Lately, I've had many intense conversations with marketers who feel squeezed by soaring digital costs – each bid higher, every algorithm tweak more punishing, and competition increasingly fierce. These challenges aren't abstract: I've seen firsthand how CAC (customer acquisition cost) climbs relentlessly, while the once-reliable ROAS (return on ad spend) plummets. Client meetings have become increasingly tense, with CFOs demanding hard proof of ROI from CMOs, scrutinizing every cent spent.

The added complication? AI's seductive promise: cheaper, faster, "good enough" solutions. I've spoken to CMOs tempted to rely on AI-driven marketing, believing that cost savings alone justify the lower-quality outcomes. It's worrying, especially given today's volatile tenure for marketing leadership – many of these CMOs will move on before facing the real consequences of cheap, short-sighted AI solutions. Our challenge, therefore, isn't just managing costs – it's proving the irreplaceable value human intelligence brings to marketing, backed up with the best AI.

Yet, despite these pressures, I deeply believe relatively expensive doesn't equal impossible. We must show precisely why our strategic thinking, creativity, and nuanced understanding of customers outshine cheaper AI alternatives.

The silver lining here is that rising costs compel us to reaffirm core marketing principles: authenticity, deep strategic insight, and genuine human connections. And those will bring better results.

Throughout my career, I've seen time and again that exceptional marketing never hinges solely on big budgets. Instead, success emerges from intelligent allocation, impactful creativity, and genuine engagement. Right now, we have a unique opportunity – albeit a challenging one – to pivot from short-term tactics towards fostering long-term customer loyalty. It’s a chance to sharpen even further our analytics skills, deepen our customer insights, and communicate our strategic value clearly and powerfully. We're not just battling rising costs; we're proving the irreplaceable worth of human-driven marketing.

Step 1 – Get Out of Your Comfort Zone.  Prioritize long-term retention strategies over immediate, fleeting wins.

Step 2 – Learn a New Skill. Invest time to master advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and sophisticated ROI frameworks.

Step 3 – Add Value. Consistently deliver creative, thoughtful, strategic content that AI simply can't replicate.

Step 4 – Move Up Faster. Clearly and convincingly articulate the long-term ROI and strategic advantage of human-centric marketing to skeptical clients.

(By the way, these four steps make up my Return on Marketing Career (RoMC) framework—more on that here.)

If you’d like to discuss your career journey with me one-to-one, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or message me on LinkedIn.

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