. Between Bloomers and Gloomers, the middle ground becomes an opportunity of advantage for marketers.
Want to hear more about marketers AI advantage? Tune into Inspire to Connect to watch Matt Egan, Editorial Director at Foundry, Katie Berg, VP Marketing at Klue, and Aditya Kothadiya, Founder & CEO of Avoma, share their thoughts on how marketers can better leverage AI. Watch on-demand now.
