AI in Marketing – Transforming Your Entire Workflow, Not Just Generating Content

Beyond Content Creation, Toward Full Workflow Transformation

You’re a marketing leader in a fast-paced world, and you’re probably seeing AI all around you. There’s a ton of hype in the market. It’s interesting for sure — but it can also feel overwhelming. And, given the reaction to Coca-Cola’s TV key ad for the 2024 holiday season, which was wholly reliant on AI but, according to many critics, looks plastic-y and fake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsX1KgSbTN4), how do you keep your marketing from being, for lack of a better term, soulless?* (Not to mention, for brand experts out there, it seems like the logo on the trucks change with each "shot.")

In other words, how do you ensure AI works across every stage of your marketing, helping you reach your goals without sacrificing brand voice or human connection?

AI has reshaped content creation, but the real potential lies in transforming the entire marketing workflow. This is about doing more than automating tasks; it’s about giving you time to focus on what really matters: deepening your own marketing muscle, building relationships, driving growth, and delivering value.

This is the first of three related articles about AI, workflows, and process improvement for marketers.

AI-Driven Workflows: The Real Game-Changer for Modern Marketing Leaders

If you’re like many marketing leaders, you know that today’s competitive edge (NB: this is my human cliché, not an AI cliché!) isn’t about quick-fix solutions or automation alone. It’s about streamlining every step of your process, from planning to performance, with AI-enabled workflows that keep human insight, personality, and, yes, soul in the driver’s seat.

1. Planning with Precision – AI can’t replace strategic insight, but it can deliver deeper data, which makes your decisions faster and smarter. Even basic ChatGPT can provide data-rich insights, but your experience—knowing your customers and market expectations—is what makes that data meaningful. Experience matters in connecting the dots in consumer and B2B marketing. At BrownRobinson, we’re integrating the findings from each tactic back into a collective whole to help clients focus on the big picture while executing tactics for each channel at scale…not just from content creation, but checking and rechecking each step of the process in delivering the right returns on marketing spend.
2. Execution at Scale, without Losing Your Voice – AI allows you to reach a wider audience, but it takes your unique brand and voice to engage them. While you can “train” a chat agent to mimic your voice or brand standard, the reality is, strategy, reason, and emotion still needs a human touch at each step. It’s still an experimentation process of art and science. In our client work, we’re not just automating content and tasks, we’re reworking the processes themselves with AI and client marketing teams are able to be more thoughtful, strategic, and get their mountain of work done. (Tongue-in-cheek NB: Marketing pros seem to always have just a little too much work on the plate at all times…and occasionally, just occasionally, feel overwhelmed).
3. Continuous Optimization without Losing Touch – AI analytics tools provide powerful insights, but interpreting data in a meaningful way is key. Part of our BrownRobinson 5Focus methodology helps clients navigate these insights with growth, revenue, and brand (awareness) goals in mind, fine-tuning campaigns dynamically and in real time.

Why It Matters: Real Results, Real Connections

It’s about giving you back time to lead strategically. In our client work, we expect a 4-6x cost efficiency through our approach, allowing you to focus on delivering the best to your customers while scaling efficiently. It’s not about more tech and tools, it’s about being more efficient on spend and predictability for revenue and pipeline growth.

Conclusion: A Hybrid Model for Growth

AI and human expertise can work together, and your strategy deserves both. Modern companies are ramping up on this approach.

Many of us have played with an AI agent (e.g. ChatGPT). The next evolution will be all about reengineering steps of the process with AI complements, not replacements. This isn’t about losing your role to technology; it’s about amplifying your role with the support (automated, creative, efficiency) you need.

‍

* I love AI obviously, but I miss the soul of Coca-Cola holiday commercials like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BrG4BwUrNg -- And most shots are less than two seconds here too...a limitation to AI video gen.

‍