How does B2B technology communication and marketing look like in the age of AI? And how does the constant change in the technology industry affect the communication and marketing environment? Netprofile set out to scan the horizon. The answers of top professionals highlighted ethical questions, cybersecurity, differentiation, and the allocation of resources.
Netprofile decided to look into the future and interviewed 21 Communications and Marketing executives of B2B technology companies in Northern and Central Europe. The results are summarized in the Insight Track 2024 report. Netprofile’s findings shed light on the impact of the tectonic shifts on the marcomms industry, business, and society.
The interviewees describe the impact of generative AI on B2B technology communications and marketing as revolutionary. All 100% of the respondents said artificial intelligence already strongly impacts communications and marketing success. However, effectively leveraging AI to target and personalize messages requires effort.
"The key challenge with AI is to find the right balance for its use since the available efficiency gains are growing rapidly and strongly. The most dramatic estimate we received was that AI will automate up to 30–40% of communications and marketing tasks. AI's power use juxtaposes the growing demand for quality and expertise in content production. Credibility, trustworthiness, and insight continue to be the winning formula in the tech sector," says Juha Frey, CEO of Netprofile.
The economic low conjuncture does not encourage realism regarding expectations for communications and marketing. In a best-case scenario, AI implementation increases efficiency in communications and marketing without compromising quality. However, the gain necessitates fast action to reskill the teams in agencies and in-house.
Human touch is going nowhere – quite the contrary
Differentiation is a constant challenge in the B2B technology sector. To stand out, enterprises must speak to top experts as individuals and avoid professional jargon in their language, favoring authentic, comprehensible, and emotive messaging. In communications and marketing, quality, not quantity, distinguishes winners from losers.
Corporate marcomms channels are in turmoil; a staggering 0% of the interviewees planned to increase their investment in traditional media advertising. Rather, 81% said they would increase their investment in thought leadership, which they see as a key enabler and accelerator of deeper customer relationships.
"62% of our interviewees pointed out the 3-year marcomms horizon is unclear. Communications and marketing teams need to evolve in sync with technology. As AI runs routine tasks, human strategic insight gains more and more value," says Jirimiko Oranen, Strategy Director at Netprofile.
As with any technological development, AI has ethical issues. It is imperative to ensure that AI does not produce biased or ethically questionable content. Additionally, cyber security is an increasingly important facet of corporate responsibility, which communications and marketing must account for in their planning.
"As AI makes work faster and cheaper, the need increases to distinguish content requiring deep expertise from run-of-the-mill copy. AI helps raise the average level of content production. However, top-level performance will continue to require human insight and creativity in the future, too," Juha Frey says.
How should communications and marketing better leverage AI? And how do recent geopolitical developments and increasing cyber threats impact companies? You will find the answer to these and many other questions in the Insight Track 2024 report!
For the report, Netprofile conducted semi-structured, in-depth thematic interviews with communications and marketing executives operating in the Nordic and continental European markets. For all questions, the interviewees were asked to consider their responses within a 3-year time span, from 2024 to 2027.
