AI in Marketing What Delivers, What Does Not, and What Is Next

AI tools promise to simplify our lives, but are they truly delivering? Let’s take a closer look at what’s effective, what’s not, and what lies ahead for AI in marketing.

As a CMO or marketing professional, you’ve likely encountered an excessive number of AI tools, all claiming to “transform” your workflow and “revolutionise” the industry.

I’ve spent some time digging into four popular AI tools—Midjourney, ChatGPT, Canva, and Runway—and I’m here to share what’s worth your time, and what might just be hype.

Midjourney: A Visual Powerhouse (With a Few Surprises)

Midjourney’s Learning Curve in AI Marketing

Midjourney Midjourney stands out as a clear winner in the AI image generation race, creating visuals that can elevate your campaigns on a low budget. But until recently, there was a significant barrier to entry.

To use Midjourney, you had to go to Discord, start a chat with /imagine, and go from there.

From my conversations with others in the field, this put quite a few people off. Only the die-hard users powered through, figuring it out and becoming obsessed.

But here’s the thing: that barrier to entry didn’t slow Midjourney down—in fact, it helped build a massive following of dedicated paying users who couldn’t stop talking about it on LinkedIn.

Then, unlike GPT, Midjourney made the strategic decision to freeze their free trials, saving their marketing budget by no longer giving away tokens.

Personally, I find it’s great value for money if you compare it to stock images, especially with the launch of their alpha platform—no Discord necessary. It’s pretty amazing.

Overcoming Midjourney’s Quirks in AI Marketing

Now let’s keep it real: Midjourney has its quirks.

For one, AI struggles with hands. It’s like they’re the AI’s worst nightmare—sometimes you’ll get five fingers, sometimes ten, and occasionally something in between. And don’t get me started on faces! Every now and then you’ll get a set of teeth that could belong in a horror movie. It’s one reason I love the design suite in Salesdrive, I’m constantly filtering the images before they get added to the brand folder, so there are no nasty surprises in the sales decks.

Demon teeth aside, though, Midjourney is a powerhouse for marketers who need high-quality visuals fast.

If you’ve got a bigger budget, this platform is perfect for experimenting with different images in campaigns before bringing them to life with your professional team of humans.

Honestly, I think that’s the real win—an AI-human partnership.

Maximising AI-Generated Visuals with Midjourney

Pro Tip: To get the best results with Midjourney, think about your prompts carefully. Here’s a simple order to follow:

1. Who can you see?
2. What are they wearing?
3. What are they doing?
4. Are they alone? If not, what do they look like and what are they wearing?
5. Where are they?
6. What was used to make this image?
7. What time of day is it?

For example: “A 40-year-old businesswoman, wearing brown smart casual trousers with a white shirt, sitting on a bench. She is with her 3-year-old daughter with curly blonde hair, wearing a red dress. They are in the forest. Canon, magic hour.”

Once you have your four images, you’ll likely want to edit them to get everything just right. I won’t go into all the details of how to edit here, but honestly the accuracy of the edit bit could be better. You can change parts of the prompt, adding different notes in like “staring straight into the camera”, but sometimes it makes things worse.

If you have someone on the team who’s good at photoshop, then you’d be better off giving it to them to take it to the professional level.

Leveraging Midjourney for Strategic Marketing Innovation

Looking ahead, Midjourney is set to be a major asset in your revenue enablement strategy. For CMOs and marketing directors, this AI tool goes beyond just creating impressive visuals. It helps your team move faster, cut costs, and stay ahead in a competitive market. Imagine launching campaigns quicker, adapting to changes smoothly, and freeing up more budget for big ideas—all while keeping your brand’s unique flair.

And don’t stress—Midjourney isn’t here to replace your team. It’s here to make their lives easier. AI is most powerful when it enhances what your team already does best—bringing fresh ideas and strategic thinking to the table. Your team’s creativity and vision are still at the heart of your marketing. As Midjourney evolves, it’ll become a key partner in helping you work smarter, not harder. You’ll be able to tackle the demands of the market while keeping the human touch that makes your brand stand out.

ChatGPT: A Reliable Content Generator with Powerful Upgrades

If you’ve been using ChatGPT, you know it’s a powerhouse for cranking out content fast.

Enhancing AI Marketing Efficiency with ChatGPT:

But let’s be honest—it loves throwing around buzzwords like “delve,” “dive,” and “unlock.” And don’t get me started on those endless parallels—it’s like waving a flag that says, “Hey, I’m new to this!”

