What’s your relationship with AI? If you were to ask me that question, I would say AI is like my “boyfriend.” We’re at a stage where I still get the butterflies when “he’s” around. We haven’t decided where exactly we’re going, but we’re excited about doing it together. We’re in this for the long haul. Will we ever get “married?” It’s tough to know what that word would mean for us in the future. But we’re certainly going to move in together.
The question for marketers today is not whether you’re using artificial intelligence tools to speed up workflow and find fresh inspiration. A better question is whether the AI is improving your work and positioning the marketing team as an invaluable resource to the business. Is AI taking our jobs away? Not yet — but some businesses, including IBM are already making snap judgments that it will, and they’re making marketing staffing decisions accordingly. For marketers, there’s an opportunity to add human experience and skill to advanced tech, and to show why the human element is irreplaceable.
Innovation requires a broad range of skills and experience
AI is accelerating a transformation of roles within businesses and marketing teams, and Mod Op is on board with this change. We’re using AI to give marketers the freedom to grow their skillsets and find new solutions and strategies. I believe strongly in learning diverse skills, getting outside of what you might think of as your lane, and following your inspiration. But they need the opportunity – the time and the tools – to explore new things. I began my own career not in marketing but in IT, as a developer. I left an internal IT role to work for a brand agency, and I learned amazing new skills: What does it mean to really interpret the data and come at it from a human-centric approach? What do the patterns in the data mean from that angle – a very different angle than software engineers usually think about?
At the same time, marketers usually don’t have a connection of the data scientist or engineer’s role.. But they need it now. I would challenge any marketer today to take the initiative and begin learning relevant technical skills. Take basic statistical data science classes, or Python classes. The goal is not to become an engineer, but to demystify what AI is and how it works. Emboldened by new knowledge, marketers can begin identifying new marketing use cases, recommending customizations to the AI tools, and seeing new opportunities for collaboration and continued professional growth.
Finding valuable new uses for AI isn’t the only reason why marketers should lean into broadening their skill sets right now. A more diverse skill set is a competitive advantage for each individual marketer in the workforce. As long as there’s even a question about whether AI can replace human professionals, businesses will take it upon themselves to answer that question, and to take action accordingly. AI in itself isn’t actually replacing people now, but we’re seeing businesses taking big (if risky) bets and letting go of marketing professionals. A broader skill set is always helpful for hireability and job security.
Data usage is a competitive differentiator for AI-driven businesses
Today, any responsible marketer is thinking about using AI tools to their competitive advantage. But the most innovative ones are thinking about the competitive advantages of collecting and processing data ethically. Right now, marketers have access to generally the same types of AI tools and apps. So to stand out, they add their deep understanding of the consumer into the mix. That understanding is essential to training the AI to process only the data necessary to enhance the customer experience. Mod Op is eager to explore AI apps as they come into the marketplace. But at the same time, we’ve set up a compliance and governance program to isolate where those apps are tested and who has access to them, and to make sure we understand the data. Due diligence is an essential process that must be continually ongoing.
If you want to use AI to add value to your and your team’s marketing work, you need to avoid the common trap of expecting AI to instantly provide magical solutions to complex problems. To continue to do standout work, you need to collaborate, to understand more of the tech teams’ thinking, and to take ownership of your business’s tech stack innovation. The marketer’s grasp and understanding of their audience has never been more important than it is now, with younger consumers increasingly expecting trust and transparency from brands. This is the time for teams to select their data sets and tools wisely. Marketers aren’t being replaced by AI. They’re positioned to guide the whole business to the most useful, ethical, and valuable usage of AI.
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