This Week in Marketing: The Right (and Wrong) Ways to Use AI

Remember when the big question about AI in B2B marketing was “Are you going to use it?” Feels quaint to think about now, doesn’t it?

These days, the question is more like “How often are you using it?” or even “How are you planning on using it more often?”

AI is here to stay, and it’s already starting to change how B2B marketing works. But as marketers accept the omnipresence of AI, another question has emerged to preoccupy them, and this one is significantly more complicated to answer: How do we use AI effectively?

This week’s roundup finds some of today’s most thoughtful B2B marketing analysts striving to find an answer to this question from several different angles. They delve into how brands are using AI to acquire data, generate content, evaluate influencers, and more. In the process, they share how to start applying AI in your own B2B marketing – while avoiding the growing pains that so often come along with it.

What to Read

The Marketer’s Guide to Conquering Data Quality Issues (MarTech): Stephanie Trovato explores the substantial costs of poor marketing data quality and posits actionable ways to clean up your marketing data.??

Why AI in B2B Marketing Is Essential for Survival and Success: Benefits & Strategies (MarketingProfs): Brian Sathianathan makes the case that using AI has become necessary for any B2B marketers who want to stay competitive.

Brands Love Influencers (Until Politics Get Involved) (NY Times): Sapna Maheshwari reports on the growing trend of brands using AI to grade how likely the influencers they work with are to post politically controversial content.

AI Reshapes Brand Engagement From Basic Assistance to Immersive Experience (EMarketer): Jacob Bourne explains why he thinks advanced AI will transform customer-brand engagements across channels.

Is Using AI-generated Content for SEO Plagiarism? (Search Engine Land): Bruce Clay tackles the controversial question from every angle and provides insight on how to use AI ethically and responsibly.?

What to Watch

AI’s Influence on Influencer Decision-making (CMI)

CMI Chief Strategy Advisor Robert Rose follows up on the NY Times report on AI influencer grading, sharing his thoughts on how the practice may radically alter how influencers behave and create online.?

What to Know

Two-thirds of the 2,000 senior-level B2B marketing leaders surveyed for our B2B Marketing Benchmark report said they actively use Generative AI (GAI) in marketing. This is a 22% increase from just last year.?

These marketers also report that their experiments with GAI have been paying off, with 40% reporting its use leading to increased productivity, 39% saying it helped accelerate their content creation, and 30% telling us it has helped them produce better content ideation.

Despite this success, most marketers still feel they have a lot to learn about GAI. Only one-quarter of surveyed users felt they had a strong understanding of the technology.?

Follow LinkedIn Collective for the latest updates and insights on B2B marketing from experts all over the world.