AI won’t fundamentally alter your role as Fractional CMO despite what masterminds and Gurus may tell you.
Are you afraid of AI?
It’s January 2020, and the pandemic is only beginning to be noticed. I remember going to Fishtown, Philadelphia, to talk to the owner about this strange virus. He said that he didn’t believe it would be a significant issue. I was concerned that there would be a lockdown on July 4. Both of us were wrong.
This is where AI has taken us.
Some people are worried about what the future holds.
Others are entirely clueless.
Academics are becoming very concerned about the consequences of students writing essays and theses with just a few prompts. Similar to Wikipedia’s revolution, but much more dramatic.
Marketing has two types of tacticians:
- Content writers – If you have ever used WriterAccess to create blogs or articles, you may have paid $0.1-$12.2 per word (ex-Jeopardy contestants). These writers have AI write at least the first draft of articles and then make minor edits before collecting their fees.
- Copywriters – I am seeing these people really concentrate on AI. Copywriters can use AI to generate creative ideas and reduce the time it takes to find The Big Idea. This is what I like. Jasper, which can be used to create headlines, ad copy and email copy, can definitely support a copywriter. Although robots are not allowed to copywrite, the art of copywriting can be protected. A good piece of the document requires so much thought that even a Jasper prompt cannot produce it.
- Marketing agencies – Writing boilerplate content to websites? How to make your About Us page more accessible Let’s all hope agencies will use AI to reduce suffering.
Things will change.
However, life is constantly changing.
You’ve probably seen other breakthroughs in business over the years if you’ve been around for longer than two years.
Let’s take crypto, for instance.
In November 2021, we saw new highs in bitcoin and Ethereum. If you were connected to that world, you might have heard of Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs), which were doing amazing, innovative work using smart contracts and tokens.
The market experienced a major correction that saw $700B of market capitalization disappear in 6 months.
While some may claim that crypto is dead or dying, it is clear that the technology’s fundamentals will not be changing. Solidity, the Ethereum smart-contract software, was developed seven years ago and has seen dramatic growth over the crypto bull market.
The token price boom attracted top developers from all over the globe to collaborate on open-source projects that advanced the technology by leaps. This technology is slowly (and sometimes quickly) gaining ground in our daily lives in banking, regulatory compliance and insurance, supply chain management, and many other areas.
This comparison should help you realize that AI is currently at an “all-time high” in mainstream usage… and still has lots of potentials to grow in popularity. ChatGPT is discussed on radio stations in small towns, high school PTA meetings, and international summits of business leaders, just like bitcoin. The technology is receiving worldwide attention… but that attention will eventually wane.
AI’s implications will permeate our daily lives. It might be obvious in tools such as Notion AI’s release, but it may not be apparent when an application has AI embedded into its core. In ten years, anyone can say, “My car is AI!” Will they simply appreciate the fact that their car is more able to understand their needs and offers a better experience?
An example of noise in relation to AI is the Great Search Engine AI Race. The way Google ranks may change… I have heard SEO people talk about how Google might not show rich snippets and instead answer the query with their AI engine. Perhaps Bing and OpenAI’s partnership will allow them to climb out of their current sub-10% market share. 15%? 15%? 20% of the market
Is that a problem? It would seem so. It could be more revolutionary for consumers. It will be a better experience, but we will soon adapt.
AI will soon be part of our daily lives, making it seem like it isn’t even there. It will feel like high school entrepreneurial pitch events where everyone claims their project is powered by AI.
What can a Fractional CMO do to fix it?
This is the same thing that we did when TikTok was released. This is what we did when Clubhouse was the rage on Twitter. The same thing we did when Leadpages, then Clickfunnels made it easier to build sales funnels and pages.
These new tools are integrated into our strategy and implemented at the right moment by us.
That’s it. That’s it.
Fractional CMOs solve bigger problems. This should be your motto as you develop your Fractional CRM practice. The larger the problem, the greater the reward for your client, their customers, you, and your bank account.
What companies need from their CMO in this new era of AI
Scattered or nervous CEOs might ask you to focus all their attention on AI. This is not a good use of your time in most businesses.
Leadership is the word that best describes what companies require.
The CMO of a fractional company, interim or full-time, all share the same requirement: to lead their marketing department and push the team towards achieving the goals of the CEO and board of directors.
AI is a tool that you can use to your advantage. It can also be used by your competitor.
I worked as a Fractional CMO in a private equity firm a few years back. I recall sharing my concerns over the increase in CPM on Facebook for a few weeks. His response was timeless.
It affects both our competitors and us equally. Don’t lose sleep over it. Keep fighting.”
This is simple and timeless advice.
The same goes for AI.
It sounds like an innovative and scary tactic to combine AI content writers with voice generators. It’s just an idea.
It’s up to you to decide if this is the best tactic.
You have the responsibility to find the best route, regardless of the available tactics and tools.
End-to-end tracking from lead source to purchase is often the most important thing a company needs. Or just having a solid offer. Focusing on one channel can result in 10x sales for their hero product. A salesperson who will call every webinar attendee who attended the entire 60-minute session but did not purchase.
AI is another exciting tactic for companies. But in reality it is a level-5 tool that the company has to use.
Tracking, generating advertising controls, creating product ascensions to maximize customer lifetime values, collecting testimonials, and sharing them with others will all be essential business basics that will endure until the end. AI is here to stay. While it can change everything, some marketers want it to be something other than the solution to their profitability problems.
Keep your eyes on the prize. Keep your focus. Increase your sales. You can use AI to find low-hanging fruits. Compare the work of your favorite copywriter to an AI rewrite and find out who wins.