18th Nov, 2022

How AI Turns CMOs Into Digital Transformation Trendsetters

diverse group of marketing professionals reviewing documents in a conference room

CMOs are uniquely positioned to lead the charge and usher in an exciting new era of AI in digital marketing. That is, if they are open to adapting not only alongside, but also ahead of new martech capabilities.

In this webinar, AI for CMOs: The Real World Playbook for Digital Transformation, author and Marketing AI Institute founder Paul Roetzer dives into what CMOs must know to stay ahead of the curve and leverage the unbeatable MVP that should be a part of every marketing team: AI.

Why CMOs should care about AI in digital marketing

A department is only as strong and forward-thinking as the leader guiding it. And a key part of leading is having a clear sense of direction. 

Across the board, organizations are expected to adopt digital strategies and technologies to meet the growing expectations and demands of the consumers it aims to reach. CMOs, as de-facto owners of the customer experience, should be steering the marketing organization headfirst into embracing digital transformation strategies—specifically with the power of AI marketing tools.

Yet according to The CMO Survey 2022, only 8.6% of respondents used AI in their companies to optimize marketing efforts. This is even more surprising given that 80% of daily tasks in marketing will be intelligently automated to some degree over the next three to five years.

Encouraging teams to implement AI into their digital marketing workflows now is critical to keep marketing in touch with consumer expectations, as well as to set, meet, and exceed next-level business goals. McKinsey projected that AI in marketing and sales could create up to $2.6T in value — the highest number out of nine business functions studied.

Clearly, AI has an abundance to offer CMOs. But how should marketing leaders start using it?

The key to becoming AI-first marketers

Implementing AI as a marketer doesn’t have to be a Sisyphean task. CMOs looking to make their team’s transition to an AI-first department as smooth as possible should first identify the spaces in their workflows where using AI makes the most sense.

Starting with these small implementations is the key to unlocking the multi-trillion-dollar potential of those technologies. Here are some examples of digital marketing experiments CMOs can use to start small with AI:

  • Delivering personalization: Leverage AI to draft a new subject line for one of your buyer personas as part of a new A/B test
  • Unlocking creative possibilities: Identify rote tasks for AI to handle in your team’s workload so they can focus on new strategic initiatives
  • Driving efficiency: Automate a segment of your team’s email cadences

The beauty of approaching AI this way is that it doesn’t require highly-sophisticated expertise or training in data science. All it takes is a hunger to learn more — a trait that most marketers are inclined to by nature.

“We’re not saying you need to be a data scientist or get an MBA in this specific area,” Roetzer says. “All we’re saying is that you have to understand that smarter technologies are being created.”

Know before you go – it’s all about education

It takes time and effort to learn something new. The learning curve for AI in digital marketing is no different, especially when technologies are evolving every day. To keep teams in the loop, CMOs should create a solid educational foundation for marketers to lean on.

Key pillars of AI educational programming include:

  • Establishing a basic curriculum — explaining what AI is and how to use it in marketing
  • Creating a cross-departmental culture of interest in AI
  • Updating and auditing your programming every year to ensure continuous learning
  • Investigating different strategies throughout your business to scale your marketing AI

With a strong commitment to marketing AI education, every CMO can understand, apply, and leverage AI for digital transformation — regardless of their technical background.

“The way I learned AI was as a storyteller. I just wanted to understand the story of it,” says Roetzer. “This stuff is extremely approachable if you tell it in the right way.”

Unlocking the power of AI with Persado

When it comes to implementing AI tools, the natural curiosity marketing leaders have to learn more will be their greatest superpower. But that still means CMOs must choose which tech to invest in; and they must choose wisely.

With Persado, leveraging generative AI for language throughout marketing workflows allows brands to personalize messaging and tap into the motivations that engage customers, unlocking unprecedented business results. That’s good news for brands, stakeholders, customers, and of course — CMOs.

To learn more about how CMOs can leverage AI to lead the charge in digital transformation, check out the full webinar AI for CMOs: The Real World Playbook for Digital Transformation.

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