(Image created by Dalle. Artifacts highly appropriate given the article).
There was no way marketing was going to be the last adopter of Artificial Intelligence. From predicting customer behavior to creating highly personalized experiences, AI promises to transform how we reach, engage, and convert prospects… and even if it didn’t, marketing would still be all over it. It’s the “new new”.
But in the nuanced field of Account-Based Marketing (ABM), where relationship-building and human insight are vital, AI’s promise isn’t guaranteed.
AI personalizes and researches at scale, a godsend for ABM’s data-hungry demands. Tools like Perplexity spit out credible insights fast, giving marketers decent profiles of prospects as the basis for personalization, with AI fine-tuning tone to avoid generic noise and help the personalization hit home. But let’s be clear: AI talks like you; it doesn’t think like you. Data-driven then AI tailored content just lacks the empathy and intuition that together build trust. In ABM, relationships sink or swim on human insight, not just precision targeting.
AI can be a marketer’s Swiss Army knife—drafting emails, generating outlines, clearing writer’s block. Tools like Jasper streamline repetitive work, freeing up space for strategy and genuine ABM engagement. But remember: structure isn’t substance. An AI-driven opening line might spark momentum, but great copy still demands a human edge. AI can’t replace your brand’s voice—it can only mimic what’s there.
Here’s the downside. AI-driven content often reads too polished, too perfect—and audiences can smell it. Worse, AI can “hallucinate” and fabricate facts—a nightmare for an ABM campaign where accuracy is paramount. Bland or robotic content alienates rather than connects. Authenticity wins, especially if your competitors have unleashed a flood of automated fluff.
Personalization comes with pitfalls. I heard recently the example of a hotel decorating guest rooms with unsolicited Facebook photos. Creepy. Personalization needs to be meaningful, not invasive. In ABM, crossing the line from insightful to intrusive is easy—AI doesn’t know when to stop; you do.
What AI can add that you really want, is a real-time edge. AI excels at experimentation and real-time optimization. Adjusting targeting and refining engagement on the fly. But AI’s insights still need a marketer’s instinct to interpret and act on them, and a bank of well-crafted base material to personalize from. Data used without effective context is noise.
I think AI is a powerful ally, but the real artistry in marketing lies in knowing your audience and connecting authentically. AI won’t replace that—it can’t. If you want to be successful at using AI to enhance ABM you must blend AI’s strengths with human depth—strategic empathy that AI simply doesn’t understand.
One thing is undeniable: AI is currently the worst it will ever be. It’s only getting smarter, faster, more “human-like” with each iteration. But as AI’s capabilities expand, so do ethical dilemmas and practical challenges. The promise of AI-driven ABM strategies is vast, but it requires careful oversight and intentional integration.
Looking ahead, AI will tackle even more complex tasks, potentially encroaching on even more spaces we thought were reserved for human creativity and intuition. I think that empathy, cultural sensitivity, and authentic storytelling still belong to human marketers. In ABM, where every interaction builds—or breaks—relationships, that human touch remains irreplaceable. Maybe you might even decide that in high value, relationship driven marketing, the cost of AI today is too high. You don’t want to give clients the ick.
I’m just about on the side of bringing in AI. It will be part of the future, and I’m always trying to get there faster. But trying to exploit the promise of AI in ABM today demands good intuition. A very human thing.
Shameless Self Promotion:
"There are only two things in a business that make money–innovation and marketing, everything else is cost." - Peter Drucker
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