Beware of AI Hype—Are You Being Misled by Clever Marketing?

This week on Funnel Frontier: Is it really AI or just basic automation? Here's how to spot true AI and steer clear of costly marketing traps. Plus, explore Zoho's latest products and AI tools revealed at Zoholics 2024 in Austin, Texas.

This week:

• Quantifying the importance of AI

• Zoholics 24 recap 

• B2B Marketers: Stop all the content creating (via IDC)

• Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce

• Aspiring to agile product management (via monday.com)

Stat of the Week 

CRM spend per employee is projected to hit $36.88 by 2028. (Statista)

Quantifying the importance of AI

With AI poised to reach a $15.7 trillion slice of the global economy by 2030, it's no wonder everyone wants a piece of the action. 

According to Grand View Research, the AI market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 36.6% from 2024 to 2030. MarketsandMarkets reckons it’s more like 35.7%.

Splitting the difference, it’s clear AI is not to be ignored, overcooked hype notwithstanding. 

MarketsandMarkets’ new report suggests that AI integration with edge computing will have edge AI algorithms running on local devices with lower latency and more efficient data processing. Meanwhile, multimodal and context-aware AI seem to be “hot bets.”

Yet, as a recent HubSpot-penned piece notes, companies are slapping AI labels on their products faster than you can say “machine learning.” 

This phenomenon of “AI washing” sees companies exaggerate AI capabilities to ride the hype train. For example, a chatbot claiming to be AI-powered might just be running on basic automation.

This misrepresentation has real consequences. It dilutes trust, confuses consumers, and even attracts regulatory scrutiny. The SEC and FTC are cracking down on companies that mislead with AI claims, issuing hefty fines and bans.

So how should a normal person-in-biz deal with the zeitgeist? 

The answer is a fuddy-duddy one: the next time you see an AI claim, dig a little deeper; scrutinize that boilerplate. What you find might just be marketing fluff in a high-tech wrapper. 

TL;DR - While the value of AI products is proven and improving, right now there’s boomtown shenanigans afoot. Make sure you’re getting the real faux-intelligence deal!

The Week @ CRM.org

HubSpot Spotlight June 2024. Keeping up with HubSpot updates can feel like trying to drink from a firehose. Now you can sip at your own pace.

CRM vs CMS. It's like asking if you need a butler or a librarian—one handles your customer drama, the other sorts your digital mess.

Weekly Bloom

Better User Onboarding 101. Good user onboarding is like a GPS for your product. If your users get lost in the first few minutes, they’ll probably never reach the preferred destination (i.e. your checkout page).

Zoholics 24 recap

The desert dust has settled on Zoholics 24 in Austin, TX. Time to hang up those cowboy hats and name tag lanyards.  

Well, in our last newsletter, we learned Zoho launched something called CRM for Everyone. But Zoholics 24 begat other product news too:

• In the next 3 to 6 months, the vendor will roll out a real-time sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics.

• Zoho Inventory is going to implement a “bins” feature, the better to compartmentalize your biz. 

• Zoho will get a new UI, “soon” 

The conference enshrined Zoho's people-first strategy, pumping up the company’s investment in talent and long-term development. 

To the surprise of not many, Zoho also intro’d AI-enhanced tools across their suite, like Zoho Notebook, Projects, WorkDrive, and Sign:

• Zoho Notebooks will use the Zoho AI engine, aka Zia, for summaries, task management, chart visualizations, and more. 

• Zoho Projects now has NLP based on Zia.

• Zoho’s visual workflow automation tool, known as Blueprint, has been added to Zoho Projects, WorkDrive, and Sign. 

Which begs the question, what’s better: CRM for everyone or CRM for AI?

Stellar Strategies: Tips & Tricks for Sales, Marketing & Service

B2B Marketers, stop all the content creating (via IDC)

Here’s a hot take: more content doesn’t mean more success. 

These days, B2B buyers are acting more like B2C shoppers, zipping through endless digital content. The impulse to dump lots of sugar in their stream is tempting.

However, bringing the B2B audience in promo mail ain’t the deal. Quality rides everything:

• Use advanced analytics to understand your customers, personalize content, and optimize channels. 

• Make sure content is searchable, shareable, and trustworthy. 

• Know your audience so you can create uncopyable content—and yes, please do leverage those pertinent industry insights. 

So whack that publish button only if the item truly resonates—because in the noisy digi-sphere, only the best should beep.

More from IDC o’ yonder.

Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce

In the CRM-o-sphere, these two giants have stood the test of time. But which will stand the test of you?

To get the metaphors and similes rolling, Microsoft Dynamics vs Salesforce is a bit like choosing between a bazooka and a magic wand. 

If you crave user-friendliness and integrations galore, Salesforce is your clap-clap crush. But if you lean into analytics and customer service, Microsoft Dynamics is your ka-boom multi-tool. 

Dynamics pops a hole-in-one for integration, on-premises deployment, and power, while Salesforce scores on charm, scalability, and versatility.

The Spartican struggle sweats up further here.

Aspiring to agile product management (via monday.com)

Tired of product launches moving slower than a “what do you want to eat?” back-and-forth on a group trip?

Agile product management is one idea, promising a ticket to a faster, smarter process. Think of it as the antidote to "Duke Nukem Forever" delays.

Agile focuses on customer satisfaction, team collaboration, and responding to change faster than a cat chasing a laser pointer. To make these general ideas actionable, the ethos incorporates sprints, stand-ups, and continuous feedback, ensuring your product evolves with the market. 

Real-world success stories like Ericsson, Cisco, and Fitbit ditched the old-school waterfall approach for agile, and hey, they turned out okay. 

So, if you’re trying to adapt to fickle market demands, you could do worse than scrolling through the monday.com blog article here.

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

Forrester announces 2024 Technology and Innovation Summit North America. The AI, tech, data, and analytics fun fair takes place September 9th to 12th in Austin, Texas.

NICE launches 1CX communications app. Priced at $5/month, the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) features omnichannel cloud PBX and CRM integration. It’s currently only available in the US, but more regions are coming soon. 

Pipedrive wins “Diverse workplace” title from Estonian Human Rights Centre. The award criteria focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including hiring of talent “irrespective of gender or background.” This is the third time Pipedrive has received the accolade.

Recruit CRM will host a recruiting operations webinar on June 26th. The webinar, entitled “Forecasting the Future of Recruiting Operations: Key Trends to Watch in the Next 12 Months,” will focus on process mastery, AI integration, communication skills, and the titularly-tipped trends.

Astronomical Assets

Significant Stock Moves from Last Week

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