AI is reshaping the contours of B2B marketing, and its impact is only increasing exponentially.
A recent report by the Content Marketing Institute revealed the impact of generative AI in B2B marketing today: 72% of B2B marketers are now utilizing generative AI tools, with 91% of them using free versions.
Moreover, 70% of chief marketing officers (CMOs) have integrated generative AI into their strategies, mainly for personalization.
The 35th episode of the DesignRush Podcast brings us a conversation with Domenic Colasante, an industry veteran from 2X with nearly two decades of experience elevating marketing’s contribution to business revenue.
Tune in to the full episode to find out:
- How to personalize marketing experiences with generative AI
- How to navigate economic volatility by targeting specific marketing segments
- Which metrics Domenic looks at in his agency's campaigns, including TikTok and LinkedIn
Who Is Domenic Colasante?
Domenic is the founding member of marketing agency 2X. Before becoming its CEO, he was the CMO at WGroup, a US-based IT management consulting firm, where he contributed to the company's annual growth of 30%. His background extends to marketing leadership, having held roles at tech giants such as SAP and Siemens. Colasante's expertise includes creating demand, marketing operations, analytics, and ABM.
“I think a lot of the AI conversation has been about what that means and how we can have fewer humans. How can we have fewer costs and fewer people? I think that's completely wrong. What AI does is it gives us the ability to produce more work on the same operating model. The same people can now produce two to four to five times as much work, sometimes even 10 times as much work.”
“AI is like the Iron Man moment: You were a great marketer before, but now you have this suit, and you can fly.”
“You were a great marketer before, but now you have this suit on top of you and you can fly and it gives you more capability to lean into things that you've always wanted to do and it makes you more creative and more impactful.”
This perspective perfectly captures the essence of generative AI as a tool that amplifies human creativity, allowing marketers to explore new horizons of innovation and impact.
The role of generative AI doesn’t stop at enhancing one's creativity, though.
Its capabilities can also be harnessed for powerful B2B content creation and personalization in marketing strategies — if there’s a balance.
“There's something we do a lot at 2X, we call it content atomization. And so that's taking a core content item, like a webinar, and spinning it into a long-form content paper, thought leadership paper, an article, and then spinning that article into a blog series. So, it's five blogs and then spinning each blog into an email that could promote it and then pulling more volume of content out of a single large content item.”
This approach streamlines the content creation process but also ensures that content is tailored and relevant, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.
“All of the content that goes out the door in our firm passes through a human in the app, whether it was AI-produced or human-produced, all of it gets edited. And that's, I think, a best practice and I think a very critical step that you need to have.”
This highlights the symbiotic relationship between AI-generated content and human oversight, ensuring that the final output resonates with authenticity and creativity.
“Your content has to help someone solve a problem. It has to be about their desire to improve something in their organization, their professional life, their teams, and their company.”
However, the discussion around incorporating generative AI into B2B marketing cannot be had without highlighting what some of the broader implications may be.
“No one cares what your product does. They care how you're going to help them solve a problem.”
This philosophy underscores the essence of B2B marketing as a discipline focused on solving problems and adding value, with generative AI serving as a powerful tool in achieving these objectives.
“I've always felt that great content leaves the person better than you found them.”
Domenic's insights offer a compelling narrative on the transformative power of generative AI in B2B marketing. GenAI is seen as an enhancer of human creativity and productivity.
His discussion on content atomization, personalization, and the importance of human oversight in AI-generated content offers a blueprint for marketers looking to harness generative AI in their strategies.