The launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in late 2022 has sparked tremendous interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and how generative AI tools can be used for content creation and other marketing applications. As we enter 2023, it’s clear that ChatGPT and similar generative AI represent some of the most hyped emerging technologies today.
According to Gartner’s latest Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, generative AI has reached the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”. This means expectations are very high and likely exceed what most tools can currently deliver. However, continued innovation is expected in the coming years.
While there has been some pushback against limitations with ChatGPT, other emerging generative AI tools show promise like Anthropic’s Claude, Anthropic’s Constitutional AI assistant Pi, and Google’s Bard. Pi is particularly impressive as an interactive, conversational AI assistant that aims to demonstrate more human-like dialog abilities versus the prompt-based interaction of ChatGPT.
As businesses explore AI applications, it’s important to evaluate both free and paid options. For example, ChatGPT Plus and associated plugins unlock additional capabilities. However, quality control remains uneven on these plugins currently. The value will come down to how inventive companies utilize the tools.
Rather than focus solely on generative AI, a strategic view evaluates automation opportunities throughout the customer lifecycle. The cost/benefit tradeoff and prioritization of high-impact initiatives comes first. AI represents one set of capabilities to consider among many marketing technology options.
Review Your Overall Digital Marketing Maturity
To determine readiness to adopt new innovations like AI, start by assessing overall digital marketing maturity. Surprisingly, despite over a decade of digital transformation, research reveals most businesses still have significant room for improvement:
- Only 30% have an integrated digital marketing strategy aligned with their overall marketing strategy.
- Most rate themselves at just Level 1 or Level 2 when evaluating their digital marketing sophistication.
- Just 15% reach Level 4 with a structured, quantified approach regularly testing and optimizing campaigns.
Encouragingly, aspirations remain high with most hoping to achieve greater digital marketing maturity within the next year. However, getting there requires surmounting common challenges around resource constraints, limited testing, and lack of strategy alignment.
Set Goals and Optimize Campaigns Through Testing
Essential to digital marketing success is an iterative test-and-learn approach:
- Set clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Measure analytics to monitor performance
- Test content, offers, creatives, etc. to optimize campaigns
This process aligns activities to overarching business objectives. It also delivers continuous incremental gains to exceed goals.
However, research reveals significant gaps with 1/3 of companies admitting they conduct no testing at all. Meanwhile, less than 20% have a structured testing program for activities like email, social media ads, and website optimization.
This presents an opportunity for generative AI to simplify testing of alternatives. For example, Persado uses AI to create higher-performing marketing messages. By evaluating emotional and motivation factors within copy, they automatically generate variations with improved click-through rates. This demonstrates the power of data-driven experimentation.
While AI tools show promise assisting marketers, human oversight remains essential for strategy, planning, and review. The user prompts craft what the AI produces. Iterating and collaborating with generative tools leads to the best outcomes versus purely relying on the raw AI output.
Evaluate Marketing Channel Effectiveness
An ongoing process for marketers is determining which channels drive the highest return on investment (ROI). This guides budget allocation decisions.
According to recent research, channels delivering the highest ROI include:
- Organic Search
- Content Marketing
- Paid Search
This corroborates the importance of an integrated SEO and content strategy closely tied to high-value search queries and topics.
Conversely, display advertising and website personalization show lower effectiveness outside major brands. For most businesses, focusing on foundational areas like email marketing automation and social media ads provide better results.
One seismic shift on the horizon is Google incorporating AI semantic search capabilities into organic results. Similar to how ChatGPT provides direct answers to queries, Google aims to better satisfy search intent. This could significantly disrupt search behaviors and organic SEO strategy.
Leverage Generative AI Tools to Scale Content Production
While questions remain about the quality and uniqueness of AI-generated content, some niches demonstrate success leveraging these tools:
- Finance – A currency exchange startup called Causal claims to drive 750,000 monthly sessions via AI content generation
- Insurance – An AI tool created state-specific templates helping a health insurance provider rank for localized keywords
However, even with excellent SEO foundations, completely automated content risks getting demoted if too generic, low-quality or duplicative. The savviest marketers utilize AI to intelligently scale production while manually optimizing and promoting high-value assets.
Choose the Right MarTech Stack
With over 10,000 marketing technology solutions in categories like CRM, email, analytics and more, assembling an integrated stack presents endless complexity. Yet among the dizzying options, research shows:
- 50% lack a structured approach to marketing technology selection and integration
- Up to 20% of budgets now get allocated to martech and associated data management
This represents both a major challenge and opportunity. Platforms like Adobe, Salesforce and HubSpot centralize many capabilities for enterprise teams. Free tools meet the needs of early-stage companies. Most brands land somewhere in between.
Rather than adopt solutions piecemeal, savvy marketing leaders map tools to gaps across a methodology like the RACE framework covering key activities. This facilitates data flow and alignment to overarching business objectives. Ongoing measurement ensures a positive return on tech investment.
With new innovations constantly emerging, agility to evaluate and integrate the latest capabilities stands as a competitive advantage. AI and generative tools represent one wave of transformative technologies to selectively incorporate rather than ignore.
Conclusion
Marketing leaders anticipating future trends position their brands for success. While AI currently rides the Peak of Inflated Expectations, rapid iteration means generative platforms like ChatGPT inevitably permeate digital strategies.
However, trenchant strategy powered by testing and analytics remains the foundation. With goals clarified, activities prioritized and tools integrated, injecting AI aids scaling creativity rather than replacing core human responsibilities.
