How do you think ChatGPT will impact how you do demand generation?

I recently posted that I haven't seen anything capture the publics imagination like ChatGTP since the first iPhone was announced. I'm tempted to say that generative AI has surpassed even that in the buzz and hype it's created. That seems well deserved however, it is already impacting demand in a number of ways I can see and I can imagine there's many more I haven't seen and infinitely more we haven't made real yet.

The first impact is on the execution and scale of demand gen marketing. Just about every one of my peers is experimenting with it in some way to increase scale. I see companies using it to write social posts, emails, ads, blog content, etc. Some very lightly, some are full tilt publishing thousands of articles generated by it without so much as a review. Even if you take a safe route you can still use it to help generate the first versions of a lot of what we do, which will significantly shorten how long it takes to get stuff done. In fact, the first study on this shows a 14% efficiency and effectiveness boost.

Another impact is search. And this one scares me a little. Microsoft has already integrated it into Bing. I'm sure more will come. Why this scares me is that many companies rely on the traffic they get from search and the next step they can get someone to take on their website. With ChatGPT answering the search query many users won't need to visit the site at all. Imagine for example that you tell Bing "I need a New York cheesecake recipe?" In the past the result would likely be a recipe website, on Google the top result is allrecipes.com, but now the result is a plain text recipe without ads, without the inevitable "history of cheesecake" intro that SEO focused websites have to add to their content to rank. That's great for users but now the recipe website can't entice you to buy that mixer you've always wanted, losing their revenue.

The third is enablement and support of customers. The models are incredibly accurate about how to do even some complex tasks like coding, or product specific tasks. I've literally had them help me write code that fully functions. If you have a product or service that users need to understand or might need a little help using you used to have to throw people at a chat window on your website. Now you can start with generative AI and it will likely cover the majority of questions your customer will ask.

Now, it wouldn't be fair to answer this question by myself, so let's ask ChatGPT4 (yes I'm paying personally for access and I'd recommend it to others).

Prompt: How do you think ChatGPT will impact how you do demand generation?

As an AI language model, I don't "do" demand generation myself, but I can provide you with insights on how ChatGPT might impact demand generation for businesses and marketing professionals.

1. Content Creation and Optimization: ChatGPT can help create and optimize various types of content, such as blog posts, social media updates, and email campaigns. By using the AI's natural language capabilities, marketers can generate high-quality, engaging content that aligns with their target audience's interests and preferences, resulting in increased traffic and lead generation.

2. Personalization: ChatGPT can enable more personalized marketing efforts by analyzing customer data and tailoring content to specific segments or individual users. This level of personalization can lead to higher engagement rates, better customer experiences, and improved conversion rates.

3. A/B Testing: ChatGPT can assist in creating multiple variations of marketing content, allowing businesses to conduct A/B testing more efficiently. By identifying the most effective messaging and content, marketers can optimize their demand generation campaigns for better results.

4. Chatbot Integration: ChatGPT can be integrated into chatbots to improve customer interactions on websites or social media platforms. By offering personalized responses and engaging with users in real-time, chatbots can help capture leads, answer questions, and even guide users through the sales funnel.

5. Social Media Monitoring: ChatGPT can be used to analyze social media conversations and identify trends, sentiment, and user preferences. By gaining insights into what potential customers are discussing and looking for, marketers can tailor their demand generation strategies to better target their audience.

6. Market Research and Analysis: ChatGPT can help with market research and analysis by gathering and synthesizing data from various sources, such as competitor websites, industry reports, and customer feedback. This information can help businesses identify gaps in the market, new opportunities, and areas for improvement, ultimately informing their demand generation strategy.

7. Time and Cost Savings: By automating various tasks related to content creation, personalization, and analysis, ChatGPT can help businesses save time and resources, allowing marketing teams to focus on higher-value tasks, such as strategy development and relationship building.

While ChatGPT offers numerous benefits for demand generation, it's essential to remember that AI is a tool to support marketing professionals, not replace them. Human expertise, creativity, and strategy will remain crucial in developing and executing successful demand generation campaigns.

I believe everyone in demand generation should be testing ChatGPT. The main way I see it impacting how I do demand gen is by serving as an assistant. It helps me be more efficient and provides a head start, rather than starting from a blank page.

From my perspective, it’s not so much about if, but rather how it will impact demand gen. Everything, from content creation to keyword research and everything in between, is likely to change. Consider this as an opportunity to free up time for other tasks.