đź’» Â Â Claude Watermarks Content
⚡️   Assess Team Readiness
đź’˛ Â Â Referrals Drive Highest Profits
💻 Claude Watermarks Content
Claude wants credit for your marketing. Anthropic announced it will embed watermarks in all AI-generated content.
This may be a serious blow for marketers, considering half of all new articles posted online and a quarter of social posts over 250 words are AI-generated.
Now Anthropic can take credit for all that slop being posted.
The implications for this are far-reaching, and you will likely see it first in SEO and AEO. The search algorithms may use the watermarks to filter out AI-generated content.
It also leads to a broader shift for content creation. Since users aren’t attributing AI as the source, the AI platforms are embedding it.
In university, citing sources was drilled into me. We’ve taken the same approach at Sticky Branding and CoStrategy. Our AI policy stipulates: “Use AI but don’t publish AI.”
We research and prototype with it, but we write our own words, create our own graphics, and record our own videos. I view this as a mark of trust.
What’s your company’s AI policy? Will invisible watermarks haunt you later?
⚡️ Assess Team Readiness
The best laid strategy can be undermined by a team that isn’t ready or capable of implementing it.
Most leadership teams are good at strategy. They gather the data, weigh the options, scrutinize the finances, and make decisions. They kick off the year with a plan they are genuinely excited about.
It doesn’t take long to unravel that enthusiasm. Ninety days in, it’s obvious the team can’t or won’t do it.
This leads down a dysfunctional path. Some leaders start to believe planning is a waste of time. Others feel like the only way to change is to be in crisis.
The issue isn’t the strategy, but the team’s readiness to implement it.
Before deploying your company’s growth strategy, assess your team’s readiness:
- Capability: Does the team have the expertise, systems, and resources to implement the strategy?
- Capacity: Does the team have the focus and bandwidth to take on this work?
- Commitment: Does the team have the desire, resilience and grit to see this strategy through to the finish line?
The three Cs function like a three-legged stool. If any are missing or weak, the strategy unravels.
If your team isn’t ready, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue the strategy. Rather, your strategy requires pre-work or development to achieve. You may have to evolve the team or the organization before it’s ready to act.
đź“ŠÂ One Stat to Watch
53%
of employees admit to sending colleagues AI-generated work they knew was unhelpful, low-effort, or low-quality, according to BetterUp.
💲 Referrals Drive Highest Profits
Referred customers are your most loyal and profitable customers.
According to research by Bain & Company, published in the Harvard Business Review, “Referred customers cost less to acquire, stay longer, buy more, and refer more high-value customers to your company.”
Intuitively, we know customer referrals are valuable. The data shows just how profitable they are.
The authors write, “An analysis of more than 10 million consumers reveals that while about 20% of new customers come through referrals, they account for 72% of the profits all new customers generate.”
The challenge is sales and marketing are not focused or equipped to generate customer referrals. They are incentivized to acquire “new” relationships versus harvest existing ones.
A referral engine is structural:
- Capture: While marketing focuses outwardly, referrals are generated by delivering great work. Use a Net Promoter Score or customer satisfaction surveys to initiate the referral process.
- Nurture: A referral may not be ready to buy when they are introduced. Develop a nurturing or development process to stay engaged with referrals.
- Report: Set targets and compensation plans for capturing customer surveys, tracking referrals, and staying engaged with referees and referrals.
Make the system and the data a priority. Even if it’s hard, the value is tangible. Eighty percent of buyers select a trusted referral over the lowest price.
🤔 Thoughts on Today’s Issue?
We’d love to hear your feedback. Message with any thoughts, comments, or ideas for future issues.
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