Thoughts on Marketing

Making AI work for you, not against you

[Originally published as The Marketing Mix newsletter on Substack]

Sam Altman is quoted as saying “95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI.”

Founders and business owners should be licking their chops at that. If you’re a marketer, not so much….

So if you’re not taking AI seriously yet, now’s a good time to start. I’ve doubled down on my own practice, looking for ways to integrate ChatGPT into my daily workflow. And it’s already paying dividends. I’m working on a custom GPT to streamline my podcast production. More on that another time.

^{[For what it’s worth, I don’t subscribe to the 95% view. But it will certainly have a big impact on the number of people required to “do” marketing. So the question is, will we find more/different things for those people to do with their free time?]}

The important thing at this point is to get familiar with generative AI and what it can do. You don’t need to be a wiz at prompting ChatGPT. But you should be thinking about how it can improve your processes.

Not sure where to start?

• Look for AI features and assistants in the tools you’re already using (Google Docs, Canva, Salesforce and so on). They get better every week
• Commit to spending 5 minutes a day playing with a free ChatGPT account.
• Realize that 5 minutes quickly becomes 15 (it gets addictive!) 😬

📞 Book a free 30 minute call if you want some pointers on using AI.

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Engage, Deliver, Repeat

The Marketing Mix podcast this week features the Founder and CEO of dlivrd, Chris Heffernan. He runs a tech-based logistics company that focuses on the “last mile” of delivering catering orders.

Chris told me that “fun” was a prerequisite for their marketing programs! “If I’m spending 80 hours a week doing this, I don’t want it to be mundane. I don’t want it to drain me…I love scaling. I love coming up with new ideas. So if it’s going to be fun, we’re going to do it.”

He explains the importance of engaging the drivers, as both brand ambassadors for the company, and the ones who deliver on the customer experience. And so that’s where dlivrd focus their marketing investment – turning their driver engagement events into a source of content marketing that showcases their culture.

Chris also shares what he’s learned from using video in his own marketing mix. And talks about the challenges of a founder wearing multiple hats.

Listen Now!

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Drink of the Week

Heading into St Paddy’s Day, it’s tempting to pick a pint of Guinness as the drink of the week. I do have one of their ads in my office – I’ve always loved their marketing (my grandad ran a pub, and these ads were ubiquitous when I was growing up in England). And I enjoy a pint now and again.

Another option is a Black and Tan (half Guinness, half Bass ale). But since I normally offer up a cocktail, that doesn’t work either. As Chris reminded us on the podcast- via Mad Men – “a two ingredient drink is an emergency, not a cocktail.”

Keeping with the Irish theme then, let me suggest a Baileys B52. A shot glass with a layer of coffee liqueur (I recommend Mr Black); then Baileys; then Grand Marnier. Simple to make, and looks fabulous with a bit of practice (there’s an art to keeping the three layers separate).

If you’ve enjoyed this article, please consider subscribing to The Marketing Mix newsletter – my thoughts on B2B marketing, sent out every 2 weeks.

Cheers!

Steve