That said, as a professional writer, ChatGPT becomes a serious time-saver. And yes, I’m a huge fan.

The paid plan? Totally worth it.

Custom GPTs: A Game-Changer in AI Marketing

Having access to custom GPTs is a game-changer. Upload up to 10 files, write a prompt, and voilà—you’ve got an AI-powered assistant tailored to your needs.

Plus, you can tap into GPTs created by others, which can be a goldmine—just make sure you know who’s behind it. A custom GPT is only as good as the data it’s trained on. Always check the creator and see how many conversations it’s had. A GPT with 400,000 chats? That’s where the magic happens.

But a word of caution: GPTs aren’t flawless. I once used it to plan an activity for my toddler, and it suggested a very poisonous flower. Lesson learned—I always test for accuracy now or build my own.

And please, don’t input any sensitive data into ChatGPT.

AI Marketing Hacks

Now, for a cool tip: if you need brutally honest feedback, ask ChatGPT to “roast” you. Otherwise, it’s just going to be that overly nice friend who agrees with everything.

Here’s a quick time-saver for content creators:

1. Use ChatGPT to whip up a table of contents.
2. Copy and paste it into Excel (of course, tweak it to your liking).
3. Download it as a CSV file.
4. Choose and customise a template.
5. Head over to Bulk Create.
6. Upload your CSV file.
7. Connect the data.

Boom—you’ve got 30 posts ready to roll. This hack can save you hours of repetitive work.

As someone who’s tried countless AI tools, I’ve noticed they all share similar issues. For writing copy or creative content, ChatGPT excels, especially with the “Explore GPTs” section.

For CMOs and marketing directors, ChatGPT is a powerful asset in your revenue enablement strategy. It speeds up content creation, allowing your team to produce high-quality material faster, essential for effective campaigns. By managing repetitive tasks and generating fresh ideas, ChatGPT lets your team focus on strategic initiatives that drive revenue growth.

Avoiding AI Content Pitfalls in Marketing

However, it’s important to remember that ChatGPT isn’t a tool to let the new intern run wild with. The real value comes when it’s used by experienced professionals who understand how to steer it in the right direction. Without the guidance of skilled marketers, you risk ending up with generic results that don’t convert. ChatGPT works best as a partner to seasoned experts, amplifying their creativity and efficiency rather than replacing them.

Looking ahead, ChatGPT will likely become even more integrated into your marketing operations. ChatGPT will generate content, personalise campaigns at scale, adjust strategies in real time, and predict emerging trends. This frees your team to focus on innovation rather than execution, giving you a competitive edge.

By embracing ChatGPT now, you equip your team with the tools to excel while keeping human talent central to your brand’s success. AI handles routine tasks, but your team’s creativity and expertise will continue to drive meaningful results.

Canva: A Handy Design Tool, But Limited for AI-Driven Corporate Strategies

Canva is a go-to for many of us in marketing. Especially when we need to whip up something visually appealing, fast. It’s user-friendly, affordable, and perfect for quick designs without needing advanced skills. Canva’s AI-powered tools are great for producing content on the fly, which is ideal when deadlines are tight. But when it comes to managing and delivering content across large teams—and making sure it truly drives revenue—Canva’s limitations start to show.

Canva’s Strengths in AI Marketing

The reality is, while Canva is versatile, it sometimes spreads itself too thin. For example, when working with AI-generated images, it often struggles, leading to frustrating issues like unwanted lines disrupting the design.

I’ve experienced situations where I used Midjourney to create an image for a LinkedIn banner, then uploaded it to Canva for finishing touches—only to find that the results weren’t up to par. But the real headache comes during live presentations. Images can fail to load, or animations that looked great during editing end up as static slides, completely undercutting the impact you’re aiming for. When you’re in a high-stakes sales meeting, this kind of technical glitch can be disastrous.

Integrating Canva with Advanced Marketing Tools

To navigate these issues, I use Canva for quick tasks like adding text or making basic infographics, while our graphic designer handles more complex designs with advanced tools. But the key to avoiding these pitfalls is in our next step: we upload everything to Salesdrive’s design suite. This ensures our presentations are not only visually impressive but also interactive and reliable—essential for those moments when everything is on the line.

Canva definitely has its place, particularly for small, quick projects, but it doesn’t hold up when you need interactive, error-free content for large-scale, corporate use. This is where Salesdrive really shines, bridging the gap between our sales and marketing efforts and ensuring we deliver consistently high-quality presentations.

