Master existing tools vs invest in new AI technology

AI adoption requires strategic evaluation of existing tools. Greg Kihlström, principal of The Agile Brand, shares expertise on implementing agile approaches to marketing technology operations. He recommends thoroughly understanding current martech capabilities before investing in new AI solutions, as many existing platforms are rapidly incorporating AI features that marketers may be underutilizing. Show Notes Connect With:Greg Kihlström: Website // LinkedInThe MarTech Podcast: Email // LinkedIn // TwitterBenjamin Shapiro: Website // LinkedIn // TwitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast? I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iHereEverything.com.

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  From advertising to software as a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55% to 65% open rate.

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  Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising.

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  Typical lifespan of an article is about 24 to 36 hours.

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  If we're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action, then it's just a matter of timing.

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  Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world-class marketers that use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

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  I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is Greg Kilstrom, the Principal of the Agile Brand and the host of the Agile Brand Podcast, which helps marketing leaders implement agile approaches to marketing technology. And today Greg is going to explain how you can apply agile principles to get more value from your martech stack. A podcast can't go along without us talking about artificial intelligence and specifically with agility, look, you have to be adaptable. So tell me, what's your strategy today? Should you be focused on mastering your existing tools? Or are you advising people to invest in new AI-centric technology?

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  I guess the good news is a lot of AI is being incorporated into existing tools. So maybe a non-answer there a little bit, but I would say you need to have a better understanding of what you currently have before you start tagging on new things. I love playing with all the toys and the new tools and everything like that. So on the one hand, I think it's important to know what's there, but before you start replacing things or tacking things on, just get to know what you have and its capability. You might be surprised that the platform that you have has some AI or some agentic feature or something like that that they didn't have two months ago. So get to know what you have. And then even if you're in a composable environment where picking the best solutions is the purpose of that, still understand what you currently have.

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  It's waste at most or at the very least to just not use everything that you're already paying for. But again, there are benefits to using more of a single product versus using a little bit of multiple things.

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  I think if it's not broke, don't fix it. But when you're trying to solve a new problem, there's no reason that you shouldn't be using the most advanced technology. And I think about how we work where now when it comes down to creating a strategy brief, I used to sit down for days, weeks, a long time to sit down, think, do competitive analysis and figure out how to position a podcast. Now I've got a GPT, I've got a series of bots and LLMs that essentially create the initial brief and then I'm using my thoughts to compile the research. What you're doing can be made more efficient. So when you're trying to do new tasks or when you feel like something is taking too long, start to rely on artificial intelligence to expedite the process. And that wraps up this episode of the Martech Podcast.

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  Thanks for listening to my conversation with Greg Kelstrom, the principal at the Agile Brand and the host of the Agile Brand Podcast. If you'd like to get in touch with Greg, you can find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes, or you could visit martechpod.com. Of course, you could visit his company's website, which is theagilebrand.com. And if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app and we'll be back in your feed or on YouTube next week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

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  Thanks for listening to the MarTech Podcast, an I Hear Everything production. Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iHearEverything.com.