Humans + AI: The New Marketing Dream Team, Built with Heart

Hello marketing leaders, strategists, and innovators! 👋 Thank you for dropping by to learn practical AI applications and gain strategic insights to help you grow your business, elevate your and your team's strategic value as marketers, use business as a force for good, and help advance your career.

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Let's reimagine your marketing team for the AI era and explore the evolution of Marketing Teams 2.0!

The Vision: AI as Your New Team Member

Picture an org chart where AI tools sit alongside your human talent, not as replacements, but as powerful allies. See sample in Figure 1 below. It's happening now, and the results are inspiring.

These AI assistants are enhancing our capabilities, handling repetitive tasks, uncovering insights, assisting with decision making, and freeing us to focus on strategy, creativity, and relationships. They're a combination of AI-enhanced martech platforms, AI agents, and custom GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers). Let's briefly define these:

1. AI-enhanced martech platforms - Existing marketing technology tools that have integrated AI capabilities.
2. AI agents: Autonomous AI systems that can perform tasks or make decisions on behalf of marketers.
3. Custom GPTs - AI tools that we can build, train, and manage with our expertise, knowledge, and data to do specific tasks.

All of these AI assistants are trained and guided by humans to align with our marketing goals and ethical standards.

In the example above, let's break down how these AI teammates can support different marketing functions:

1. Product Marketing - Imagine an "Ewok GPT" or AI-driven market analysis platform that analyzes market trends and competitor moves, providing real-time insights for your positioning strategy.
2. Brand & Content - Picture "R2-D2 GPT" or an AI-powered content management system generating on-brand content ideas and ensuring consistency across all your communications.
3. Demand Generation - Envision "Chewie GPT" or an AI agent autonomously optimizing your campaign performance by analyzing data and making real-time adjustments.
4. Digital Marketing - Think of "Darth GPT" or an AI-driven conversion rate optimization platform fine-tuning your landing pages for better conversion rates.

The possibilities are endless, and they're changing how we approach marketing challenges.

A number of AI-forward CMOs and marketing leaders are big proponents of this approach, including Amy Heidersbach.

"Viewing custom GPTs, AI-driven martech platforms, and AI agents as specialized AI teammates--ones we train and guide--on an org chart unlocks our understanding of how it can support our work. This perspective allows us to envision even greater benefits as we expand AI's role from individual tasks to entire workflows, implementing it cross-functionally and company-wide."

Early Results: Faster, Better, Different

Early AI adopters in marketing are seeing impressive, measurable results. Here's a snapshot of how the journey unfolds in three stages: Faster, Better, and Different.

Faster: Accelerating Processes

• New Product Pitch Deck - AI save a full week in creating a pitch deck for target persona.
• Competitive Analysis - Accelerates narrative production from 1 day to 2 hours.
• Localization & Translation - Reduces adaptation from days to minutes, saving thousands.

Better: Improving Quality and Efficiency

• Content Generation - Improves output by 10%, reduces SEO optimization from hours to 30 minutes.
• Program & Project Management - Teams reclaim 18-20 hours monthly (8% of total time).
• ABM Account Identification - AI pinpoints high-propensity prospects and at-risk clients.

Different: Innovating New Approaches

• Persona Research - AI creates comprehensive personas by integrating diverse data sources.
• Lead Nurturing Automation - Streamlines lead handoff, accelerating the early-stage customer journey.

As an example of doing things differently, in a previous edition of this newsletter, I shared how AI can evaluate market segments and align executive teams. Building on that, I've created a Business Prioritization Assistant GPT designed to streamline this process and assist with other prioritization tasks, from strategy to campaigns. Here's a screenshot of the GPT's sample output with prioritized market segments based on a set of evaluation criteria.

From Vision to Reality: Starting Small, Thinking Big

Moderna has deployed over 750 GPTs, achieving 80% internal adoption and enhancing efficiency across their organization. While not every company is at this level, it shows what's possible. We all have to start somewhere.

We've led AI workshops for many teams, showcasing real-life use cases (see Figure 3 for a small sample) to inspire what’s possible. This often sparks new ideas, broadens perspectives, and jumpstarts meaningful AI adoption.

To get started, identify high-impact tasks where AI can make a difference. Figure 4 shows a framework to categorize and implement AI tools.

Paul Mosenson, a seasoned marketer who has built hundreds of custom GPTs, advises:

"Start with a clear plan when building custom GPTs. Define the specific outcome—whether it's ad copy, improving conversions, or crafting targeted messaging. The more specific the goal, the better the GPT can be tailored.

Always think about output first, rather than input. Designing GPTs around the final output ensures the generated content is exactly what's needed, reducing time spent on revisions.

Lastly, maintain a flexible approach. Custom GPTs require regular optimization based on real-world performance. Track metrics, identify what's working, and adjust the prompts accordingly."

