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Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot's CMO (scaled marketing from startup to $30B leader), told me something uncomfortable for marketers:
"The types of metrics that people cared about a couple years ago are far less relevant today than they have ever been."
Marketing math is getting rewritten with AI. And Kipp says it's the most fun he's had in the last decade. He was my guest for episode 9 of the PeerSignal.org podcast.
What we covered:
Why he's 10X more productive than pre-AI (with details).
His "Express, Feedback, Tailor, Amplify" framework for AI campaigns.
How they increased email engagement 100-400% with AI personalization.
How he gets his 600-person team obsessed with AI.
Where smart CMOs are investing or cutting back.
Why "taste at scale" will separate winners from losers.
And so much more.
My favorite takeaways:
1️⃣ Better, faster, AND cheaper isn't a trade-off anymore.
When someone brings Kipp an idea, he asks: "Is it better, faster, AND cheaper?" If not, he won't do it. Most marketers still think you have to pick two. They're wrong.
2️⃣ AI isn't just automation, it's creative leverage.
AI models are trained on everything that's already been created. If you're still running campaigns the same way you did 2 years ago, you're already behind. He wants humans who can create with AI.
3️⃣ Taste is the new competitive advantage.
"As much as I want you to learn AI, I want you to learn how to have good taste." Most marketers think prompting is the hard part. They're wrong. The hard part is knowing good from garbage.
4️⃣ We're still early in the AI wave.
Search engines were around for years before SEO was born. Hubspot built a movement on top of this years later. ChatGPT launched 2 years ago. We're still very, very early (as easy it is to feel behind).
Here's the uncomfortable truth most marketing leaders won't admit:
The internet is littered with people selling "copy my exact system to become AI-native." Reality: There's no playbook, no experts. This is all being figured out in real time.
People like Kipp are curious learning machines. They try a lot. They find leverage in surprising places. They push and pull constantly. These are the people to study.
What's your take. Does Kipp's thesis on AI + marketing track for you? Or does this sound like hype?
Let me know in the comments.
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