Sixty-four percent of marketers find using AI-powered tools very valuable to their organization, and AI adoption rates are only expected to increase in the coming years, according to industry research. In a B2BMX session, Samantha Stone, Founder and CMO of The Marketing Advisory Network, will explore how B2B marketers can leverage AI to develop scalable, emotional connections with buyers. Ahead of the event, Stone shared a sneak peek into her session and discussed the importance of AI-driven marketing with Demand Gen Report.
Demand Gen Report: What advice would you give marketers looking to evolve their strategies and successfully change things up this year?
Samantha Stone: Continue to look through the lens of those we serve. We see evidence of us getting better at this in many ways, including:
- The rise of account-based marketing — On the surface this looks like an internally facing initiative to coordinate between sales and marketing. But one of the key benefits is that buyer organizations are treated as a single entity, where coordination across functions is integrated into a holistic view.
- We’re talking human — While brand voice remains important, our day-to-day interactions are becoming more human.
- We stopped being afraid of long-form content — There is a time for sound bites and a time for deep thought. We’re increasingly embracing both.
- We’ve started to redefine automation objectives away from speed of delivery, towards scale of personalization. This might be the most important shift B2B marketers make in the next two years.
DGR: What trends are you seeing in the digital strategy space?
Stone: B2B marketers are still heavily dependent upon old techniques that are becoming less effective, such as broadcast advertisements, tradeshow booths and email blasts. However, I see more and more teams experimenting with more focused techniques that may initiate lower volume at first, but then drive better conversion rates. This includes things such as:
- Retargeting — Retargeting itself is not new, but the ways B2B marketers are using it has evolved. We’re seeing more focused ads with calls to action related to past behavior.
- Account-based advertising and content syndication — Rather than rely on profile-based segmentation, B2B marketers are getting good at identifying a set of accounts and running advertising and content syndication programs to those specific organizations.
- Trigger-based communications — We’re getting better at steering away from scheduled communications and, instead, building nurture streams that are triggered by specific behavior.
- Death to buzzword compliance — OK, we’re not quite there yet! But I have seen an increase in the number of companies building a more conversational, authentic voice into their communications.
- Growth in AI adoption — We’ve just begun to scratch the surface on what’s possible with artificial intelligence, but we’re starting to see growing adoption rates among B2B marketers — particularly around smart chatbots and website personalization.
DGR: How do you expect AI will impact B2B marketing in 2019?
Stone: An easier question might be how it won’t! Over the next few years, AI will change the very foundation of every system we use and every process we thought we had nailed. But it’s not something to fear. We will never outgrow the need to understand not just what a buyer does, but also why they are doing it. AI simply frees us to combine the art and science of marketing in the most powerful way.
DGR: Some worry that AI will take out the human aspect of marketing. Do you agree?
Stone: No, I believe it’s quite the opposite. In my session, we’ll talk about this very issue. We’ll discuss how AI can be used as an authenticity tool to scale more human interactions in ways rules-based automation never could.
DGR: What else can attendees expect to learn from your presentation at B2BMX 2019?
Stone: I hope attendees will leave the session feeling more equipped to explore AI applications for their own marketing needs. We’ll share examples of AI in action, explore common areas of concern and teach marketers how to use AI without being a data scientist.
DGR: What are you hoping to learn more about at B2BMX 2019? Are there any sessions you’re looking forward to?
Stone: I was thrilled to see the agenda filled with some of my favorite speakers, such as Lee Odden, Sangram Vajre, Tim Washer and Pam Didner, but also several new faces I look forward to hearing speak for the first time. For example, the session by Laz Gonzalez on AI in the channel looks really interesting. But most of all, I’m looking forward to all the casual conversations that happen between sessions, where we brainstorm how to apply everything we’re learning to our environments. Only in-person events allow for these types of personal interactions in hallways, in sessions and everywhere in between.