The Human Side: Navigating Change with Heart

The technology isn't the hardest part—change management is. Here are five ways to bring a human touch to the AI transition, backed by data:

1. Show Understanding - Emphasize that AI adoption is about working smarter, not harder. It's an investment in their careers and your collective AI literacy. While 77% of employees initially report that AI has added to their workload, those who use AI regularly see significant benefits [1].
2. Listen to Your Team - There's often a gap between leaders and employees on AI readiness. While 68% of executives say their organization has a timeline for implementing AI, only 39% of individual contributors agree [2]. Use 1:1s, team discussions, or surveys to understand where your people are at with AI.
3. Offer the Right Support - Only 26% of organizations offer AI-focused education and training for their marketing teams [3]. We can do better. Create learning programs that show how AI can help in specific roles.
4. Make Time for Learning - Carve out time for AI training. 56% of workers are learning about AI through personal experimentation [2]. Support this initiative by prioritizing AI learning in the workday.
5. Set an Example -Get hands-on with AI yourself. 84% of executives who use AI weekly report productivity gains, compared to 74% of individual contributors [2]. Your engagement can inspire your team.

Remember, being a good human comes before being a good marketer. By focusing on our people, we can use AI responsibly and effectively.

[1] Burnout to Balance: AI-Enhanced Work Models, 2024, Upwork

[2] 2024 State of AI at Work, Asana Work Innovation Lab and Anthropic

[3] 2024 State of Marketing AI Report, Marketing AI Institute

The Evolving Role of Marketers

As AI becomes integrated, our roles are evolving:

1. AI Trainers and Guides - Train AI on brand voice, industry knowledge, and marketing strategies.
2. Strategic Thinkers - Focus more on strategic initiatives and creative problem-solving.
3. Data Interpreters - Make informed decisions based on AI-generated insights.
4. Ethical Guardians - Ensure responsible AI use, considering privacy and transparency.
5. Continuous Learners - Stay updated with AI advancements to leverage new opportunities.

AI will inevitably change how we work, automating some tasks, but it's more about empowering us to do better, more strategic work. With AI handling routine tasks, we can focus on what truly requires our creativity, insight, and human touch—maximizing impact even with limited resources.

Tahnee Perry, AI Advisor with deep expertise in the martech stack, regularly shares her wisdom and practical advice related to AI tools for marketers in her weekly newsletter Zero to Unicorn. Tahnee reminds us:

"A lot of marketers feel pressure to invest in the latest AI tools just to keep up. But in most cases, they already have solutions in their martech stack with the functionality they need.

For teams using enterprise platforms, take a deeper dive into what's available. Review the product roadmap and connect with the account team to make sure you're leveraging all the features. Why chase a new tool if the one you have can do the job?

For example, Salesforce AI Agents can automate customer service, Sprout Social's analysis helps create higher-engagement content, and SEMRush assists in creating SEO-optimized content without extensive keyword research."

Practical Steps to Get Started

1. Assess Your AI Readiness - Evaluate your team's current capabilities and martech tools.
2. Identify Quick Wins - Choose 3-5 high-impact, low-complexity tasks for AI improvement.
3. Build a Pilot Team - Select enthusiastic team members to lead initial AI projects.
4. Develop an AI Learning Program -Create resources and allocate time for AI learning.
5. Start Small, Measure Results - Implement your first AI projects and track their impact rigorously. Best to align these AI projects with your strategic initiatives as these initiatives are prioritized, have a set of goals and KPIs, resources, budget, timeline, and visibility in the org. We'll have a better shot of driving success.

Wrapping Up: Your AI Journey Starts Now

Our roles as marketers are arguably more challenging, but richer in the AI era. We're balancing efficiency with empathy, convenience with privacy, and innovation with ethics. It's an opportunity to become better leaders and more human marketers.

This journey progresses from faster to better to different. Start small, celebrate wins, and keep your team at the heart of your AI strategy. Together, we can build Marketing Teams 2.0 that are more capable, innovative, and human than ever before.

How are you inspiring teams with what's possible with AI and ensuring responsible use? How are you getting some early successes under your team's belt to build momentum? What's your next step in this AI evolution? Share your thoughts and let's learn together in this exciting new world of marketing!

The Practical AI in Marketing newsletter is designed to share practical learnings and insights in using AI responsibly for strategic, product, digital, brand, demand, and growth marketing. Subscribe today and lets learn together on this AI journey!

For those who prefer audio-visual content, click here to access recorded sessions on a variety of topics I've covered, from specific AI use cases to elevating the strategic role of marketing leaders. You'll also find information about my past and upcoming in-person speaking events. Whether through the newsletter, multimedia content, or in-person event, I hope to connect with you soon.