As a quick preface: today’s article is about marketing AI technologies (companies using AI as part of their product/service/business), not marketing AI technologies (ChatGPT* and other AI tools to help automate marketing as a function).
I wasn’t old enough to be working during the 90s internet boom, but from reading and learning about it, the similarities between early internet and AI right now are many. At the outset of the internet age, there was a period where companies had to first define themselves as “internet” companies before that positioning became ubiquitous. The internet represented a total platform shift, but an initial definition and education was crucial – consumers had to learn what the internet was, and this took a few years (and one could argue decades).
There was a smaller, but similar, development in the early 2010s, with every company talking about their “app” or “platform.” The “new thing” eventually becomes standard and fades into the background. But it takes some time, strong and creative communications, and consistent education and messaging.
Almost every startup we have worked with over the past 10 years (Canada, the US and internationally) has used AI to some degree, whether or not they knew it, and whether or not they chose to market it.
But that last part has changed dramatically over the past year or two, with AI becoming front and center of marketing, media pitches, press releases, and communications strategies across many industries.
AI is still a buzzword (buzzphrase?) in the sense that a lot of people talk about it and a lot of companies use it in their marketing without fully understanding or explaining the how or why. As part of existing technologies (smartphones, computers, software), AI is something we have all been using daily for many years, but it was really with the prolific growth of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools that the concept entered the zeitgeist.
As a humble marketer, AI has always been about much more than just a technology. Like the internet, is a fundamentally new way of doing… everything. We are still just scratching the surface on its use cases to improve humanity (with the belief that mediocre LinkedIn influencer posts will not be the zenith of AI’s impact), and over the next few years fully expect to see a handful of very interesting, and very useful, applications of AI that are not even on our radar right now.
The AI age is upon us, and marketing has an important role to play – for now.
Whether it will be in the near term (say 1-2 years) or in the longer term (5+ years), one day companies will drop AI from their messaging and positioning to investors and customers.
Until then, it is up to marketing and communications professionals to bridge the gap between companies, investors and consumers, and provide the clearest words that answer the most important question that most startups don’t ask themselves: “so what?”
What many companies get wrong
At its core, marketing is about either a) creating value or b) showing/sharing value that is already there.
Good marketing is always benefits over features. Outcomes over inputs. Humans over technology.
But technology (and AI) often makes it so hard, and in some cases, impossible, for companies to escape out of the feature quicksand: look at us, check out our latest feature, look how fast we do this thing. AI gives us more technology-rich features to talk about without doing the critical work of asking: why does it matter?
One of our marketing maxims: the more complex the technology, the simpler the marketing needs to be.
What to do
We have a few years left where AI is going to be a heavily used buzzword, so let’s make the most of it and approach it with care and thought. Some suggestions:
- If your company isn’t using AI, don’t stretch the truth.
- If your company is using AI, but in a standard way, don’t lean on it. It will just add fluff to your actual value proposition and positioning.
- And if your company is using AI in a new and exciting way, market about it with conviction and consistency. And with clear, concise language that your customers and investors will understand.
Getting back to basics
The age of AI, combined with the shift away from the growth-at-all-costs startup culture that defined the 2010s, has given us an opportunity to revisit the best marketing strategies. There are many ways to effectively market and communicate, but they all start with an answer to the most important question: “so what?”
*ChatGPT is responsible for approximately zero percent of this point.
Jeff Angus is the founder of Three Horizons Group, a Vancouver-based marketing agency that builds award-winning, category-leading brands and provides full-service marketing leadership, communications and brand strategy to early-stage tech companies. Their work has been featured in Fast Company, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, WIRED and more.
Leave a Reply