
Go-To-Market (GTM) teams face many hurdles,
not the least of which is how to integrate and use artificial intelligence (AI), according to How Go-To-Market Strategies Are Evolving With AI, a study from Aptitude, conducted by
Ascend2.
Of the B2B professionals surveyed, 29% are using AI to a great extent, and 48% to some extent. Another 21% are using it very little, and only 2% are not
using it at all.
Add it all up, and 77% of GTM leaders with access to AI are not yet using it to great extent on their jobs.
What’s holding them back? They
say:
- We’re not sure where to implement AI or how it adds value — 51%
- Concerns with data security —
41%
- Lack of leadership buy-in — 34%
- Lack of technology/solutions that use it — 26%
- Issues with
compliance/legal — 21%
- Too difficult to implement — 19%
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What’s more, those using AI are fairly new to the process. Of
those polled, 30% have been utilizing it for less than six months and 54% have been using it for a period of time from six months to a year, with only 16% using it for more than one year.
But they are racing to catch up: 36% say their budgets for AI will increase significantly in the coming year, and 59% expect moderate increases. Only 5% foresee moderate decreases.
How are they using AI? They answer:
- Measurement and analytics — 47%
- Market research and analysis — 43%
- Target audience segmentation — 42%
- Marketing, sales, and customer success — 42%
- Content creation —
38%
- Lead generation and conversion — 30%
- Forecasting — 23%
- Testing and
optimization — 27%
- Personalization — 25%
The respondents say that built-in AI technology is better, but not enough teams are using
it.
Those that are say built-in tech provides greater efficiency in:
- Content creation — 86%
- Measurement and analytics — 79%
- Market research and analysis — 78%
- Lead generation and conversion —
76%
- Forecasting — 76%
- Target audience segmentation — 74%
- Testing and optimization
— 70%
- Market, sales, and customer success alignment — 69%
- Personalization — 60%
- Messaging and positioning — 57%
In each of these cases, built-in AI far outperforms technology that does not have it.
In general, GTM teams are
trying to achieve the following:
- Efficiency — 56%
- Target audience segmentation — 42%
- Market research
and analysis — 40%
- Data utilization — 39%
- Forecasting — 37%
- Channel
management — 25%
- Tech stack optimization — 15%
- Data hygiene — 13%
But they
see room for improvement, depending on which department they are in.
Marketing
- Target audience segmentation —
56%
- Efficiency — 47%
- Market research and analysis — 45%
Sales
- Efficiency — 62%
- Market research and analysis — 42%
- Forecasting — 39%
Customer Success
- Efficiency — 60%
- Target audience segmentation — 44%
- Data utilization
— 44%
Ascend2 surveyed 275 Go-To-Market leaders in management roles and above in September 2023.. They work in companies that focus on B2B channels.