It cannot be stressed enough – AI has fundamentally changed the way marketing teams operate. From content generation to SEO and complex buying journeys, the possibilities for AI to enhance your overall business strategy are endless.
As we know, AI is often answering the ‘what’ and ‘why’ questions for customers. Rather than going to brands’ websites, users are turning to tools like Chat GPT for their research. And that made us wonder how AI is impacting B2B websites, as well as the overall buying journey. To answer this, we hosted a roundtable discussion in collaboration with WP Engine, a leader in managed WordPress hosting. And to say we came away jam-packed with takeaways would be an understatement. Let’s dive into a few of the highlights.
AI Is Rewriting the Rules of SEO, GEO and Discovery
First off, we wanted to find out how AI is impacting B2B brands from a traffic and engagement perspective. Multiple marketing leaders noted that the rise of AI, particularly large language models and chatbots, are influencing how buyers find and engage with brands. For example, one marketing leader cited a 30% reduction in online traffic and as a response, their organization ramped up their GEO (generative engine optimization) strategy and began to see an uptick again.
Another leader suggested that the quality of traffic is even more important to pay attention to than the amount of traffic. If you have high-quality traffic coming onto your website and the user experience is excellent, users will not only be better informed, but they will likely be further along in the buying process.
So while AI might be contributing to lower traffic, making a proactive effort can help recover or redirect lost traffic. And that brings us to our first takeaway: Brands that fail to adapt their SEO and content for AI-driven discovery risk becoming invisible to modern buyers.
Brett Watson, VP EMEA, WP Engine agreed saying: “You still need a good website. You still need a good user journey, and AI should complement what you’re trying to do, not replace it. So I think you still have to be very clear in what you want in your outcome and link it back to strategy.”
Ultimately, the success of your website depends on your strategy and processes – not AI. AI can certainly have an impact or be used to automate tasks, but you’ll need to keep the basics of a good strategic plan in place (something that seemed to be a relief to most marketing leaders).
Measuring AI’s Impact? We’re Not Quite There
Another trend we saw when looking at traffic patterns? Well, frankly, some couldn’t quite pinpoint how AI has impacted their engagement and traffic. While most leaders rely on traditional analytics, their current tools aren’t yet built to measure AI-driven engagement. And basic traffic reports or log analysis might not capture AI’s role quite yet.
After all, it’s still a relatively new landscape and perhaps there is a need for marketers to invest in tools that can analyze both user behavior and traffic.
Regulations Influence Infrastructures
We also couldn’t discuss AI without touching on the regulatory side of the conversation. Privacy, data governance and compliance are increasingly critical as AI becomes integrated into marketing operations. And leaders even mentioned that requirements like GDPR, ISO certification, and data sovereignty frequently drive decisions about infrastructure, hosting, and platform selection – sometimes more so than traditional considerations such as traffic and technical needs. Brett reiterated: “From a hosting infrastructure point of view, we’re seeing a huge increase in compliance, governance, and reliance on that.” And why is this?
Ensuring governance frameworks and processes are extremely important for safely adopting new AI tools and safeguarding sensitive data. And there’s already a sense of overwhelm with how fast-paced AI is changing the B2B industry. So for many leaders, data privacy and compliance are now shaping infrastructure and hosting decisions – areas where the right platform partnership can make all the difference.
Infrastructure Challenges Revealed
While governance played a huge role in digital infrastructures, leaders also noted that organizations are facing growing complexity with multiple systems in use as well as dependencies on regional/global partners. With AI thrown into the mix though, it is more critical than ever to ensure secure, scalable and adaptable infrastructures – particularly ones that can meet business and regulatory requirements. As a result, reviewing and upgrading digital infrastructure is becoming an integral part of future-proofing marketing and sales strategies in this age of AI.
Marketing and Sales: Collaboration is Key
And with these considerations, we realized that AI can also expose organizational readiness and process gaps.
Many marketers are seeing the need for significant change management – think everything from more cross-team communication to the better use of CRM tools and training to capture the benefits of AI-driven lead engagement. And in our discussion, we also noted that the integration of AI (for lead scoring, qualification, and content) underscores challenges with the marketing to sales handoff.
To further that, building trust with customers remains crucial. And while buyers like to do the research themselves nowadays, they still want human interaction and reassurance at a certain stage. This added pressure highlights the need for a seamless collaboration between marketing generated leads and a responsive sales team.
So while integrating AI via lead scoring, website management and sales qualification can ultimately streamline processes, it can also easily expose organizational or data shortcomings if they exist. This is exactly why organizations need to be thoughtful about their AI investments which brings us to our next point.
Ultimately, AI is a Teammate Not a Replacement
Marketing leaders agreed that instead of chasing “shiny new” AI tools, organizations should focus on business objectives, their digital foundation, and strategic value – using AI to improve outcomes, not just for the sake of innovation. And while there might be a notion to keep up with the market, it’s actually extremely beneficial to take a step back.
While we can’t plan for how AI will affect tech stacks in detail, we can focus on a customer-first approach and remain agile and flexible if AI opportunities pop up. One marketing leader commented: “Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing to take a step back and wait before jumping in on things…[Finding] that middle point might be the sweet spot.” In a rapidly evolving space, thoughtful adoption, not speed, will define the real winners of the AI era.
Key Takeaways: Your Checklist For AI Moving Forward
Based on our roundtable discussion, here’s a simple checklist to help marketing leaders move from AI curiosity to meaningful implementation.
- Develop a pilot program to test AI-driven content generation and personalization in organization’s marketing efforts.
- Investigate tools, methods and suitable platforms for measuring the impact of AI on website traffic and user behavior.
- Review your organization’s data infrastructure and governance policies to ensure compliance and security for AI-powered tools.
- Collaborate with your sales teams to better understand and integrate AI-powered qualification processes or lead scoring.
- Evaluate your current website content and identify the gaps that can be addressed to better support your overall AI-driven buyer journey.
The roundtable reinforced that AI success starts with a strong digital foundation. WP Engine helps organizations stay future-ready offering the performance, security, and flexibility marketers need to build high-performing digital experiences.
