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My teenage daughter has her first boyfriend. Life is in vivid 4K color with Katy Perry blasting "Firework" in surround sound for her right now. I, on the other hand, find myself longing for the days when she was two years old.
Who is this young suitor? What are his intentions for my daughter? Is it obvious to him that I do not have a black belt in three martial arts?
Anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt, mixed with optimism and hope for a bright future for her, are bobbleheads sitting on my shoulders these days.
It's not unlike the emotions I am seeing many CMOs experiencing in relation to AI.
CMOs and AI: Where Things Stand
Over the past year, I have spent more time talking with CMOs about AI than any other subject. My conclusion is that, like the rest of the world, CMOs have more questions than answers about this game-changing technology.
Where they stand now:
They know that AI offers tremendous potential to drive innovation and productivity across their teams.
They have heard about its potential to transform the customer experience by seamlessly integrating workflows across siloed marketing and sales processes.
And they see the opportunity to automate several processes that are manual today, freeing up their team to focus on higher value actions.
Although most CMOs are sponsoring and observing many AI experiments happening in small batches in their organization, they are struggling with how to move this technology from employee experimentation to marketing transformation.
CMOs and AI: Three Strategic Steps
Here are three actions we recommend that CMOs take today to move forward with a strategic approach to AI.
1. Invest in AI upskilling throughout their team
AI is really about change management.
Its true potential to drive strategic advantage becomes apparent when your team members fully embrace the technology and start to imagine new ways of doing things with it.
Embracing it starts with becoming comfortable with it. When marketers learn how to build great prompts, they start to see the magic of the technology. Better inputs equal better outputs.
CMOs should invest in a marketing-specific prompt training course for all of their team members so that they can move forward collectively with confidence, curiosity, and a tangible prompt library specific to their business.
The visionary CMOs we are working with on AI projects are ensuring that they start with their marketing priorities, challenges, and opportunities.
They are then lining up high-impact and high-feasibility use cases to identify where to apply AI in the short-term. Some of those areas are content ideation and optimization, buyer journey and ICP alignment, ABM engagement in a deeply personalized manner, and SDR productivity.
CMOs looking slightly farther down the road are also considering some bigger bets that AI is likely to affect in the long term, such as SEO in an LLM world.
3. Invest in data analysis
Although generative AI has received more attention than anything other than Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce over the past couple of years, its older cousin machine-learning and AI for data analysis remain, arguably, more important for B2B marketers.
The true power of genAI comes from AI's ability to gain insights into segmentation, predictive models, engagement patterns, high-value accounts, brand sentiment, market and competitive intelligence, customer churn risk, and buying signals.
CMOs need to partner with their CIO to ensure they have the data infrastructure needed to make the most out of genAI.
* * *
So, just as I watch my daughter step into the excitement and uncertainties of her first relationship, I see CMOs grappling with AI's promises and unknowns. It's about trust, preparation, and the courage to move forward.
For parents and CMOs alike, there's a delicate balance between keeping a watchful eye and allowing room for growth. In the same way I can't shadow every moment of my daughter's journey, CMOs can't completely script the path AI will take within their organizations. But with the right foundation, guidance, and a bit of bravery, we can set them up for success.
And who knows—just as my daughter will find her way, I suspect that these CMOs will look back and realize that the leap into AI's unknown was one of their most rewarding moves yet.
AI in Marketing: Three Strategic Steps CMOs Should Take Now
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Emond is founder and CEO of Demand Spring, where he helps marketing leaders transform their revenue marketing practices and become strategic leaders. Over his 25-year career, he has been an executive and strategic marketing leader advising high-growth organizations and Fortune 500 brands.
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