Blending B2B Marketing Fundamentals With AI’s Infinite Possibilities
The world is buzzing with excitement about ChatGPT and the many new AI applications and companies launching almost daily. B2B marketers are eager to jump on board, lead the charge and keep up as the landscape shifts rapidly.
With all the hype, it’s easy to overlook marketing fundamentals. But core principles remain unchanged even as technology evolves. I know many people are “afraid” of AI, and my intent with this article is not to create a debate around the topic. Clearly, there are tremendous benefits to AI, yet we must balance innovation with the steadfast building blocks of marketing.
We can make the most of the incredible technological advances by staying grounded in timeless truths while embracing new ideas.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
When CRMs and marketing automation were starting to boom, it seemed like we were hoping to miraculously have great information that would transform into insights about a customer, model data to create marketing campaigns and so on. We did not consider that the context and quality of the data we had was often very poor.
It’s no different with new AI technology. AI is a tool, and if what we feed to any AI model is not good, then the output will be too not great. What we get will be close to garbage if we keep repeating past mistakes and believing that AI is a magic wand versus using it to help us exponentially achieve what we want.
Old Habits Die Hard
Old assumptions in B2B marketing undermine capable teams. Highlighting these issues can help us shift direction:
• Being excluded from strategy sessions: Without input in setting goals, we marketers can’t develop aligned strategies. Push for a seat at the table from the start.
• Company-centric messaging versus customer-centric: We have objectives, and those are important, but we need to focus on our customers when creating our messages.
• Using overly complex jargon: Simplify language to convey value clearly, even to sophisticated buyers.
• Having one marketer operate in a silo: Collaboration and specialization are key for multifaceted B2B strategies.
• Chasing every shiny object: Stay focused on core goals to avoid tactical whiplash.
• Prioritizing leads over developing a full pipeline: Nurture leads through the entire journey.
As new innovations spark endless possibilities, let’s stay grounded in core truths: Know your customer, clarify your purpose, and optimize your mix. When in doubt, get back to basics.
Getting Back To Basics
Even with all the changes in marketing, the basics stay the same. Before jumping on new trends, make sure your B2B marketing foundation is solid:
• Build your brand strategically. Articulate your brand mission, values and unique positioning. Align your messaging around these.
• Create strategies based on customer insights. Know your audiences deeply through ongoing research, customer interviews and data analysis. Figure out what motivates them.
• Map the customer journey. Understand the full experience end-to-end.
• Provide educational content. Build trust and credibility by consistently teaching valuable skills and ideas. Amplify your message with your business partners and employees.
• Align culture and branding. Make sure your culture and employer brand match external messaging. Remember, how you do one thing is how you do everything.
• Communicate and collaborate across teams. Break down silos by being open and transparent. Make it part of your culture that all ideas come from collaboration.
• Don’t overwhelm resources. B2B marketing done right is complex. Don’t expect one person to have every role.
• Link strategies to revenue. Connect activities tightly to pipeline, retention and revenue targets. Prove and improve marketing ROI.
AI-Driven Marketing Is About Synergies Between People And AI
Once your basics are set, AI can elevate you to extraordinary new heights. How? These are some of the most impressive use cases:
• Predictive lead scoring: Analyze data to assign sales-readiness scores to leads so sales can focus on the hottest prospects.
• Personalization: Create hyper-targeted content, recommendations and messaging tailored to each account and individual.
• Forecasting: Analyze pipelines to predict future conversions, revenue and retention to inform planning.
• Content creation: Generate initial drafts of blog posts, emails and landing pages to amplify content production.
• Chatbots: Provide 24/7 support, answer common questions and route inquiries via AI-powered chatbots.
• Extracting hidden insights: Surface subtle patterns, relationships and predictions that may be impossible for humans alone to glean from data.
• Predicting future outcomes: Analyze data to forecast sales and emerging opportunities, and model scenarios to optimize strategies.
Important note: Proceed thoughtfully. Prioritize ethics, transparency and human oversight above all. AI should enhance human intelligence, not replace it.
Keeping The Human Element
Even with high-tech tools, marketing remains a deeply human endeavor. Remember to do the following:
• Lead with moral purpose. Develop guidelines for ethical AI use. Uphold brand values in all automated communications.
• Focus on strategy first and technology second. Avoid bright shiny objects. Ensure AI aligns with and enhances your strategy.
• Forge authentic connections. Build rapport through storytelling, listening and empathy. Lead with compassion over algorithms.
AI can amplify our efforts, but never replace the spark of human creativity and passion. By combining AI capabilities with human insight and integrity, we can accomplish incredible things.
Marketing Innovation: Blending Old And New
AI innovations promise to give us unprecedented insights and customer engagement every day. It’s tempting to dive in headfirst. However, let’s keep sight of our core tenets amid all the technology. Be sure to use timeless marketing principles before you ride the next wave.
The reality is technology is just a medium. How we apply it and, more importantly, how it evolves is up to us. That power is in our hands.
We’re lucky in B2B marketing to be at the intersection of AI and human creativity. This is a huge opportunity. Combining the best of the old with the limitless potential of the new can lead to incredible things. We can be more productive, shrink time frames, unlock game-changing insights and engage customers more meaningfully.
Principles are the key to progress. We can make B2B marketing more effective and meaningful by grounding innovation in humanity. We don’t know where we’re going, but our moral compass will guide us.
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This article was written by Forbes and originally published here.
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