Isn't it exciting to see the wave of new generative-AI applications that are transforming, and potentially disrupting, several areas of marketing?

Marketing's main purpose is to bridge the gap between the external environment (customers, competition) and the company's internal environment. AI is a game-changer in this area because it processes huge amounts of information, providing flexibility, analysis, targeting, and personalization in advertising that we humans can't manage on our own.

AI is also set to reshape marketing jobs. According to a recent working paper by Wharton professor Manav Raj and colleagues. It suggests that marketing roles are highly likely to be impacted by advances in automated text and image production. Isn't that something?

A recent paper in Science predicts that generative AI will also transform complex writing tasks that are crucial for many marketing jobs, like sales support, marketing materials, websites, content marketing, and social-media posts.

And here's a fun fact: Wharton professor Ethan Mollick showed how effective generative AI can be in formulating and implementing marketing strategies. In just 30 minutes, AI did market research, created a positioning document, wrote an email campaign, created a website, made a logo and a 'hero shot' graphic, made a social media campaign for multiple platforms, and scripted and created a video. Isn't that incredible?

However, it's not just academics who are excited about the possibilities. McKinsey, for example, has declared that “AI is poised to disrupt marketing and sales in every sector.” They believe that generative AI could increase marketing productivity by 5% to 15% across a range of applications.

Given such predictions, along with what generative AI is already making possible for marketing and sales, you'd think that those leaders would be all over it. But that's not the case, as we found when we surveyed over 600 business leaders from large U.S.-based companies with $50 million or more in sales.

Curious but Cautious

In our survey with GBK Collective, marketing and sales leaders admitted to a surprising lack of familiarity with generative AI. Only 21% of them claimed substantial knowledge. This is concerning, given how important it is to experiment with new technologies.

But don't worry, even though they're not as familiar with generative AI, they're the most curious about the technology (63%). However, this curiosity is mixed with skepticism. They were also the most likely to describe their associations with generative AI as cautious (66%).

We observed a relationship between generative AI usage and feelings of enthusiasm and uncertainty across all leader groups. Those who use generative AI more frequently were the most optimistic and excited about what it can do. Those who use it less often were among the most cautious.

That being said, most marketing and sales leaders (78%) did acknowledge that generative AI is likely to have some impact on their company. The potential benefits they see most frequently include enhanced effectiveness, improved employee efficiency, and better customer experience.

The marketing and sales leaders we surveyed foresee applications for generative AI that encompass content creation, personalization, and insights generation.

Given that so many marketing and sales leaders are curious about what generative AI can do for them, and even foresee specific benefits, you might ask, what’s holding them back? Their top concerns were the accuracy of generative AI outputs (50%), and a range of other potential issues, including employee resistance (39%), ethical considerations (36%), industry compliance (35%), a lack of organizational understanding and norms (33%), the problem of organizational integration 31%), and the exposure of confidential information (28%), and intellectual property rights (23%).

Recommendations

So, what’s the way forward for leaders in marketing and sales? Here are some steps we recommend:

Invest in training.

This will enable teams to use and interpret generative AI output and recognize when human input is crucial.

Embrace an intentional test-and-learn approach.

This will help you pinpoint where generative AI could most efficiently improve tasks, content, and overall customer experience.

Establish policies to safeguard customer and proprietary company data.

It’s prudent to treat all inputs and outputs as public domain until there are widespread generative AI solutions that ensure data protection.

Ensure quality control.

Generative AI, while revolutionary, can and does produce errors, biases, and what are often referred to as “hallucinations.” It is imperative that marketing and sales leaders put into place robust quality-control and oversight mechanisms.

Enhance creativity, don’t replace it.

Generative AI isn't just a tool that automates tasks. It’s also a capable co-pilot that helps leaders expand their thinking and develop new ideas. As its role grows, its most valuable impacts will come from enhancing, not replacing, human skills — boosting productivity and freeing us for tasks requiring our judgement, emotional intelligence, or other complex decision-making.