GrowthPath Partners LLC

Empowering Purpose-Driven Growth

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B2B Marketing’s Next Year: AI & Zero-Click Search

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Published on 2025-02-17 14:13

Join Sharad Verma and me on Tuesday, February 25 at 11 am PST/ 2 pm EST for a deep dive into the questions that will influence B2B marketing over the next year.

  • What happens to brand-building in the zero-click search era?

  • How can you rethink your content strategy now so that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude know enough about you to recommend you to potential buyers?

  • How should your content change and what kind of content will move the needle?

Register with the link in the comments.

AI & Custom GPTs: Scale Your Marketing Team & Results

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Take the incomparable Audrey Chia and me for a few minutes on your hikes, runs, and drives, this long President’s Day weekend.

We discussed using AI as a thought partner and a teammate, not just a content creator or Q&A machine.

I demo a custom GPT (AI built to do a specific task) that helps create targeted content for specific buyer personas, and share the exact instructions used to build it.

See the YouTube and podcast links in Audrey’s post below and in the comments.

Want to see AI transformation in action? Check out this case study of a lean marketing team that built custom GPTs to handle repetitive tasks.

They scaled to a 45-member team (25 human, 20 AI) in just 6 months, achieving:

  • ► 35% better campaign performance

  • ► 98% qualified lead accuracy

  • ► 75% faster content creation

Check out the case study and step-by-step playbook here: https://lnkd.in/eUPHvYnE

Tune in here:

– YouTube – https://lnkd.in/gbkJQqsF

– Podcast – https://lnkd.in/gsqixHmQ

High Schoolers’ AI: Capturing Hearts and Minds

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My best AI insights this week came from high school students. My ♥️ is full.

I judged practice presentations for upcoming state DECA competitions at my daughter’s high school where students discuss their solutions to business challenges.

To my surprise, 3 of the 5 teams chose AI-focused projects for local small businesses like real estate and pet boarding companies.

What gives me a lot of hope is that this high school is teaching AI, not banning it.

Learning that I work with AI, the business teacher asked if I’d speak to the students about responsible AI use and real-life applications. I immediately said yes.

These 16-18 year olds solved real business problems with AI. In 10 mins, they presented research, plans, and ROI calculations. They understood AI could improve business outcomes, not just productivity.

Their poise and business knowledge impressed me. But my consistent feedback for all teams: Solutions must inspire change in mindset and behavior.

Not everyone has the same understanding or acceptance of AI. Even the best solutions fail if we don’t build trust and bring people along.

This is a change management challenge. Understanding concerns. Building confidence. Creating trust.

As AI democratizes capabilities, our human connections matter more than ever.

Companies value this balanced approach. A global study from Microsoft/LinkedIn showed that 70% of execs prefer to hire candidates with AI expertise over those with industry experience.

That’s why teaching AI in schools matters. We’re preparing students to value their uniquely human skills while working with both human and AI teammates.

On this Valentine’s Day, success with AI comes down to capturing both ♥️♥️ and minds.

Every org faces this challenge: bringing people along on the journey.

Share how you’re building trust in your AI initiatives.

#AIinEducation #ChangeManagement #FutureOfWork

AI insights and high school students working on projects

If you’re interested to learn more about AI in Education and ChatGPT Edu, listen to this 8-min segment from Paul Roetzer’s and Mike Kaput’s The AI Show Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyBMZSvQzKA

AI Tools in Marketing: Personal vs Company

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AI Tools in Marketing: Personal vs Company

Published on 2025-02-13 14:30

Last month, I shared my personal AI tech stack (https://lnkd.in/gb-yiZgM). As an AI and exec advisor, my personal stack is my work stack. $70/month covers what I need (for now ;-)).

Marketing teams face a different reality. Some have AI tools, training, and policies. Others don’t. Many marketing professionals aren’t waiting.

For Marketing Teams and Leaders:

  • Start with your current martech stack. Most marketing tools already have AI features. Your team knows these tools. You’ll get results faster.

  • Add one or two frontier model paid subscriptions (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) to explore what’s possible. They lead innovation and many specialized AI tools build on them.

  • If your current stack and frontier models don’t meet all your needs, then eval specialized AI tools. Choose stable companies with defensible moats that you can trust.

Create clear guidelines. Train your team on responsible AI use. Inspire with real-life AI use cases for each function. Listen to their ideas. Their experience will help build better policies.

For Marketing Professionals:

If your company provides AI tools, use them. Learn them well. Show what’s possible.

If not, consider personal AI tools based on:

  • Your work and role needs

  • Your strengths and gaps

  • Your learning and collaboration style

  • Your budget

  • Key strengths and complementary abilities of various tools

Invest in yourself. Build expertise through learning and experimentation. Even personal use cases can inspire work ideas. Here are examples:

Focus on capabilities and use cases. Document what works. Know which tools solve which marketing problems.

Keep company work on company tools. But don’t just wait for guidelines. Use this as an opportunity to drive change, make a bigger impact, and progress your career. Share your insights and inspire others. Help create smart policies.

What’s your experience balancing personal and company AI tools? What does your AI tech stack look like?

#AITools #MartechStack #AIUseCases #ResponsibleAI

When AI Filters Brands: Will Marketing Go Physical?

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What if AI becomes the new gatekeeper of brand perception, forming opinions about your brand before humans ever do?

Had this wild idea watching ChatGPT Operator demo ordering pizza and groceries, while Gemini and ChatGPT are already doing deep research and analysis for us.

These AI agents will soon filter our content, manage our research, and influence our buying decisions. They’ll analyze thousands of reviews, social posts, and brand content in seconds. They will form opinions before a human sees anything. (Here’s an example: https://lnkd.in/ghFDH4cr)

So I wonder… will this push marketing to the physical world? Will brands find new ways to reach people directly to avoid being completely filtered out?

We might see more:

  • Physical ad placements in business districts and transit hubs

  • High-impact direct mail campaigns

  • In-person industry events and conferences

  • Executive briefing centers to showcase innovation

Maybe as AI gets better at managing our digital lives, brands will fight harder for these direct human touchpoints. After all, humans still make the final call.

Just thinking out loud here. But I’m curious… how are you thinking about maintaining human connections when AI increasingly stands between you brand and your audience?

#B2BMarketing #AIAgents #FutureOfMarketing #HumanCentered

I shared some related thoughts here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7295448472105754625?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7295448472105754625%2C7295486204987277312%29&replyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7295448472105754625%2C7295517573930962944%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287295486204987277312%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7295448472105754625%29&dashReplyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287295517573930962944%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7295448472105754625%29