Could Generative AI Be An Over-The-Horizon Storm For B2B Marketers?

By Perry Rearick, Chief Editor, Follow Your Buyer

Generative AI, in the form of ChatGPT and other technologies that retrieve information and help create content using prompts, has B2B marketers excited and at the same time fearful that it might make them obsolete.

Like many new forms of technology, much of what we read and hear is not based in fact, nor is it objective. What is clear is that ChatGPT is being used by B2B marketers to create content, perhaps more widely than we want to admit.

Here are three data points that are concerning.

One, a recent survey of 1,000 marketers by Salesforce found that 51% of them are already using Gen AI and another 22% indicated they plan to start using it soon. Of the 51% who currently use it, over ¾ of them use it to create content, write copy and inspire their creative thinking. On any given day, it is likely that we have consumed marketing content that has been produced, to some degree, by Gen AI. By the way, this is ChatGPT free.

Two, couple that data with a recent study by Vanson Bourne that found 80% of business leaders and their CIOs have prioritized a hyperautomation strategy, the concept of automating everything in a business that can be automated, but not necessarily should be. When executives are on board, supporting budgets become a reality, and new shiny things are adopted quickly.

Three, from the same Salesforce survey cited above, nearly half of marketers said they didn’t know how to use Gen AI technology or how to get the most value from it. An alarming 7 in 10 said that their employer provided no training in its use, despite the fact they were using it.

So what does this mean? A lot of marketing content is being created using Gen AI by folks who don’t know how to use it effectively and that number will grow rapidly.     

This seems like a perfect storm!

In life, when we get storm warnings, it doesn’t mean we can’t travel, we just keep a close eye on the weather radar and become more cautious.

And that is the advice offered by Adam Smartschan, Chief Strategy Officer at Altitude Marketing. Adam is the smartest person I know (no pun intended, that’s his real name) when it comes to Gen AI and ChatGPT. He advises us to proceed with caution and be intentional when introducing it.

While tutorials, both automated and live, are effective at explaining “how” to use a technology tool, they don’t often explain “why.” By why, I mean the bigger strategic employment of technology. This includes how it applies to your overall strategy, the realistic outcomes you can expect, organizational guidelines on its use, and particularly for gen AI, the ethical issues around its use when creating marketing material.

If you’re considering or already using ChatGPT to create content, take a look at how and why you’re using it, gather your team for a brainstorming session, set some goals for its use, and develop a plan for tracking results.