AI is a funny thing. Every business knows it’s growing in importance, but they struggle to implement AI tools properly.
By understanding the basic artificial intelligence pros and cons, you can prepare yourself and avoid some common mistakes
Mistakes are costly. Major companies – who you’d think have it all figured out – lost $900 billion on failed digital transformation strategies in 2018.
Sadly, these massive costs and risks have caused many B2Bs to stall in their AI and digital strategies. Maybe you’re one of them.
But ignoring the growing importance of AI is costly too. B2B buyers expect a seamless, integrated, and personalized experience from brands.
Artificial Intelligence Pros and Cons in B2B Every Marketer Needs to Know
AI doesn’t have to consume every process in your company immediately. Take things slow and integrate a few AI tools here and there.
Take these artificial intelligence pros and cons into consideration as you look for areas to revamp with modern technologies.
Pro #1 of AI in Marketing: It Frees Up Time and Resources
The biggest benefit, of course, is that AI helps remove tedious processes and difficult tasks.
Instead of sorting through massive data sets and ambiguous numbers, AI can read patterns and results right away.
You’ll often see AI in B2B in the email marketing department. AI makes it easy to segment your list based on different demographics and behaviors so you can automatically send personalized campaigns and content.
AI tools also tend to be extremely cost-effective. Marketers and sales can spend more time connecting with high-quality leads and less time scoring them or analyzing them.
When done right, AI is effective for generating leads and profits. Epson, for example, saw a 240% increase in responses and a 75% increase in qualified leads after implementing AI technology.
Pro #2 of AI in Marketing: It Provides a Personalized Experience
Now, it’s probably not the best idea to rely on AI for writing your actual content – like blogs and social media copy – but AI does take plenty of guesswork out of content strategy and research.
AI is extremely effective for learning about your audience and creating personalized content. Not only that, but AI can help you present content to your leads and visitors in a personalized way.
Take Amazon, Netflix, or Spotify for example. Why do people love them so much? The personalized suggestions, right?
What if you could add an algorithm to your website that provided your visitors with personalized content recommendations? Well, you can with AI.
Hushly’s adaptive content hubs and self-nurturing landing pages take note of what content a visitor reads and continues showing them similar content in an endless stream.
Here’s an example of what personalized AI-driven exit-intent looks like (instead of throwing a form as visitors try to leave your site):
Pro #3 of AI in Marketing: Your Competitors are Already Using It
58% of B2Bs either use or plan to use AI this year, and of those that use it, 91% of marketers say it plays a key role in the success of various campaigns.
The fact is, your competitors are already using AI in marketing to create personalized experiences for their visitors, leads, and current customers. And if they aren’t already, they will be soon.
85% of B2B buyers say they expect brands to provide a personalized experience, and if a company falls short, they’re willing to dismiss it on the first interaction.
Personalization isn’t optional anymore. B2Bs expect it. Consumers expect it. If brands don’t provide the uniquely personalized experiences that buyers and customers expect, the future doesn’t look too bright for them.
Con #1 of AI in Marketing: It Can’t Work Right Without Accurate Data
A recent study estimated that 80% of brands will abandon their personalization strategies by 2025 due to poor ROI.
If personalization is critical but not delivering results, then what’s going wrong? Bad data.
Unfortunately, 60% of companies are working with data that’s nearly half incorrect, and it causes 40% of strategies to fail.
Bad lead data can really screw up your entire marketing and sales strategy. When you collect email addresses from everyone who visits your site and never clean up your data, that throws off your segments, firmographics, and personalization strategy.
You can’t create relevant content if your intel is wrong.
Getting rid of forms and employing human lead verification can help keep your data clean and accurate so your AI can do its job.
Con #2 of AI in Marketing: It Has Its Limitations
AI can’t do everything. Some people aren’t comfortable talking to a chatbot – they prefer speaking to a real person. When it comes to content, AI isn’t the best copywriter or content planner, either.
It certainly has its limitations, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it like the plague. Instead, focus on the benefits AI can provide.
One area AI truly excels is content curation. Using adaptive content hubs, AI can learn about everyone who visits your website and deliver relevant content in an endless stream. Like so:
Con #3 of AI in Marketing: It Feels Risky to Implement
Frankly, a lot of businesses are just afraid of AI – regardless of artificial intelligence pros and cons. They’ve heard the horror stories, and they know what can go wrong.
It’s true that if you try to automate too much too quickly, that leaves major room for disaster.
Start by looking at your marketing shortcomings. Are there certain processes AI could improve? Could lead verification and adaptive content hubs help create a better experience for your leads?
Since systems like Hushly work with real-time data rather than cookies, there’s less opportunity for things to go sour.
The Bottom Line on AI in B2B
Hushly can help you harness the power of AI so you can provide your visitors and leads with a truly unique experience – every time. We help you create the experience your leads expect through AI with personalized content recommendations, self-nurturing landing pages, formless lead magnets, relevant exit-intent popups, and so much more.
Want to talk about artificial intelligence pros and cons? Check out how Hushly works and contact us for a personal demo to learn more.
