Artificial intelligence (AI) is slowly transforming the digital marketing landscape and has already impacted the way brands integrate technology to make their work more efficient. When leveraged properly, the immense potential of AI technology opens up many opportunities for CMOs to lead more effective and personalized campaigns.
So, where is the age of AI headed in the coming years? As CMO executive recruiters, we predict many trends and changes to occur with AI in the marketing space in 2018. We also recognize key developments CMOs should keep in mind to ensure their organization properly adapts to the evolution of AI.
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CMO Executive Recruiters Share Tips for Successfully Taking on AI in 2018
Successfully adopting AI and its sophisticated applications for your marketing efforts is no easy task. The new year is close, and the age of AI is slowly making an impression on all industries. According to research conduced by Salesforce, digital marketing specialists expect their use of AI to grow over 50% over the next two years.
The complexities of such advanced technologies can be considerably daunting. That’s why we’ve put together a list of key questions every CMO should ask themselves to adequately prepare for the rise of AI.
1. Do you have the most optimal practices in place for data management?
Is the data you’ve acquired equipped to be optimized by AI technology? AI has a big impact on collecting and analyzing data, and organizations must know how to handle it properly. As a CMO, you must oversee the validation of data to protect the integrity of it – or else, you risk altering your data and producing false information.
CMO executive recruiters recommend building a team of digital marketing specialists that are capable of interpreting and cleaning data. Whether you’re using AI to create better content or optimize your targeting, marketers that are skilled in accurately analyzing data are going to be key in the proper implementation of AI tools.
Creating optimal processes in managing your data involves skilled digital marketing talent that knows how to make sense of it. AI technologies need proper monitoring and sufficient human support to drive meaningful results.
2. Is there room to enhance your personalized marketing efforts?
Understanding the customer journey is crucial in making sure you target the right person at the right time through the right channel. AI tools are capable of providing insights to enhance your site’s user experience and overall personalization efforts.
Whether it be through your site, social media or email, personalized messages are highly important in creating the most valuable experience for your target audience.
Successful CMOs understand the impact a personalized web experience has in differentiating and positioning any brand from its competition. Digital marketing specialists that understand the customer journey and understand how to efficiently automate their efforts with AI will be able to deliver the most optimal user experience.
3. Do you need to adjust your org chart?
With the growing rise of AI technologies, there has been a slight case of concern that robots and technology will threaten jobs in the marketing space. However, as an experienced recruitment firm, we know the demand for skilled digital marketing specialists is at an all-time high. And this certainly isn’t going to change in 2018. In fact, many CMOs forecast that in 2018 demand for skilled digital marketers will exceed the active supply of talent.
Preparing your marketing team is key in embracing the wave of AI. One thing experienced CMO executive recruiters highly advise leaders to focus on is ensuring their team is equipped with experts that possess comprehensive capabilities. That means finding digital marketing talent that is able to adapt to dynamic skills your organization needs to thrive in an AI world.
The growth of AI unlocks more jobs and growth opportunities for your business. Core roles like content creators, analysts, and social media marketers will be expected to employ AI tools to better optimize their efforts. Digital marketing specialists that are able to work with different applications across various platforms and disciplines are going to be the most desired in 2018.
4. Is your content strategy equipped for AI?
The use of AI tools to generate and syndicate content has become increasingly common. In fact, Gartner predicts 20% of all business content will be produced by machines by 2018. With natural language, AI technology can be utilized to connect with your audience and improve the process of content creation by making it more efficient.
It’s important brands optimize their content strategy to prepare for the change in content expectations. Marketers that create and promote content can take advantage of AI’s capabilities to make sure they provide highly valuable and personalized content.
While organizations that utilize AI tools can more efficiently and effectively produce content, CMO executive recruiters advise leaders to remember the support of an experienced content marketer will be the most powerful.
5. Is your content voice search friendly?
Voice search has been taking off, and it’s only going to get bigger in 2018. CMO executive recruiters predict organizations that optimize their content for voice search will be far ahead of the competition.
Voice search is a great way to improve your site’s search rankings with cutting-edge technology and top SEO staffing in place. Digital marketers that are familiar with voice search optimization and know how to produce content to support it are going to be very valuable during the age of AI.
6. What are your brand’s opportunities?
According to Accenture, AI has the potential to boost rates of profitability by an average of 38%. However, it’s critical you evaluate your business and assess where the use of technology will truly make an impact.
Regardless of the size of your business, innovative technologies can be leveraged to drive key tasks and long-term business growth. The application of AI will differ for each company depending on the industry and a myriad of other factors.
AI is still fairly new so it’s going to take a bit of preparation and planning to properly approach it. Start by assessing the use cases your business has for AI applications and technology. If it’s leveraged correctly, it will create immense amount of opportunities. Digital marketing specialists that are able to recognize the potential of AI are going to be the ones that successfully drive meaningful results and ultimately improve your bottom-line.
Skilled Digital Marketing Talent + AI = a Dynamic Powerhouse
Before any revolutionary technology can drive meaningful results, CMO executive recruiters emphasize the need for organizations to select the right leadership to effectively support all other operations. That entails CMOs that are digitally savvy and technically adept to take the reigns and guide their team. What we’ve seen so far with AI is just the beginning. And while it should be leveraged to optimize your organization’s marketing tasks, it can’t reach its full potential without proper human intelligence.
The demand for digital marketing specialists with cutting-edge skills that understand how to effectively employ AI technology is going to soar in 2018, and with reason. AI should be used to enhance key marketing efforts (not replace them) to effectively drive growth across all channels. Ultimately, the most innovative and advanced technologies are nothing without the right human support to drive them.
