NSM – this abbreviation is probably well known to anyone who has, at least nominally, explored the topic of B2B marketing. Simon Negacz’s conference – held for the third time – brought together representatives of all sorts of businesses again. Not to mention – us – because as Wise People, we were one of several partners of the event. So, coming back the topic of Modern Sales and Marketing, I already asked myself some questions during the conference. Let’s look for the answers to them.
AI – a go-getter or perhaps an advisor?
The first lecture at this year’s NSM was given by Artur Kurasinski, who presented “The Marketer’s Toolbox in 2023”. An important topic, because it is extremely up-to-date, especially because the event coincided with the launch of Chat GPT-4 (number one topic not only of the speeches, but also of many behind-the-scenes discussions).
And this is something that makes me wonder: as an entrepreneur who operates at the intersection of design, branding, development or consulting; should I treat AI only as a tool for optimizing operations? Or is the real breakthrough hidden elsewhere?
A real breakthrough for me, is a situation where an assistant, chatbot, artificial intelligence (the name is not that important) takes up the role of an advisor.
So to say: it doesn’t only process the data I point out to it. It doesn’t only take over the most tedious work of my team. It is something (someone – ?) that is responsible for making business decisions. Will the algorithm only confirm my beliefs and deliver results tailored “for the thesis”? Will it be able to, in fact, disagree with me, and convince me to change my decision?
Running a business means to think about hundreds of issues and to work upon them – even if operationally most of the tasks can be delegated, it’s easy to get lost when you are piled up with a bunch of them. It’s easy to get caught up in chaos, even if we operate really efficiently. On this slippery ground, AI could soon be a real improvement. But doesn’t it raise further questions and concerns, such as manager autonomy?
Do we love big data?
Igor Bielobradek, in a speech on ROI and the calculation of return on marketing, suggested that due to the abundance of data, this task is very difficult to execute, and therefore, raises doubts whether there is any point in applying it. And there’s something in it, but… here we are in slight opposition.
In a company like ours, collecting a lot of data is essential. It should be a guidepost for further decisions. Do we have enough love for “big data” considering the size of a relatively small company? Is awareness of global trends crucial for us? Not necessarily. But we can, and even need to think about how to use AI to interpret data, how to operate as efficiently as possible on hard statistics and available information.
Maybe you are aware of some solutions that allow to apply analytical processes in small companies (<50 people) and that won’t be an overkill, yet give simple answers to the challenges given by enormous sets of data?
How to engage customers and partners?
Naturally, a present-day conference on marketing and sales, forces you to think about customer engagement.
- In fact, the business use of AI is still in the early stages of development. A human face of a company is essential to distinguish between genuine services and the effects of the work of a “machine”. Can our content, design, development be replaced? If so, we should … seriously take a hard look at who we are.
- We need to take care of the value of understanding context. AI is still learning, we are equipped with cognitive abilities, emotional intelligence.
- Even if, let’s say, 80% of the work is subject to automation, the remaining 20% is done by us – the professionals who, with a relatively lesser input, give great meaning to digital products and services for business.
- Building a community is a ”must have” of today – Simon’s listeners gathered in one room are able to redefine and transform more than one business into an awe inspiring system.
Summary
Never before has authenticity been as important as it is today, both in marketing and direct sales. Every day we build the value of Wise People as a Human2Human company, a company that is holistic and – perhaps not obvious to the IT world – but largely humanistic (which does not exclude hard skills).
I’m glad that this edition of NSM was an opportunity to talk about these issues with business people who think alike – or want to learn to do so. You have inspired me to ask a lot of questions and I return the favour. You are welcome 🙂
This entry was created without the use of artificial intelligence, 100% human
