How Marketers Can Take GenAI From Pilot Projects To Proficiency

Featuring:

Jay Pattisall, VP, Principal Analyst and Lisa Gately, Principal Analyst

Show Notes:

For marketers, the awe surrounding generative AI (genAI) has given way to the realization that adoption is hard work. Teams are discovering that genAI is neither a simple nor straightforward solution but rather a continually evolving technology that requires persistence and patience. On this week’s podcast episode, VP and Principal Analyst Jay Pattisall and Principal Analyst Lisa Gately describe the current state of genAI adoption among marketers and how they can tap the technology’s full potential.

Pattisall begins by sharing Forrester survey data showing the share of marketing organizations using genAI: Between Q1 and Q2 2023, the share tripled, from 19% to 56%, only to fall back to 26% in Q4. This “really illustrated that the honeymoon was kind of over and that the complexity and the hard work of adoption had started,” he says. “It’s not as simple as just generating copy.”

He and Gately then dig into some of the barriers that are keeping marketers from fully adopting generative AI, such as focusing only on efficiency as the business case and a lack of AI literacy and vision. Though marketers have long used AI for advertising and lead scoring, they’re struggling to “sort out what generative AI or AI can do versus what the humans will do,” says Gately. Regulatory unknowns and fears of job disruption or loss also present obstacles.

The analysts then describe four groups of marketing leaders based on their level of genAI adoption: integrators, who already have integrated genAI into their go-to-market strategies and workflows; explorers, who are experimenting with genAI use cases; considerers, who are interested in genAI but haven’t yet experimented with it; and rejectors, a small group with no intention of using genAI. Gately and Pattisall describe opportunities for each group and how they can advance to the next level.

Later in the episode, the analysts walk through a three-part framework for marketers who want to adopt generative AI in a strategic and sustainable way. They also share a few examples of companies and agencies that are adopting genAI successfully, so stick around for that.

For more on succeeding with genAI in marketing, check out the agendas for Forrester’s B2B Summit North America and CX Summit events. Each will include sessions on building a genAI strategy, differentiating through genAI capabilities, and more.