AI will have the biggest impact on B2B audience insights, not content

In less than 10 minutes following the release of chatGPT I received an email spam from a company that offered AI-generated blog articles, likely generated by the tool.

It was not exactly 10 minutes but it felt like it. Since then, I have received numerous solicitations from businesses offering a variety of AI-generated products.

Will AI’s ability to write better content and send better emails faster change the lives B2B marketers? Not yet. The greatest impact on performance will be seen not in the creation, but in the execution.

AI can deliver mass personalization, but only if we gain a better understanding of the audience and their preferences. Here’s why.

Faster doesn’t always mean better

The ability to produce more content faster can only lead to lower performance. According to Gartner’s 2019 research, up to 89% decision makers said that the content they encountered during the buying process is of high quality.

The cognitive capacity of buyers to absorb more information is almost saturated. More content won’t increase consumption or understanding. According to buyers, the supply of content has reached its maximum. That was four years back. Imagine what they’d say today.

This insight led us to discover the “sense making” seller. A person who has the ability to connect the right information with the right person, at the right moment. These people are also able to filter out irrelevant information and give the decision makers only the information that they need to act.

When marketing assets are used at the top, it is one thing to listen to and understand the needs of buyers during the sales process. AI has a lot of potential in B2B.

AI as a’sensemaker’ for marketers

We have now built stacks of ABM technologies , which typically include dozens marketing technologies and generate endless contact data. These leads are still not performing well. Why? We don’t have the filtering system to match and send the right marketing assets to the correct person at the right time.

AI personality profiling tools offer marketers a chance to make sense of the world. Understanding the unique behavior of audiences allows marketers to:

• Align the content according to individual preferences.
• Understanding what “intent signals” are real.
• Create messages that are appealing to certain segments of the market.

Understanding buyer behavior is more than just outbound marketing. This includes resourcing and aligning resources for business development. Sales managers can use it to understand how they should align their teams according to the preferences of prospects and their engagement activities.

Understanding motivations and engagement behaviors can give insight into which leads have the greatest potential for moving forward. It can help identify the best targets to avoid, and the most fertile grounds to build relationships.

AI in Action

Here’s an illustration. The webinar series of a professional services firm attracted a large audience, but few attendees became leads. They found that more than 50% of the attendees were one dominant personality.

The webinars they offered were full of data and research. They mainly consisted of white papers. This was the problem. They were mostly consultants and strategists. They were primarily interested in learning the information so that they could inform others. They prefer “light” content, which is easily transportable and can stand alone without explanation. Think animated videos and infographics.

The lead conversion rate increased by 35% after they switched to lighter follow-up material. The group was characterized by the personality of an “influencer” or someone who uses information to inform other people. They did not “lead”, but they pointed out the opportunity.

They began tracking content downloads versus sharing and tracked it to its intended audience. The organization found that adding more content wasn’t the solution. The content was tailored to the audience’s preferences. In this case, the “sense maker” was an influencer who delivered the relevant information at the right moment to the appropriate person.

AI tools unlock the insights into their behavior and motivations. The performance of outbound efforts improved with a better understanding of the target audience.

The ROI is found in the ROI. Find solutions that provide insights into your buyers if you are truly interested in improving performance. You don’t require more content. Four years ago, buyers already said they needed and wanted it.

The first time MarTech published the post Why AI is most likely to impact B2B audience insights, and not content.