TODAY’S NEWS. TOMORROW’S INSIGHTS.A daily newsletter from McKinsey & Company
Brought to you by Liz Hilton Segel, chief client officer and managing partner, global industry practices, & Homayoun Hatami, managing partner, global client capabilities
Endless ad copy. Companies that need marketing and advertising services—and the marketing services that need companies to hire them—are embracing a new tool that may also pose new risks. It’s generative AI (gen AI), and it can pump out infinite lingo, jingles, and catch phrases at little cost. While marketers delight in tech that can cut the cost of an ad campaign by 90%, fears of intellectual-property disputes and digital-ad giants taking an even greater piece of the pie abound. Copywriters and graphic designers also have much to gain—and to lose—as AI creeps deeper into the industry. [WSJ]
Boss talk. A recent survey of 82 senior marketing executives revealed that they expect gen AI to help them cut costs by an average of 13%—and 19% of respondents think that reducing internal head counts will make up the bulk of those savings. More than 60% of respondents said they think AI will help create new kinds of content, while 78% said it will lead to greater efficiency. Nearly half of the respondents predict their teams will shrink due to AI, and nearly half predict that marketing budgets will gradually be reduced. [WSJ]
Sales partner. A fifth of current sales-team functions could be automated, and organizations that invest in AI are seeing revenue grow by 3 to 15%, report McKinsey senior partner Steve Reis and fellow authors. Generative AI is particularly good at generating personalized content and communication, due to its ability to analyze customer characteristics, behavior, and preferences. While AI can speak directly to potential customers with personalized emails and chatbots, it can also function as an assistant to human salespeople, offering advice and reminders.
Steps to success. Companies can take six no-regrets steps to transform sales and marketing teams with AI. First, they can conduct an AI audit that evaluates how gen AI could fit in. Second, they can form a commercial gen-AI taskforce to explore opportunities. Next, by identifying low-risk use cases, they can begin testing; they can also start training the sales team in the basics to inspire further experimentation. Finally, companies can establish guidelines that protect sensitive customer data and establish a process for verifying output. Learn more about getting a gen-AI strategy under way in marketing and sales.
— Edited by Katy McLaughlin, senior editor, Southern California
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.
Or send us feedback—we’d love to hear from you.
Follow our thinking
