Ad-Tech Experts Weigh In on Using GenAI
“Experiments are easy, but scale is hard.” That’s according to Jennifer Fleck, Senior Principal at Slalom Consulting, who talked about the challenge of scaling GenAI initiatives. The key is in balancing innovation, risk and feasibility, she said.
“Most of the GenAI we see happening at enterprise organizations right now is an ambitious idea that stays in POC purgatory,” she said. “Understanding that scaling AI requires people, process, data, and technology foundations is paramount to success.”
Fleck is one of several executives whose observations were included in a listicle, compiled by Amperity titled “Practical Advice from Industry Experts to Achieve GenAI Success.” Executives from Amperity Microsoft, The Trade Desk, and Forrester also weighed in.
Fleck advised companies using GenAI to focus on three key areas to drive value in terms of productivity: Using existing processes but doing them faster, improving those processes even just incrementally without worrying about scaling, and disruption (changing the essence of your business.).
Amperity is a customer data platform that uses AI and machine learning to gather data from myriad sources and ensure it is the most accurate so that clients can activate on that data to improve customer engagement and drive growth. Clients pay a subscription and implementation fee to use the platform. Amperity’s data includes customer profiles that can enable personalized experiences in marketing campaigns.
Amperity’s clients include Alaska Airlines, Brooks Running, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Seattle Sounders, SPARC Group, and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Multi-location marketers can start with Amperity’s platform with small, measurable use cases like subject-line optimization or localized email content to gain clear metrics for measuring success across different locations. After testing and refining strategies specific to each location, they can scale and deploy those strategies to more locations.
Clients can use feedback loops to continuously refine AI-generated content, adapting it to local preferences. And here is where human oversight is crucial to ensure AI-generated content maintains quality and relevance. Human feedback helps refine AI-driven initiatives, enhance segmentation and messaging strategies, and allows marketers to understand capabilities and limitations in a controlled environment before scaling.
Joyce Gordon, Head of Generative AI at Amperity, said companies should start with small, measurable use cases. “I recommend starting with a small use case that’s highly measurable and one that doesn’t require major change. One place where marketers have seen a lot of success is just with subject line optimization or optimizing the body of emails or paid media ads. Since you can have a human in the loop here, it’s a great opportunity to experiment with creating different segmentation strategies and different messages. And it’s also really easy to measure and determine if those approaches are working or not.”
Natalie Kansteiner, Director of Data Partnerships at The Trade Desk, recommends using AI as an assistant. “At The Trade Desk, we see AI as a powerful co-pilot in digital advertising, transforming complex tasks into streamlined processes. To start, focus on leveraging AI for data analysis and audience segmentation. Use AI tools, like Koa AI, to extract insights from vast datasets, ensuring precise targeting and higher engagement rates. Employ real-time optimization to refine campaigns as they run, boosting performance and cost efficiency.”
Be prepared to pivot. That’s the advice from Jay Pattisall, VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester and Lisa Gately, Principal Analyst at Forrester. Their report “Advance GenAI Marketing From Pilot Projects To Proficiency” stresses the importance of adaptability in the rapidly changing world of AI.
“GenAI adoption involves managing persistent change and turning setbacks into successes,” the report said. “Promote and reward adaptability within the marketing organization as your pilot projects reveal what’s viable and the best uses. Encourage marketers to share what they’ve learned, including areas that aren’t the best use cases. Your team will thrive.”
Work backwards from unmet needs and opportunities, said Mike Edmonds, Sr. Director of AI Strategy, Global Retail and Consumer Goods, Microsoft.
“The features and capabilities of generative AI are incredible, and with the exponential pace of change and advancements, the capabilities to come will be even more impressive,” he said. “Brands and businesses that utilize these powerful capabilities to unlock productivity, unleash creativity, and augment human potential will have the biggest impact.”
He said the Copilot metaphor at Microsoft references the company’s technology stack and inspires brands and businesses “to explore how every person and organization on the planet can achieve more in the era of AI transformation.”
But foremost, marketers must understand and address the specific needs and opportunities within their target audiences to boost productivity and creativity before they look at scaling.
