The first wave of AI adoption has been focused on efficiency and productivity. Businesses want to do more with less, and they want to do it faster. While volume and efficiency gains are quick wins when it comes to AI tools, these wins are short-lived as competitors follow suit. 

As we look to the future, the real differentiator will be how teams use AI to do things that have never been done before—how we learn to operate and access categorically different levels of creativity. The intersection of AI and marketing presents a transformative opportunity for businesses considering how to incorporate AI into strategic work, use it to enhance creativity, and drive authentic customer engagement.

Balancing AI with the human element

In the past year, I’ve seen our marketing function at Grammarly use AI in meaningful ways, mirroring broader industry trends: 69.1% of marketers have already integrated AI into their operations, 83% use it at least once a week, and 86% report that AI saves them over an hour per day by streamlining creative tasks. AI tools can take on essential but tedious tasks such as initial brainstorming, outlining, and research. By handling this groundwork, AI allows our teams to reclaim precious time—time we can reinvest in higher-order strategies that ultimately produce more creative and personalized marketing experiences for our target audiences. 

While AI offers fantastic tools for efficiency, innovative marketing still lies within the realm of human creativity, empathy, and understanding. In 2025, I predict we’ll see more and more marketing teams use AI to offset operational load. Our focus will shift away from tasks like segmenting customers, optimizing content, and analyzing campaign performance in favor of storytelling and building brand voice. This reallocation of responsibilities will enable us to curate content that captures the brand’s essence and speaks to customer needs more deeply.

Marketing is not just about transactions; it’s about building relationships. AI can facilitate a nuanced understanding of customer pain points, aspirations, and emotions. But ultimately, it’s the human touch that fosters loyalty and trust. 

At Grammarly, we’ve built the foundation of our AI by blending human linguistic expertise with technology. Marketing can take a similar approach. As marketers, we must always return to first principles—understanding the customer journey, creating persuasive experiences, and teaching customers something valuable about their own businesses. AI can help us achieve these foundational goals with greater precision and impact and pave the way for human emotion. When marketers combine AI’s analytical capabilities with human empathy, we can craft campaigns that inform and inspire across the entire customer journey.

The advantages of AI integration 

Adopting AI in marketing isn’t merely about enhancing efficiency; it can also give marketers a strategic advantage in an increasingly competitive landscape. 

One benefit is enhanced storytelling. By managing the logistical elements of content creation—planning, drafting, and optimization—AI frees us to concentrate on crafting authentic narratives. These narratives resonate deeply with consumers, fostering an emotional connection with the brand. AI can also play a crucial role in maintaining a consistent brand voice as these narratives appear across various marketing channels. For example, ModMed found that using Grammarly to ensure its content was brand-aligned helped to uphold ModMed’s positive brand perception even as the company grew. Such consistency enhances brand recognition and builds credibility and trust among audiences. 

AI also excels at analyzing data, providing vital insights into customer behavior and preferences. Sophisticated marketing teams are already using AI tools and machine learning models to segment audiences more effectively and identify different needs for specific customers. Marketing teams can then, for instance, offer the right messages and promotions to customers via lifecycle marketing campaigns. At Grammarly, we’ve seen this hyper-personalized approach to messaging perform up to two times better than industry standards in email campaign open rates. It also has the added benefit of making customers feel seen at a time when their inboxes feel oversaturated with generic content. 

Finally, AI can streamline the post-conversion customer experiences by anticipating needs and offering timely recommendations. This proactive approach boosts customer satisfaction and reduces churn. Integrating AI in marketing opens up a new realm of possibilities, transforming how brands stand out amid the noise and foster genuine connections with their audiences.  

Navigating the integration of AI in marketing

The effectiveness of AI in marketing lies in striking a proper balance between technology and intuition. As marketing teams make plans in the new year, here are some considerations for how to integrate AI into your strategies while preserving higher-order creativity:

1. Identify suitable tasks for AI: Focus on identifying which workflows can be optimized through AI—whether it’s content ideation, data analysis, or customer segmentation—while leaving creative processes to human marketers.
2. Balance AI with human touch: While AI can enhance efficiencies, it cannot replicate human emotions and experiences. Strive to ensure that AI output remains authentic, and always keep humans in the loop.
3. Use compatible tools: Select AI tools that integrate seamlessly into your marketing toolkit. This will ensure a smoother transition and better alignment with your strategic goals.
4. Stay informed and adaptive: The world of AI is ever-evolving. Staying informed about new advancements and tools will help your marketing department adapt quickly and take advantage of the latest offerings.
5. Engage with experts: Don’t hesitate to seek insights from AI specialists or marketing communities. Collaboration and shared knowledge can offer invaluable perspectives on leveraging AI effectively.
6. Take bigger swings: To quote Greg Verdino on generative AI’s disruptive potential, AI “has left many marketers torn between the fear of missing out and the fear of messing up.” This is where leaders need to step in to inspire creative and innovative confidence in our marketing teams. I always tell my team, “If we’re not messing up, we’re not taking big enough swings.”

The future of marketing lies at the intersection of human creativity and AI efficiency. By embracing these technologies, marketing teams will unlock new levels of creativity and effectiveness. The path forward is not about AI replacing human effort but rather augmenting it to create a higher-order impact. Companies that plan to implement AI strategically into their marketing efforts will be poised to create more meaningful interactions with their audiences, enriching the customer experience in a more compelling, authentic, and lasting way.