A.I. yai yai: Fun with ChatGPT

Like so many of you, I have been mesmerized by the media attention and stories coming out about ChatGPT. ?For me, this technology is equally amazing and magical as it is disturbing in OpenAI's research release. ?I can imagine infinite ways that this technology can improve our lives, increase business productivity, and transform how work is done.? That’s assuming that…well.? You know.? That it doesn’t try to take over the world and eliminate its human jailers.?(Okay, full disclosure. I'm binge-watching The Last of Us and I sometimes picture ChatGPT with a fungus head.)

For product marketers, ChatGPT shared with me that it could assist with conducting market research, developing marketing messaging and content, creating personalized campaigns, and monitoring and analyzing marketing performance, among other tasks.? It even earned significant brownie points from me when I asked it if it could create a Marketecture.? It responded, “A marketecture typically involves a detailed visual representation of a company's products and services, their positioning in the market, their value proposition, and the competitive landscape. Creating a marketecture often requires a combination of creativity, strategic thinking, and domain expertise that may be difficult for an AI language model to replicate entirely.”?

Good on you, ChatGPT for recognizing your limitations!

Having worked for B2B organizations for most of my career, I thought it would be fun to ask ChatGPT how the product marketing role differed between B2B and B2C companies.

I asked ChatGPT:?"How does B2B product marketing differ from B2C product marketing?"

Below, I’m sharing ChatGPT’s response with my commentary included.? I have been impressed with so many of ChapGPT’s insights and responses, but this question to me actually highlighted a number of biases that may exist.? And to be fair to the AI model (so it doesn't steal my identity and start spreading fake news about me), its responses used words like "typically" and "often" to not imply all or none.

ChatGPT’s Response

B2B (business-to-business) product marketing and B2C (business-to-consumer) product marketing differ in several key ways:

• Audience: The audience in B2B marketing is typically other businesses, while the audience in B2C marketing is individual consumers.

I disagree with the semantics used: the audience of B2B marketing are “people” at other businesses.? You are marketing to people in both scenarios, but in B2B you need to do the outreach in context of how your solution can help them as employees do their jobs or deliver necessary results. B2C does focus on the person as an individual, or perhaps as a member of a family.

• Decision-makers: In B2B marketing, multiple stakeholders are often involved in the decision-making process, including executives, purchasing managers, and end-users. In B2C marketing, the purchasing decision is typically made by individual consumers.

I mostly agree: But there are many B2B product purchases that are made by a single decision-maker. Consider a small business owner purchasing software to run their business, or a departmental employee expensing a cheaper tool using their credit card.? But yes, the larger the company and the more expensive the product, the more likely the B2B sale will involve multiple decision-makers.

• Sales cycle: B2B sales cycles are often longer and more complex than B2C sales cycles, as they may involve negotiation, multiple approvals, and larger budgets.

I agree and disagree.? Similar to my above response, ChatGPT seems to be biased towards larger enterprises when discussing B2B and neglects SMB and midmarket B2B, as well as self-service software purchases.? As I mentioned above, the larger the investment and the more impactful the purchase, the more likely a sales cycle may take longer.? But there are many B2B purchase decisions - even at the enterprise level - that can be made in weeks, days, or even hours.?

• Value proposition: In B2B marketing, the focus is on demonstrating the value of the product or service to the business as a whole, while in B2C marketing, the focus is on addressing the needs and desires of individual consumers.

I partially disagree: While I agree that B2B marketing must include how the solution will deliver value to the business as a whole, you are still selling to people - individuals within that business (e.g., target personas).? And whether buying products and services for their business or for themselves, people make emotional decisions. “Will this purchase help get me promoted?”? “Will it make me happier at work?”? “Will I be recognized by my peers as someone who makes great decisions?”?

• Messaging: B2B marketing messaging is often more technical and data-driven, while B2C marketing messaging is more emotional and focused on benefits and lifestyle.

I disagree: ChatGPT may be showing a bit of bias towards B2B marketing of complex technology. It also seems to be disagreeing with itself: above it wrote that B2B must focus on a value proposition to the business, but now it wants it’s messaging to be more technical?? B2B marketers know to use messaging that sparks emotion in its business buyers. And don’t consumers respond to data-driven messaging as well? (e.g., 9 out 10 dentists recommend this gum; This product has a 5 star rating on Amazon). And doesn’t it depend on the product being sold?? I’m betting B2C consumers looking to buy a gaming computer are extremely interested in technical messaging.

• Marketing channels: B2B marketing often involves channels such as industry trade shows, webinars, whitepapers, and email marketing, while B2C marketing may involve channels such as social media, influencer marketing, and television advertising.

I disagree: The infinite number of emails I receive as a consumer from retailers and consumer good companies refutes the notion that B2C doesn’t prioritize email marketing. Also, B2B companies are investing heavily in social media as a critical marketing channel, and have functions called Public Relations and Analyst Relations fully dedicated to influencer marketing.???

Overall, B2B product marketing focuses on building long-term relationships with other businesses, while B2C product marketing focuses on engaging and appealing to individual consumers. The strategies, messaging, and tactics used in each type of marketing will vary accordingly.

That was the end of the ChatGPT response.

The response was decent. It wasn't really wrong about the distinctions between B2B and B2C. But it was very generic and lacked context and relevance. I'm betting if I fed more context into the question, then its response would have been much more informed and useful (e.g., please specify distinctions between SMB, midmarket, and enterprise as well as the key personas that are relevant in B2B purchase decisions, etc).

Which really is the crux of this AI chatbot technology. Ask a generic question, and get a generic answer. Garbage in, garbage out. The key to a perfect response then is likely the perfectly worded question.

This makes me wonder if - and when - ChatGPT will be ready to take on messaging and content support for a product marketer. Imagine if a marketer for a marketing technology app vendor wanted ChatGPT to write a blog post describing the difference between B2B and B2C marketing to share with their customers. This response would have resulted in a pretty boring post (and I used it in my post - what was I thinking??)

I expect ChatGPT will continue to be a really interesting tool to help marketers generate first-draft copy and messaging, but it's going to take some time before ChatGPT can generate contextually relevant final drafts that go straight to customers.

Sorry ChatGPT, you’re not ready to be the source of truth for all knowledge in the universe.? Back to Wikipedia! ??