One thing is for certain: whether your organization is well-established or just starting out, you’ll face challenges. It’s how your team navigates these challenges that sets your company apart. Today, we’re going to focus on how AI can be introduced to marketing organizations in both Enterprise and Emerging companies to help mitigate challenges.
And we’ll be doing so based on what marketers around the world have said.
Survey Says: A Quick Word on Methodology
In a study conducted in partnership Wakefield Research, we set out to better understand how AI is impacting marketers. For this study, Iterable surveyed 1,200 professional marketers with either a seniority of manager or director. This research was conducted in the U.S., Europe (UK, The Netherlands, and Germany), and Australia.
As part of the survey, we wanted to see how Enterprise and Emerging companies view AI—and to see if there were different sentiments and approaches. For the purposes of this study, Enterprise and Emerging were defined as follows:
- Enterprise: We’ve defined an Enterprise company as one that earns $250 million or more in revenue, has more than 1,000 employees, and has been in business for more than 20 years.
- Emerging: An Emerging company, on the other hand, is one that earns less than $250 million in revenue, has fewer than 1,000 employees, and has been in business for fewer than 20 years.
With that out of the way, what did we learn?
What AI Solves for Enterprise Companies
Enterprise companies are goliaths. And, with bigger companies comes bigger complexities, and we’re seeing these complexities lead to some of the key reasons for AI adoption.
1. Reliance on Engineering and Tech Support
Survey Says: When asked what draws people to use AI at their jobs, the ability to work efficiently is the top selection (47%).
A larger company means more employees, more teams, and more processes. Such a structure inevitably leads to bottlenecks that slow efficiency and production. Larger companies can immediately benefit from introducing AI into their marketing strategies because it creates autonomy for the marketing team. Rather than having to rely on engineering teams to add tickets to sprints or wait for spotty customer support to answer questions, AI, when built into an all-in-one marketing program, can give power back to marketers.
2. Data Activation
Survey Says: Enterprise companies are more inclined to look to Generative AI to make their jobs easier (54%), while Emerging companies are more likely to look to Predictive AI (51%).
Enterprise companies have a lot of data and have likely cobbled together a tech stack that doesn’t effectively give insight into activating that data. From the survey we learned that Enterprise companies are looking to generative AI more frequently than tools like Predictive AI, which take massive amounts of data and provide insights to act upon.
When looking to keep customer journeys personalized at scale—such as the scale of an Enterprise organization—marketing teams are best suited adopting tools that have predictive capabilities to expedite the acquisition of actionable insights.
3. Fear of Switching Technology
Survey Says: 88% of Enterprise companies are more likely to continue using AI even if their goals aren’t met.
Enterprise organizations simply have more hoops to jump through to make change happen. It’s a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s likely delaying adoption of innovative technologies like AI, but on the other hand it means once AI tools are implemented, they’re here to stay.
Even further, when Enterprise organizations make the switch, they invest in skill building. Bigger companies have more well trained teams. Over half (56%) of our respondents at Enterprise organizations believe their marketing team is trained to use AI tools, while for Emerging companies this drops to only 46%
What AI Solves for Emerging Companies
Rather than being stuck in their ways, Emerging companies are just finding their footing. They’re approaching rapid growth and realizing that the infrastructures they have in place no longer fit their needs.
1. Scaling Efficiently
Survey Says: Companies with revenue less than $250m are more drawn to AI (53% vs. 44% for those greater than $250m).
Growth means adapting and, for Emerging companies, that often feels like building the plane while trying to fly it. One area where Emerging companies may need to scale is in the marketing channel mix. While one marketing channel may have sufficed as these businesses got off the ground, as they grow, Emerging companies will need to consider expanding into cross-channel marketing.
AI marketing automation can help emerging companies create an automated, cohesive cross-channel strategy because it takes the guesswork out of personalization. AI can learn how each customer wants to be communicated with and use that information to fuel future messaging.
2. Data Management
Survey Says: Smaller companies are more inclined to think Predictive AI can make their job easier (51% to 44%).
We brought this stat up earlier, but it’s worth repeating. More data, more problems. Or, that’s what Emerging companies may think, anyway. We’ve seen how, with frankenstacks in Enterprise companies, adding disparate platforms for each channel can lead to data silos and, as a result, a disjointed customer experience.
Emerging companies often lack the sophisticated tools and technologies necessary for effective data collection, storage, and analysis. Without robust data management systems, they struggle to maintain data accuracy and security, leading to potential breaches and compliance issues.
Using a cross-channel platform with built in AI features can not only provide predictions based on past data, but explain the predictions, giving insight into how predictions are formed. This gives marketers a better understanding of customer data.
3. Planning for the Future
Survey Says: Smaller companies are slightly more worried about AI taking or replacing jobs (32% vs. 26%).
Emerging companies often struggle to plan for the future due to a combination of limited resources, volatile market conditions, and a focus on short-term survival. They tend to prioritize immediate operational needs over long-term strategic planning. Rapid industry changes and competition make it difficult to predict future trends, causing uncertainty. Plus, the pressure to demonstrate quick returns to investors often forces a short-term focus.
AI can fuel the future by using historical information. Starting to incorporate AI functionality into marketing strategies today can help feed algorithms to plan for the future—without requiring additional work. This frees up time for your team to work on big picture strategy, knowing AI will continue to automate and learn in the background.
How to Succeed With AI in Marketing
How marketers view AI and benefit from it can depend on the size of their organization, but you can succeed with AI at any company as long as you have the right approach and technologies at your fingertips. What’s similar in both Enterprise and Emerging companies, however, is the perceived value of AI. There is a future for AI in marketing and it spans all segments.
If you’re looking to empower your marketing and forge deeper customer connections, check out Iterable’s AI Suite. Our platform can help your team automate routine tasks, accelerate growth, and deliver more meaningful experiences with built-in intelligence at every step of the customer journey.
Be sure to check out the full study and, if you’re interested in learning even more, schedule a demo of Iterable’s AI Suite today.
