AI is everywhere in marketing right now, but too much of the conversation is obsessed with surface-level numbers. Marketers talk about “more clicks,” “increased impressions,” “Engagement” and “video views” to name a few. But if those metrics aren’t tied to real business outcomes, they’re just noise, right?
I see this mistake all the time. AI isn’t supposed to just give you more data, it’s supposed to help you at the highest levels make better decisions that drive actual sales, customer engagement and retention, and brand loyalty.
Beyond Hype: The Real Promise of AI in Marketing
AI is incredible, we all know that. But it only works if you know what problem you’re solving. Automating ad copy doesn’t matter if you’re not converting. Generating endless social posts doesn’t help if your sales team can’t close when someone is on the hook.
The real promise of AI for marketing leaders is about connecting your work to outcomes that matter: lower CPA, higher CLV, better retention, increased leads and sales to name a few. It’s the difference between saying we got 100k impressions and saying we grew our Florida sales by 32% last quarter. Which one would you prefer presenting in an executive meeting?
How Marketing Teams Get Lost in Vanity Metrics
I’ve seen this at big companies and small ones alike. Marketing teams get KPIs that look impressive but don’t move the revenue needle:
- Social shares without sales
- Website traffic without conversions
- Video views without leads
AI can make this worse if you don’t have a strategy. It can create more noise, faster. Or it can help you focus on what really matters. That’s the choice.
A Better Approach: Start with Business Outcomes
TIP: Start with one question: “What is the outcome that actually matters to the business?”
For one business unit, that might be increasing overall sales this quarter. For retention, it’s reducing churn. For direct sales, maybe it’s cost per acquisition. And maybe you’re combining a few.
Once you know the outcome, you can use AI to get there more efficiently. AI can help you:
- Automatically generate and tailor content for different audience segments.
- Predict customer churn by analyzing behavioral patterns and historical data to identify at-risk customers.
- Reduce the time to launch marketing campaigns by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
- Process massive amounts of data such as website visits, social media engagement, purchase history, demographics, and past campaign performance.
- Forecast how your ads will perform across different channels based on historical data and current trends.
83% of sales teams with AI saw revenue growth this year vs. 66% without AI.”
AI isn’t your strategy. It’s your strategy amplifier
If you’re leading a marketing team today, ask yourself:
- Are we tracking what matters?
- Are we using AI to amplify business outcomes or just generating interesting metrics that are really just noise?
- What outcome is best for the business unit?
It’s not about adopting AI because it’s trendy. It’s about using it to solve real marketing problems.
Good marketing doesn’t just look cool and creative. It delivers results your CMO expects
Call to Action
If you’re a marketing leader looking to integrate AI into your strategy in a way that delivers real business outcomes, not just vanity metrics, build the blueprint that actually moves the revenue needle. This isn’t about chasing hype. It’s about designing systems, training teams, and measuring what matters so your AI investments pay off. Commit to a strategy that aligns AI tools with your sales process, customer journey, and brand promise. Lead with clarity, execute with purpose, and make AI the growth engine your business deserves.
By Scott MacFarland | YourBrandExposed
- #AlexandScottAI
- #YourBrandExposed
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Sources:
- Image generated using OpenAI’s DALL-E
- https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/sales-ai-statistics-2024/
- Ariel Brown video commentary
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