AI’s prediction for B2B marketing in 2023

According to Douglas Adams, in his hilarious novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

But what happens if we ask Artificial Intelligence to predict insights for B2B marketing in 2023? Executive Chairman Timo Kruskopf from BBN partner Luxid Group was intrigued to find out.

In November 2022, OpenAI introduced a long-form question-answering AI called ChatGPT that answers complex questions conversationally.

It’s a revolutionary technology because it’s trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question. Many users are awed at its ability to provide human-quality responses, inspiring the feeling that it may eventually have the power to disrupt how humans interact with computers and change how information is retrieved.

Can AI predict trends in the future?

 Timo, director of a leading B2B marketing agency in Finland, was curious to determine if this AI model could predict next year’s B2B marketing landscape. He started by framing the question: “What are the top ten key success factors from all articles about B2B marketing in the year 2023?”

ChatGPT politely responded:

“I’m sorry, but as a language model, I don’t have access to future events and cannot provide information about key success factors for B2B marketing in 2023.”

But, of course, ChatGPT’s source data only extends to the year 2021; however, it continued to answer:

“I can provide some general insights about factors that might influence the success of a B2B marketing strategy.”

This list is the response, a pretty accurate ten-point checklist for any reasonably competent B2B marketer to remember.

1. Clearly defined target audience: It’s essential to have a deep understanding of your target audience, including their needs, pain points, and decision-making processes. 
2. Strong value proposition: Your value proposition should communicate the benefits of your product or service and how it addresses the needs of your target audience.
3. Effective lead generation: Developing a robust lead-generation strategy can help you attract and convert potential customers; This may involve content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.
4. Nurturing leads: Once you have generated leads, it’s important to nurture them through the sales funnel with targeted messaging and personalised content.
5. Strong relationships with customers: Building strong relationships with your customers are vital to maintaining their loyalty and generating repeat business; This may involve providing excellent customer service and developing personalised communication and marketing strategies.
6. Data-driven decision-making: Leveraging data and analytics can help you make informed decisions about your marketing strategy and optimise your efforts for maximum impact.
7. Integration of traditional and digital marketing channels: A well-rounded marketing strategy should include a mix of traditional and digital marketing channels, such as in-person events, email campaigns, and social media advertising.
8. Strong brand positioning: Differentiating your brand from competitors and communicating your brand message is essential for success in the B2B market.
9. Collaboration with the sales team: Aligning your marketing efforts with the goals and strategies of the sales team can help ensure that leads are effectively converted into customers.
10. Continuous improvement: Success in B2B marketing requires constantly staying up-to-date with industry trends, gathering customer feedback, and adjusting your strategy as needed.

Empowered B2B marketing success factors for 2023

Although ChatGPT does not have a vision beyond 2021, could it provide foresight for the year to come? Next, Timo Googled “B2B marketing trends for 2023” and copied the resulting textual content from the first two result pages. Then asked ChatGPT to “write ten top success factors from the following content:” and gave 40 pages of content for it to chew through. Out came the following list.

1. Investing in brand building
2. Grounding creative risks and experimentation within data-informed guidelines
3. Leveraging existing content and repurposing it for new campaigns
4. Focusing on high-impact tactics with low costs
5. Collaborating with other teams and departments to align marketing efforts with business goals
6. Utilising social media and digital channels for cost-effective and targeted marketing
7. Prioritising lead generation and nurturing activities
8. Creating and nurturing a strong company culture
9. Leveraging partnerships and collaborations with other companies or organisations
10. Being strategic and data-driven in decision-making and resource allocation

Most of these points align with the responses Timo recently gathered from our global BBN partners that we published in a previous article, which focused on how to succeed in the future downturn.

We’ve come quite a long way from playing tic-tac-toe on our home computer, and progress is accelerating at an astonishing pace. So, Timo suggests that this should be point #1 in the previous list: “Leverage the capabilities of AI”.

About the author Timo Kruskopf is a founding member of Luxid, BBN Finland. Timo has built branding and communications strategies for several domestic and international companies. He now leads in the agency as a senior strategic planner, customer experience developer and contact strategy developer.