The AI-First Marketing Org

What’s Breaking

• Marketing teams that operate like in-house agencies, producing endless requests with no strategy
  

• Point-solution overload with no connective tissue (ops teams are drowning)
  

• Old-school attribution models that reward the wrong things
  

• Spray-and-pray paid media to the wrong ICP
  

• Content that tries to be for everyone (and resonates with no one)
  

• Outreach that’s blind to what buyers care about
  

• Founders and execs still chasing PR hits and virality instead of durable pipeline

What IS Working? Let’s Dig In

1️⃣ Your Website is for AI, Not Just Buyers

Most marketers still treat their website like a destination.

But in an AI-first marketing org, your site is a source for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google SGE, and every buyer who never actually clicks through.

The best teams are already shifting how they structure pages, write content, and build trust signals: not for SEO, but for AI engines.

That means:

• Clear, structured content that LLMs can summarize

• Metadata that reinforces your narrative

• Answering the actual questions your ICP is typing into AI tools

Try this: Search your company name in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Is what comes back accurate, compelling, and differentiated?

2️⃣ Treat Your ICP Like a Living System

You defined your ICP, great. But are you using it?

Operationalized ICPs aren’t buried in a Notion doc. They:

• Guide what content gets made (and what doesn’t)

• Define which accounts go into outbound - because we ❤️ warm outbound

• Influence what gets measured

Try this: Create a simple “in/out” checklist. If a campaign, account, or vendor doesn’t support the ICP, it’s out. This saves more budget than any media cut.

3️⃣ Stop Producing. Start Repurposing.

High-output teams don’t make more—they reuse smart.

A founder POV becomes:

• 1 hot take on LinkedIn

• 1 sales email

• 1 short video

• 1 deeper newsletter angle

AI tools make this even easier—but only if the source material is strong.

Try this: Pick one idea that resonated recently. Turn it into 4 formats this week. The loop gets tighter and faster every time.

4️⃣ Tighten the Loop Between Insight and Action

What’s working today? The loop.

• You post.

• Buyers engage.

• Sales sees who.

• You adjust targeting and content.

• Rinse. Repeat.

Try this: Set up a weekly “signal check-in.” Marketing and sales spend 20 minutes reviewing what’s hitting—and why. Kill what’s stale. Double down on what’s pulling.

5️⃣ Use AI to Multiply, Not Muddle

AI works best when it scales clarity, not chaos.

If your inputs are sharp (clear POV, tight ICP, known signals), AI makes you unstoppable. If not, it just helps you do the wrong things faster.

Try this: Don’t ask “How do we use AI?” Ask: “What’s already working, and how can we do more of it, faster, smarter?”

6️⃣ Track Progress the Way the Business Sees It

Old-school reporting says: “We got 300 leads.” Modern reporting says: “We engaged 45 Tier 1 accounts, 12 showed signal and 3 moved to pipeline.

That shift matters. Because in the AI era, you can:

• See what’s working faster (real-time signals)

• Shift spend and programs more intelligently

• Tie marketing to actual revenue motion (not just activity)

Try this: Rebuild your reporting around your ICP tiers, then track engagement, penetration, and movement through the funnel. That’s how you show impact and make better decisions.

TL;DR: Do More of What Works by…

• Ruthlessly filtering by real buyer signal

• Turning one great idea into five demand assets

• Operationalizing ICP to drive every decision

• Using feedback loops to cut waste and scale winners

• Letting AI amplify clarity, not chaos

• Track progress by segment, not volume

That’s all for this week. Happy Marketing! Thanks for being a subscriber to The Shortlist.