Future Proof Your Marketing Career in 2024

This Week

• Long Read: Future Proof Your Marketing Career in 2024

• Around the Web: Copywriting Comparison Guide, Design Platform Battles, GenAI for Marketers

• Invest: AI Valuation, Unicorn Growth

• News: CES activations, AI Jobs Impact, AI Predicts Your Death

Future Proof Your Marketing Career in 2024

How to Maximize AI for Guaranteed Job Security

The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has sparked a mix of excitement and anxiety — especially in marketing and sales. According to a January 2024 AuthorityHacker survey, more than half of marketers are concerned about the threat to their jobs. 

The common fear is that AI will replace humans, rendering all their hard-won skills obsolete.

But is that really going to happen?

To find out, read on at Medium.

The Ultimate Copywriting Guide… and It’s Free

The Ultimate AI Copywriting Guide for Marketers is specifically designed for forward-thinking marketers and innovative content creators ready to integrate the transformative power of artificial intelligence into their copywriting processes.

Download the guide, and you’ll get:

• Handpicked Tools: Each tool has been carefully selected based on performance, user-friendliness, and innovative features, ensuring you get access to the crème de la crème of AI copywriting technology.

• Detailed Comparison: Find detailed comparisons on key features, pricing, and unique selling points, enabling you to make informed decisions that align with your specific marketing goals.

• A Time-Saving Resource: Say farewell to the hassle of sifting through endless options. Our spreadsheet offers a consolidated, at-a-glance view of the top AI tools in the market.

Download your free copy at Gumroad.

Battle of Design Platforms

Design software company InVision raised $350M and announced its shuttering at the end of 2024. The company last raised $115M in 2018 and reached unicorn status in 2017.

InVision faced an increasingly competitive design software landscape with 800-pound gorilla Adobe at the top and then insurgents Figma and Canva. Adobe acquired Abstract in January 2022. (Adobe attempted to acquire Figma for $20B before the deal fell through due to regulatory hurdles in December 2023.)

Can anyone catch Canva and Figma?

Read the full article at CB Insights.

From HBR: A GenAI Framework for Marketers

A recent McKinsey survey revealed that only 10%–14% of companies consistently deploy generative AI in their marketing initiatives.

Why so few?

Oguz A. Acar, Chair in Marketing at King’s Business School, thinks marketers don’t know where to start.

He proposes a four-step framework called DARE for harnessing AI in marketing.

• Decompose Roles: Break down marketing roles into specific tasks. Understanding the components of a role makes it more evident where to apply AI.

• Analyze Tasks: Analyze each task to assess the potential opportunities and risks of using AI — this involves scoring tasks based on their promise and perils.

• Realize Priorities: Chart tasks on a matrix comparing opportunities versus risks. This categorization helps identify which tasks are high vs low priority, which require caution, and which should maintain the status quo.

• Evaluate Iteratively: Revisit and adjust the AI integration strategy to ensure it remains effective and aligned with marketing goals.

Read the full article at Harvard Business Review.

AI Brandpalooza

Everything was AI at CES, the Verge reports, but not in a good way. 

Many of the AI features marketed - robotics, computer vision - weren’t the AI the general public knows and understands. But because AI has entered the public consciousness as cool and hip, companies adopt it wherever possible. 

“There is a conflation now of generative AI and other AI that could muddle the field a little bit,” Arun Chandrasekaran, an analyst at Gartner, said. “Marketers might be shooting themselves in the foot when they advertise something that ends up not being what people expected.” 

Read the full article at The Verge. 

The AI Premium

AI advances, such as the emergence of generative AI, have fueled investors eager to capitalize on the trend, and corporate attention to AI has skyrocketed. 

If you’re on the hunt for funding in 2024, it pays to highlight your AI capabilities in that investor presentation, and if you don’t have AI capabilities, it might be time to start building them.

Get all the details at CB Insights.

Unicorn Growth

In 2023, the global landscape of startup companies known as unicorns, valued at over one billion US dollars, grew to 1,361, a slight increase from 1,312 in 2022. The United States leads the pack with 653 unicorns, including major players like SpaceX, Instacart, Stripe, Epic Games, and Databricks. Collectively, US unicorns boast a combined value of $360 billion.

For the complete list, visit World Population Review.

News

• The Top 5 AI Marketing Activations at CES. Read more at AdAge.

• Predictive AI Market Sales Likely to Total USD 108.0 Billion by 2033. Read more.

• AI to hit 40% of jobs and worsen inequality. Read more at the BBC.

• A new AI predicts when we’ll die. It says even more about how we live. Read more at the Washington Post.