AI has changed the game—and it’s only the beginning…
This is the most exciting time to be alive. And it’s absolutely the most exciting time to be a healthcare marketer. And yes… overwhelming, scary, and full of unknowns. This moment, my friends—right now—is so much more groundbreaking than any other era marketers’ have ever seen. We’re on the brink of an entirely new kind of marketing (and frankly, society).
As Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai recently said, “this is the biggest turning point for humanity in history.” AI isn’t just another tech trend; it’s reshaping how we think, work, and create. For marketers, especially in healthcare, the potential is mind-blowing.
Marketers & AI: 2024 Progress Report
While AI has been THE hot topic for years, most marketers are just beginning to make it a part of their daily workflows. According to the 2024 State of Marketing AI Report by the Marketing AI Institute, 51% of marketers are either piloting or scaling AI initiatives within their teams. However, healthcare marketing, with its unique privacy and compliance demands, is trailing behind, with many marketing departments in early stages of exploration.
But here’s the reality: AI for marketing isn’t just about shiny new tools like ChatGPT, Runway, Perplexity, or Gemini. Yes, these tools will enable profound shifts in marketers’ daily workflows—and you and your team should be exploring all of them ASAP. But think better: Machine Learning and Generative AI are the foundational infrastructure of tomorrow’s marketing. Today, where we are in the AI era is equivalent to the first days of digital advertising or the early Internet (remember Prodigy, anyone?). Tomorrow, AI-driven marketing will quickly be ubiquitous and essential… it will be embedded in every device, every experience, and every moment of life.
Often, the first use case for AI in marketing is to create more content faster. And yes, that’s part of the story. But there’s a much bigger picture.
- Never-been-done-before Creativity: Imagine AI fueling creativity that breaks boundaries. For example, the 2024 movie Here used generative AI to “de-age” Tom Hanks, letting his character appear across various life stages. While similar effects were achieved in movies like Benjamin Button with digital visual effects and in The Irishman with complex CGI techniques, these methods were highly time-consuming and costly. Generative AI takes this kind of creative vision to an entirely new level, making it faster, more accessible, and scalable. Now, imagine this level of innovation in marketing, where AI can help bring bold, novel ideas to life—ideas that were previously out of reach due to constraints on budget, talent, or technology.
- Precision Marketing at Scale: This isn’t just about cranking out thousands of display ads with different headlines. True personalization at scale is finally here—and built around understanding individuals and their unique needs. This is about understanding people on a 1:1, human level and using machine learning to personalize creative, all tied back to the contribution margin you need. See how BPD has built one of the most powerful AI-driven Precision Marketing offerings for the healthcare industry here.
- Versioning on Steroids: Ever wanted to test a hundred versions of content without breaking a sweat? AI can whip up dozens (or hundreds) of variations, targeting specific segments like it’s no big deal. Say goodbye to the days of A/B testing; now you’re A-to-Z testing, finding the content that hits home with your audience and drives contribution margin.
- AI-Driven Insights: Need to understand the latest market trends or how patients feel about a new healthcare policy? Forget those data dumps that leave you more confused than enlightened. Imagine knowing exactly what service lines are going to be most profitable for you next year; when flu season peaks in your market; which audiences you have yet to reach; or what rising social media trend is going to go mainstream next. It’s insights that give you the edge, minus the wondering and worrying.
These are just some examples of ways BPD is leveraging AI for bold marketing that works. In short, AI isn’t just a content engine; it’s about making the impossible possible—supporting creativity, efficiency, precision, and compliance in every corner of marketing.
What’s Next?
As Paul Roetzer, CEO of Marketing AI Institute said at BPD’s Joe Public Retreat in December, “Large language models are just the beginning. This is the least capable AI we’ll ever have.”
While we’re just at the beginning of the AI Era for marketing, it’s moving fast. Don’t wait another day to shift your team’s approach. For the leading health system CMOs, AI literacy and implementation is a top priority for 2025. Because by the end of this year, AI will be a standard tool in marketers’ toolkits.
So, if you’re intrigued by what’s possible and ready to dive into this new frontier, we’re here to help you lead the way. This isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about breaking new ground.
Join us as we redefine marketing for the AI era.
Footnotes:
This is the first piece in a series about how healthcare marketers can leverage AI to its fullest — stay tuned for more!
Why BPD?
At BPD, we’re pushing AI beyond what’s expected. We’re creating proprietary tools that leverage AI’s full spectrum, from machine learning and big data to generative content creation. We’re not just “doing what works”; we’re here to redefine what’s possible.
