CMOs need to cross the technical divide

In the past few years, I have written about the lack CMO involvement in technology management and strategy. Slowly, this is changing. Now I see CMOs participating actively in strategy discussions. They work hand-in-hand with their tech leads to make decisions on what to buy and what to retire.

It’s surprising how many CMOs are still aloof from the technology part of their job. It’s no longer acceptable for a CMO to delegate their martech strategy directly to the MOps team. The advent of generative AI and chatGPT has revolutionized the industry.

This article discusses why CMOs today should prioritize their marketing technology strategies and create internal policies to use generative AI.

Why CMOs must be tech-savvy

It is already clear that CMOs should be embracing technology.

• Marketing is a technology-driven activity. Poor technology choices can negatively impact marketing performance.
• The technology budget accounts for about 25% of marketing budgets and contributes significantly to customer acquisition costs. Spending and CAC are directly related, and ultimately the customer lifetime value.
• The technology is a source of critical business intelligence, which provides information about the behavior and needs of customers. This data is crucial for formulating marketing strategies. The formulation of a strategy will be difficult if the information is inaccurate or incomplete.

Dig deeper: Why the CMO must be the biggest advocates of digitalization

ChatGPT and marketing

The line between content and technology is blurred. Now, it’s possible to use AI to create animations, videos and text. ChatGPT, with its simple interface, has the power to transform how businesses interact with customers and provide information.

The simple video produced by HubSpot to introduce Chatspot.ai was a powerful tool for me. Dharmesh Sharma, the Founder and Chief Technology Officer at HubSpot demonstrates AI’s power and potential in 19 minutes. This video is a must-watch for every marketer. It will help them to think about the possibilities of this technology and interface in improving customer experience and journey.

It will be necessary to reevaluate the components of your martech stack as vendors release new AI-enabled features. You may also need to replace anchor systems in place for some time. In times of innovation, it’s important to note that new technology leaders have emerged in the past. This is likely to be true with AI.

In five years, what today may seem like stable and mature technology categories (e.g. CRM or marketing automaton) could look completely different. The leaders of today may not be those who will lead tomorrow. When trying to make a big leap in innovation, it’s much easier to build from scratch than to deal with an existing platform’s technology legacy. It is important to not be complacent, and to keep up with changes and shifts.

The normal cycle of marketing buzz associated with “shiny, new things” is complicating the evolution of martech stack. Companies are adding AI into their product descriptions but not actually delivering anything which leverages AI.

It is important to distinguish between legitimate and non-legitimate claims. To test a vendor’s capabilities, it is easy to check the size of their data set. If a vendor doesn’t have a large dataset to work with, regardless of the product category they offer, then they are not leveraging AI. AI requires a large amount of training data to be effective.

A product’s use of AI does not always make it a superior product to one that does not. It is important to know what the AI they use actually does.

Another complication is the fact that venture capitalists are pouring money into companies whose focus is on using AI to provide a wide range of new capabilities. There are already a large number of AI detection and generative products.

Some of these businesses will not succeed. The market will eventually become saturated, venture capitalists may move on, and some companies might implode.

AI in Marketing: 7 areas of success and failure

Chat and CMO

It is the CMO’s responsibility to understand how AI, and in particular generative AI, can be integrated into a marketing strategy.

To make an informed decision, you must understand the limitations and capabilities of AI technology and its products. You also need to be aware of ethical and compliance issues.

Italy has, for instance, banned ChatGPT temporarily because of concerns that OpenAI’s training data violated GDPR. The copyright for AI-generated content remains a gray area. The U.S. The Copyright Office stated that it would evaluate copyrights on an individual basis. It is something that will evolve with time.

CMOs need to consider their internal policies regarding the use of generative AI. My team can use generative AI to generate multiple versions of content and create email flows for A/B tests. I am more than happy to do so. I also want to be cautious with AI-generated content, such as blog posts, articles and other types of content, which may get flagged by search engines and penalized for being AI generated.

It’s still not clear whether search engines are able to detect AI content, but it is a major focus area for them today, especially given the concerns about spreading disinformation and deep-fake imagery.

The technology to detect generative AI will also improve as it becomes more sophisticated. It’s not worth investing in AI generated content if the search engines will bury it.

What CMOs need to know about ChatGPT and its marketing impact

It’s not the right time to question your content marketing team’s value

ChatGPT won’t eliminate the need for content creators – at least, not yet. ChatGPT, and other AI-generated tools, can be excellent content assistants, and at a certain level, they can even create content. They are not meant to replace your content team.

These tools use the data that they have. They can’t write about or convey the subtleties of your value proposition or positioning if they don’t have data about your product. Human touch is needed in marketing strategy, creative direction, and decision-making. This will continue for a long time.

Need to develop an AI strategy

CMOs may be asked at some point to explain how AI fits in with the marketing strategy during an executive meeting or a board meeting. The CMO can call their technology head for technical details, implementation and products, but they should still be able speak about the overall marketing strategy.

AI and ChatGPT do not mean the same thing. ChatGPT, a tool for natural language processing powered by AI, allows users to converse with a chatbot in ‘human-like’ conversations. AI technology is used in many different algorithms. ChatGPT is a good starting point to embrace AI. However, it should not be considered your AI strategy.

AI is a powerful tool in many marketing categories. It can, for example, be used to create micro-market segments and adapt the customer journey. AI may be used by many of your tools today.

What is the next step for the CMO?

CMOs of today should work closely with their technology leader to prioritize marketing technology strategies. AI advances will be a driving force in this regard.

The CMO cannot create a marketing strategy if they do not have a strategy for AI and technology. A CMO must be able articulate their marketing strategy and technology plays a key role in that.

CMOs don’t have to be highly technical. CMOs do need to be able to grasp the following:

• What is in their marketing tech stack?
• What each technology product does to support the marketing function.
• Relationship between technology expenditures and the cost of customer acquisition.
• AI in all its forms has the potential for marketing to be disrupted or added value.
• You need to know enough about the martech stack in order to effectively manage your technology team.

The CMO is ultimately responsible for the marketing success. The CMO should be held accountable if poor technology choices hinder success.

If you are a CMO who has not yet embraced marketing technology and crossed the divide, I suggest the following.

• Subscribe to the Marketing AI Institute Newsletter to stay up to date with the latest developments in AI and their implications for marketing. The Marketing AI Institute hosts events and offers training on AI-related marketing applications.
• Read the Report on CabinetM MarTech Innovation. CabinetM releases a quarterly roundup of the latest MarTech products. Note: This resource is not part of CabinetM’s lead collection system. It is provided to you as a free resource. You could also ask your technology team to provide you with a quarterly report on the latest technology and products that they think will enhance your marketing plan.
• Ask your key vendors about their AI strategies and plans and monitor the progress.
• You should ensure that all technology used by your company to support sales and marketing is in a format that you can easily review and evaluate. It may be necessary to ask for additional fields to be added to the tracking and reporting in order to obtain the most relevant information.
• Use regular meetings with the technology head to review your systems and procedures.
  • Develop a strategy for technology together.
  • Talk about the current state of technology, its performance and cost.
  • Identify the gaps and opportunities.
• Do not be afraid to ask questions. You are not expected as a CMO to be an expert on the integrations and technology architecture. It is your job to translate the architecture and strategy of the company into a plan that C-suite employees and board members will understand.
• Continue reading MarTech.

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