Salesdrive: Elevating AI-Driven Content Management

For larger organisations with multiple sales and marketing teams, Salesdrive offers a more robust solution:

1. Centralised Content Management: Salesdrive acts as a digital briefcase, making sure all teams are using the most up-to-date, brand-compliant content. This consistency is crucial for maintaining a unified brand message and directly impacts your revenue enablement strategy.
2. Reliable and Interactive Presentations: Unlike Canva, Salesdrive excels at delivering complex, interactive presentations. It integrates ROI calculators, sales tools, and more, turning static slides into dynamic, engaging experiences. This capability is vital for ensuring that your content not only looks good but also performs well in high-pressure sales environments.
3. Data-Driven Insights: Salesdrive provides deep insights into how your content performs in real-time sales scenarios across the buyer journey. These analytics are invaluable for refining strategies and ensuring your content directly contributes to revenue growth.
4. Scalability and Seamless Integration: Salesdrive integrates smoothly with major CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, making it easy to scale your content management across teams and regions.

While Canva is fantastic for quick, small-scale projects, it’s not designed to handle the complex content management and interactive needs of large corporations. Salesdrive, on the other hand, provides the tools and reliability necessary to manage and distribute content at scale, ensuring your teams are aligned and your marketing efforts consistently drive results.

In summary, Canva is great for quick design needs, but if you’re serious about international content management and driving revenue, Salesdrive is the way to go.

Runway: A Disappointing Experience for Video Creation

As a videographer and drone pilot myself, I had high hopes for Runway.

Exploring Runway for AI-Driven Video Creation

This was the tool I was probably the most excited about. I tried it a year ago and ended up canceling my subscription because the results were, frankly, useless. But I wanted to give it another shot, especially with the new Gen-3 Alpha that had been generating some buzz. So, I tested it again while writing this, using the Work Life Balance image of the mother and daughter we created in the Midjourney section above.

Challenges with Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha in Marketing

Unfortunately, I was really disappointed. The reactions I received when showing the various results were unanimous: “It’s creepy.”

Runway’s Performance in Simplified Marketing Tests

So I decided to test it with something simpler, like a car driving along a road into the sunset. The results were equally bizarre—cars started driving backwards, random vehicles appeared out of nowhere, and some even drove off the road or into one another. And all this on a $15 subscription that gave me just two shots before I ran out of credits.

I even followed their example prompts to the letter, so I’m left wondering if it’s just me, or if Runway requires you to spend significantly more to get enough decent footage so your videos don’t look like a trippy nightmare.

Reevaluating AI Tools for Video Marketing

The result? I canceled my subscription once again, and I’m planning to try LumaLabs next. I think Runway just needs a bit more time to improve it’s user friendliness.

The Future of AI in Marketing: A Path to Work-Life Balance?

As AI continues to change the marketing world, we’re entering what’s being called “Marketing 2.0.” AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney are driving efficiency and personalisation, enabling teams to produce high-quality content faster than ever before. This shift not only boosts productivity but could also pave the way for a healthier work-life balance in the corporate world.

But AI’s impact goes beyond content creation. Automation tools are transforming how we handle other marketing tasks, such as data analysis, customer segmentation, and even lead qualification. By automating these routine processes, AI frees up valuable time, allowing marketing teams to focus on strategic decision-making and creative innovation. As Aimee Meester, CEO of Madison Taylor Marketing, notes, “AI offers the tools and insights, but humans provide the essential strategic guidance and emotional connection.”

The future of marketing is AI-powered, but the real win will come from combining this technology with human creativity and empathy—perhaps leading to more meaningful work and more personal time.

Beyond AI: The Value of Integrated Solutions

AI tools like these are great, but they’re not going to fix the disconnect between your sales and marketing teams. That’s where Salesdrive comes in. It helps your teams work better together on their revenue enablement goals, cutting out the usual chaos and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Leads get the attention they deserve, you get insights into which of your marketing materials are converting and your teams stay on track. Salesdrive delivers real results without the usual hassles.

Want to see the difference it can make? Book a free demo with one of our sales tech experts today. We’re ready to help you level up your sales and marketing—no gimmicks, just results. 🚀

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About the Author

Written by:

Sophie Carr – Head of Marketing

Sophie is a specialist in AI powered content creation, storytelling, and education. As an experienced writer and growth hacker, she leads the innovative marketing team at Salesdrive.