“Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!”
How Marketing Leaders Can Cut through the AI Noise
Right now, I feel like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz when it comes to new AI tools for Marketing. Seemingly every day I uncover ANOTHER cool AI tool that my team/I can use. In speaking with my peers, investors, and other C-Suite leaders, they share my excitement for the promise AI tools hold for marketing. But, there is real angst on how Marketing teams can adopt these tools for advantage when they already have a tech stack that is overflowing.
I don’t know about you, but I can barely fit my tech stack on one slide/one visual anymore. For B2B Marketing leaders in startups focused on growth and scaling, it’s untenable to keep adding more tools to the tech stack. And this comes from someone who has spent many years selling B2B Marketing Tools! There must be some rhyme or reason to how to evaluate and implement new AI tools.
Don’t get me wrong, none of us should be afraid of the next AI tool - we should embrace this innovation and use it for both efficiency and effectiveness gains. But how much is too much, and how do you choose? How do you, practically, figure out which AI tools are best for your marketing team/org, while still keeping the marketing lights on? And, how do you ensure your team is learning and developing the prerequisite skills to keep up with today’s trends and be ahead of what comes next?
Part 1 of 2: Evaluating New AI Tools for Marketing
Define Your Needs
Assess your current marketing processes. What are the pain points? Where are the gaps? Having a clear understanding of your needs will help you identify tools that address specific problems rather than getting swept up in the hype. Keep in mind that a key objective for any AI tool evaluation at this point, should be to gain exposure, and build awareness and fluency on your team in both AI technology overall, but also, specific AI marketing tools.
Determine Who is Going to Perform the Evaluation - Evaluation Lead & Team Participants
Once you determined the type(s) of tools that make sense to evaluate, you should select individuals on your team to lead the evaluation(s). If you have a Marketing Ops person who is responsible for managing all of your tools, they should be a team member as part of this process. But, by selecting a team member who is mostly closely aligned to future usage of the tool as your evaluation lead, you immediately start driving knowledge, quicker buy-in, and adoption of any tool(s) you eventually select.
Other participants in the evaluation process could also include your CIO, CISO, IT, Finance, and Legal, all depending on your specific organization's requirements.
Keep in mind that if you are evaluating several tools, you might have multiple teams, depending on the size of your organization, and delineation of responsibilities.
Determine the Evaluation Period, Key Milestones, and Final Work Product
Once you determine your needs, the evaluation lead, and evaluation team participants, determine a timeline for the evaluation. Your timeline should include key milestones such as kickoff date, interim updates, and final decision date. Be sure to define with your team lead what you expect as the final work product so that you have everything you need to make a go-/no-go decision. It could be a single slide, a demo, or a more comprehensive report.
If you are concerned about bandwidth and prioritization, you can set an MBO around completing the evaluation, to ensure completion.
Evaluate Features and Benefits
When evaluating a new tool, consider the following:
Ease of Use: Is the tool user-friendly? Will your team be able to quickly learn and adopt it?
Integration: Can it seamlessly integrate with your existing tools and platforms?
Scalability: Will the tool grow with your business?
Support and Training: What kind of customer support and training resources are available?
ROI: How will this tool improve your marketing efforts and generate a return on investment?
Compliance & Governance: Will the tool meet compliance and governance standards defined within your organization?
Trial Periods and Demos
Always take advantage of free trials and demos. This hands-on experience is invaluable for understanding how the tool works in practice and whether it truly meets your needs.
User Reviews, Case Studies, and Your Network
Check out user reviews and case studies to see how other businesses in your industry are using the tool and the results they’ve achieved. And, speak to your peers in your network to get their input and feedback.
Cost vs. Value
Consider the cost of the tool relative to the value it provides. An expensive tool might offer more features, but if you’re not using those features, it may not be worth the investment.
Determine How this Fits into Your Current Stack
It’s important to evaluate this tool against all of the other tools in your stack to determine if it is redundant, or new functionality altogether. This is an opportunity to evaluate your entire stack and determine if you can drop other tools.
Part 2 of 2: Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing AI Tools in Marketing
Once you've decided to add a new tool to your tech stack, here are some steps you can take to ensure success. It includes actions you should take immediately after implementation, daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly actions.
Immediate Actions/Upon Implementation
Appropriate Use Document. Once you have implemented (or are in the final stages), have your evaluation team lead create an Acceptable Use document for your marketing team. Because AI is still so new, you must guide the usage of these new tools to retain ethical standards in your marketing and protect and reinforce your brand experience. It can be as simple as a 1-page slide describing examples of appropriate use, as well as examples of inappropriate use. You might also want to collaborate with your legal folks so that you reinforce your commitment to ethical and legal compliance, and your willingness to partner with them to do the right thing. They, too, are learning AI on the fly, so it would be valuable experience for them.
Team Training/Company Training. Your whole team must continue to build their AI knowledge, so even if they won’t be using the tool regularly, it’s important to give them an overview and/or demo of the tool and describe the goals of using the tool. This ideally should be done live or via Zoom so any questions can be asked/answered. This training could be valuable to the rest of the employees in your company so that they can continue to build their own AI knowledge base, while seeing that Marketing is leading in this area. Training for the broader company could be done at any recurring company meeting, or asynchronously via a pre-recorded video.
Daily Actions
Stay Informed. Dedicate time each day to stay updated on the latest trends and developments in AI tools relevant to your industry. A quick 15 to 30-minute read of industry news can keep you informed without overwhelming your schedule.
Monitor Tool Performance. Keep an eye on the performance of your newly implemented tool. Are there any glitches or issues? Daily monitoring helps catch problems early before they escalate.
Weekly Actions
Team Check-Ins. Schedule weekly check-ins with your team to discuss how the new tool is performing. Gather feedback on its usability and effectiveness. This will help identify any training needs or areas for improvement.
Data Analysis. Analyze the data generated by the new tool. Is it providing the insights and results you expected? Use this analysis to make informed decisions about ongoing usage.
Monthly Actions
Training and Development. Invest in training sessions for your team. Even the most user-friendly tools have a learning curve, and regular training can ensure your team is using the tool to its fullest potential.
Evaluate Tool ROI. Assess the return on investment of the tool. Are you seeing a measurable impact on your marketing efforts? Use this evaluation to determine if the tool is worth keeping.
Quarterly Actions
Tech Stack Audit. Conduct a comprehensive audit of your tech stack every quarter. Identify redundant tools or features that are no longer needed. This is an excellent opportunity to streamline your tech stack and eliminate any tools that are not adding value.
Strategic Planning. Use insights from your quarterly audit to inform your strategic planning. Are there gaps in your tech stack that need to be addressed? Are there new tools on the horizon that could fill those gaps?
Vendor Reviews. Review your relationships with vendors. Are they providing adequate support? Are there opportunities for better pricing or additional features?
Final Thoughts
Cutting through the noise of the endless list of new AI tools can be daunting, but with a structured approach, you can evaluate and implement new tools effectively. Remember to define your needs, evaluate tools based on clear criteria, take advantage of trial periods, and gather feedback from your team. By following these daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly actions, you'll be well-equipped to manage your tech stack and ensure it continues to drive your marketing efforts forward.
Happy marketing!
*Quote Credit: Harold Arlen, Wizard of Oz