作者：Anika Sharma, Markets Head - CMO Services, LTIMindtree

文章經陳克思翻譯和編輯：

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AI 帶來了營銷領域的巨變。

人工智能（AI）是當今商業環境中創新的代名詞，其是徹底的游戲規則改變者——是效率、超個性化和跨行業預測洞察的推動者。據麥肯錫估計，AI 的綜合價值高達驚人的 4.4 萬億美元，而其中對很大一部分價值是來自于營銷和銷售。

這場變革正在增強營銷能力，并且令人著迷的是，AI正在重新定義首席營銷官（CMO）的角色。

營銷正處于一個關鍵的轉折點。海量數據集的爆炸式增長，加上 AI 驅動的工具，正催化出快速的增長機會。根據Gartner 的 2023 年 CMO 投資與戰略調查顯示，目前營銷預算占公司收入的 9.1%，保持在一個穩定水平。然而，75% 的營銷人員 2025 年的預算會增加，其中 20% 的人預計增幅將超過 20%。此外，LTK 和西北大學 2024 年品牌研究顯示，一半的品牌計劃大幅增加對創作者的投入，這表明數字和個性化營銷投資的趨勢愈發明顯。

事實顯而易見——由 AI 賦能的營銷正在塑造一個未來，而這個未來要求 CMO 具備敏捷性、數據驅動能力和技術素養。

1、CMO 對公司至關重要

從歷史上看，CMO 的核心任務包括三大目標：品牌戰略、客戶參與和推動業務增長。如今，AI 的崛起正在顯著重塑這一角色，使 CMO 能夠利用技術來獲得競爭優勢。

那么變化的核心是什么？那就是數據驅動型營銷的規模和復雜性。

《全球營銷學者期刊》的一項研究揭示了這一點。研究表明，CMO 在高管團隊中的存在與更高的客戶滿意度、市場資本化和股東價值之間存在正相關關系，這進一步證明“CMO 對公司至關重要”。

然而，挑戰依然存在。更大的數據集承諾實現量身定制的客戶互動，但也帶來了物流和技術上的困難。

CMO 不僅需要掌握 AI，還需要學會如何整合孤立的數據、確保數據質量，并創建連貫的系統以實現實時的可操作洞察。

2、數據是一把雙刃劍

海量數據的潛力既是福音也是詛咒。到 2024 年，全球數據量預計將飆升至驚人的 149 澤字節（zettabytes）。為了便于理解，1 澤字節等于 1 萬億千兆字節。這種數據的爆炸為 CMO 提供了前所未有的機會，同時也帶來了深遠的挑戰。

一些最大的障礙包括：

• 數據集成：將來自不同來源的數據整合并不像聽起來那么簡單。格式、平臺和系統的差異可能帶來技術挑戰，需要大量的時間、精力和資源才能讓一切無縫運作并兼容。

• 數據質量：保持數據的清潔和可靠性同樣重要。這意味著要解決重復條目、過時信息和不準確的問題，以確保依賴的洞察力敏銳且能推動有意義的戰略。

• 信息孤島的分散性：分散在各部門之間的數據阻礙了統一的客戶視圖，影響了營銷部門的決策和個人化努力。

要想滿足快速變化的消費者期望，公司面臨巨大的壓力。

如今，消費者要求品牌能夠真實地、大規模地溝通，跨越不同的語言、文化和偏好，而這凸顯了 AI 工具箱在幫助 CMO 簡化數據復雜性方面的重要性。

3、AI 作為 CMO 的強大工具

AI 正在徹底改變營銷人員設計個性化信息、簡化活動流程以及通過精準分析衡量成功的方式。

其最強的兩項能力是定向促銷和大規模內容生成。

在這個時代，兩大強大的創新將品牌與消費者連接在一起：AI 驅動的定向促銷，以及使用生成式 AI 創建和擴展高度相關信息的能力，這些信息具有定制化的語氣、圖像、文案和體驗，并且以高容量和高速度進行生成。

通過機器學習算法，CMO 現在可以利用大數據進行預測分析，以了解客戶行為、創建定向活動并提供超個性化的體驗。

通過 AI 驅動的聊天機器人、自動化內容創建和程序化廣告等工具，人工智能正在提升營銷工作流程并提高生產力。它使 CMO 能夠設計高度定制化的活動，包含獨特的文案、圖像和語氣，并以前所未有的速度和規模交付。

通過實時處理大量數據，AI 為營銷人員提供了以往無法獲得的洞察力。這種分析方法幫助 CMO 做出明智的決策、合理分配預算，并更準確地跟蹤活動表現。

那么，這在營銷實踐中具體是什么樣子的？

• 預測分析：機器學習預測客戶行為，為活動策略提供精準的支持。

• 自動化工具：聊天機器人、程序化廣告和 AI 驅動的內容創建節省時間并提供超個性化的消費者體驗。

• 可擴展的故事講述：AI 使營銷人員能夠與受眾共同創造體驗，建立信任并推動社區驅動的品牌倡導。

然而，在技術效率和創意真實感之間取得平衡至關重要。

雖然 AI 提供了寶貴的數據驅動洞察，但定義有影響力營銷的情感和文化聯系，仍然不可替代地要由人類來完成。

CMO 必須將計算能力與現實世界的直覺相結合，做出既明智又富有同理心的信息決策。

4、展望 2025 年

AI 的發展將繼續改變營銷格局以及 CMO 的職責。

根據 ZoomInfo 的數據，83% 的組織認為 AI 是戰略優先事項，84% 的組織認為 AI 對保持競爭優勢至關重要。

盡管 98% 的營銷人員正在嘗試 AI，但只有不到 30% 的人將其完全融入日常工作中。這為 CMO 提供了重要的機會：在整個組織中引領 AI 的采用。

未來的 CMO 將熟練掌握一種稱為“營銷流動性”的靈活策略，無縫融合自動化解決方案與人類創造力。

技術和人類洞察力的交匯點正是魔法所在，也是持久成功的秘訣。

附原文：

Redefining Leadership: How CMOs Thrive in an AI-Powered Marketing Era

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the poster child for innovation in today’s business landscape. It’s a total game changer—an enabler of efficiencies, hyper-personalization, and predictive insights across industries. McKinsey estimates the generative value of AI at a staggering $4.4 trillion, with a significant portion of that value stemming from marketing and sales. This transformation is definitely augmenting marketing—and fascinating to witness it rewriting the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Marketing is at a pivotal moment. The explosion of massive data sets, layered with AI-driven tools, is catalyzing rapid growth opportunities. Gartner’s 2023 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey shows marketing budgets currently holding steady at 9.1% of company revenue. However, by 2025, 75% of marketers anticipate budget increases, with 20% foreseeing boosts beyond 20%. Additionally, the LTK & Northwestern University 2024 Brand Study reveals that half of brands plan to significantly escalate their spend on creators—indicating a clear trend toward digital and personalized marketing investments.

The truth is undeniable—marketing, powered by AI, is shaping a future that demands agile, data-rich, and technologically adept CMOs.

“The CMO Matters”

Historically, CMOs have been tasked with three core objectives—brand strategy, customer engagement, and driving business growth. Today, the rise of AI is dramatically reshaping this role, enabling CMOs to harness technology to gain a competitive edge. What’s changing? The sheer scale and complexity of data-driven marketing.

A study in the Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing sheds light on this. It shows that the presence of a CMO in the C-suite positively correlates with stronger customer satisfaction, increased market capitalization, and improved shareholder value. It’s further proof that “The CMO matters!”

Yet, challenges remain. Larger data sets promise tailor-made engagement, but they also present logistical and technical difficulties. CMOs must master not only AI but also how to integrate siloed data, ensure quality, and create cohesive systems to realize actionable insights in real-time.

The Double-Edged Sword of Data

The promise of abundant data is both a blessing and a curse. By 2024, global data volumes are forecasted to hit a staggering 149 zettabytes. To put that into perspective, one zettabyte equals a trillion gigabytes. This explosion of data provides CMOs with unprecedented opportunities—and profound challenges.

Some of the biggest hurdles include:

· Data Integration: Bringing data together from various sources isn’t as simple as it sounds. The differences in formats, platforms, and systems can post technical challenges, requiring a lot of time, effort, and resources to make everything work seamlessly and making it compatible.

· Data Quality: Keeping data clean and reliable is just as important. It means tackling issues like duplicate entries, outdated information, and inaccuracies to ensure the insights you rely on are sharp and drive meaningful strategies.

· Fragmented Information Silos: Data dispersed across departments hampers unified customer views, impacting decision-making and personalization efforts in the marketing department.

The pressure to meet rapidly evolving consumer expectations is immense. Consumers now demand brands communicate authentically and at scale, across diverse languages, cultures, and preferences. This underscores the importance of AI’s toolbox in helping CMOs simplify the data complexity.

AI as the CMO’s Power Tool

AI is dramatically changing how marketers craft personalized messages, streamline campaigns, and measure success with precise analytics. Two of its strongest capabilities are targeted promotions and large-scale content generation.

Two powerful innovations connect brands with consumers in this age: AI-driven targeted promotions, and the use of gen AI to create and scale highly relevant messages with bespoke tone, imagery, copy, and experiences at high volume and speed. With machine learning algorithms, CMOs can now utilize large datasets for predictive analytics, to understand customer behavior, create targeted campaigns, and deliver hyper-personalized experiences. Through tools like AI-driven chatbots, automated content creation, and programmatic ads, artificial intelligence is enhancing marketing workflows and boosting productivity. It empowers CMOs to design highly customized campaigns featuring unique copy, imagery, and tone, delivering them at unprecedented speed and scale.

By processing large volumes of data in real-time, AI provides marketers with insights that were impossible to obtain before. This analytical approach helps CMOs make well-informed choices, distribute budgets wisely, and track campaign performance more accurately.

What does this look like in action?

· Predictive Analytics: Machine learning forecasts customer behavior, informing campaign strategies with pinpoint accuracy.

· Automated Tools: Chatbots, programmatic advertising, and AI-powered content creation save time and deliver hyper-personalized consumer experiences.

· Scalable Storytelling: AI enables marketers to co-create experiences with their audiences, building trust and community-driven brand advocacy.

However, the balance between technological efficiency and creative authenticity is crucial. While AI provides invaluable data-driven insights, the emotional and cultural connections that define impactful marketing remain irreplaceably human. CMOs must blend computational power with real-world intuition to make informed and empathetic decisions about messaging.

Looking Ahead to 2025

The evolution of AI will continue to transform both the marketing landscape and the CMO’s responsibilities. According to ZoomInfo, 83% of organizations consider AI a strategic priority, and 84% believe it is critical for maintaining a competitive advantage.

Yet even as 98% of marketers experiment with AI, fewer than 30% have fully integrated it into their everyday workflows. This signals a significant opportunity for CMOs to take the lead in championing AI adoption across their organizations.

The CMO of the future will masterfully balance a flexible strategy known as “marketing fluidity,” seamlessly merging automated solutions with human ingenuity.

The magic—and lasting success—lies in this confluence of technology and human insight.

THE END.