Keeping ahead of today’s trends keeps you ahead of tomorrow’s customers. And what sets the next generation apart from your current clients? AI.
Today's students are becoming fluent in AI at an unprecedented rate.
Who can blame them?
AI cuts out a manual research that used to take hours!
But, how can it be used responsibly and still challenge students, right?
I only graduated from University 3 years ago and if Chat GPT was around then, I’d be ahead in searching for sources, productivity, and even creativity. Now? Students can generate ideas, refine essays, and even get coding help in seconds.
So how will AI change the school curriculum?
Today’s young people are not just using AI tools, they're being
formally trained to use AI safely and think critically about these technologies.
This transformation in education has profound implications for digital marketing agencies and the SMBs they serve. As enterprise digital marketing providers who rely on Insites to scale their sales operations, understanding this shift is crucial for future-proofing your business strategy.
The rise of the AI-literate generation
When AI first dropped, teachers in schools and universities panicked.
But soon enough, it was about embracing the technology, not hoping it would disappear.
Google just announced their recent initiatives that highlight the accelerating pace of AI adoption in education:
- Educational institutions are implementing dedicated AI literacy programs, teaching students to use AI responsibly and creatively
- Parents and guardians are receiving formal training on supporting young people's AI skills development
- Tech companies are investing millions in expanding access to AI skills, reaching millions of students globally
- Young people are learning to identify AI-generated content and develop critical thinking around synthetic media
These developments are changing education to align with the generational shift that will fundamentally alter the digital marketing industry and the SMBs your teams serve.
How does this affect your digital marketing sales teams
Today's students will become tomorrow's salespeople, marketers, and decision-makers in the types of organisations you serve.
As these AI-native professionals enter the workforce, they'll bring different expectations about how digital marketing tools should function and future small businesses clients will increasingly be run by people comfortable with AI technologies.
For enterprise marketing providers with large sales teams selling digital solutions to SMBs, this AI literacy wave creates both challenges and opportunities:
1. Changing client expectations
Right now, your sales team is probably used to talking with Gen X and Millennials, who often don’t have a clue about SEO or digital marketing. Am I right?
But future SMB owners will have fundamentally different digital expectations. The students receiving formal AI training today will become business owners who:
- Consider AI integration a baseline expectation, not a premium service
- Understand the technical capabilities and limitations of AI tools
- Expect data-driven insights delivered instantly and intuitively
- Demand marketing solutions that leverage AI beyond simple automation
Your sales teams need to be prepared for these evolving expectations, positioning your services as forward-thinking and AI-ready.
2. The evolution of local search and digital presence
Enterprise digital marketing agencies often serve businesses competing in local marketing, which can be hard enough as it is. But AI literacy is transforming how consumers find and evaluate local businesses:
- AI-savvy consumers are using voice search, AI assistants, and sophisticated query techniques like Google's
“Ask for Me”
- Local search is becoming conversational rather than keyword-based
- Consumers expect personalised recommendations from AI tools about local businesses
- Visual search is gaining prominence for the discovery of local services
This evolution means the traditional approach to local SEO and digital presence management must adapt and your sales teams need to articulate this shift to clients.
Preparing your sales teams for the future
To stay ahead of these changes and continue successfully selling digital marketing solutions to SMBs, enterprise providers need to:
1. Develop AI fluency within sales teams
Your sales agents don't need to be AI experts, but they should understand key concepts and speak confidently about AI capabilities. This includes:
- Familiarity with common AI tools and their practical applications for SMBs
- Understanding the fundamentals of how AI impacts digital marketing
- Ability to distinguish between meaningful AI capabilities and marketing hype
- Confidence in explaining AI-powered features in accessible terms
2. Adapt your sales approach to AI literacy levels
Create a framework for quickly identifying a prospect's AI literacy and tailoring your approach:
- For digitally conservative SMBs: Focus on practical benefits and easy implementation
- For AI-curious SMBs: Emphasise and provide educational resources and gradual adaptation
- For AI-native SMBs: Highlight integration capabilities and advanced features
3. Use AI to enhance your sales process
The most compelling way to sell AI-powered solutions is to demonstrate their value in your processes:
- Leverage AI for more personalised prospect research
- Use
AI-powered digital marketing audits to identify specific client needs quickly
- Create AI-enhanced sales materials tailored to individual prospects
- Demonstrate ROI predictions using AI-powered analytics
Discover AI-powered digital marketing audits
As students become increasingly AI-literate, the enterprise marketing providers who thrive will be those who can bridge the gap between technological capability and practical business value for SMBs of all types.
Insites equips your sales teams with the tools they need to:
- Quickly identify digital marketing opportunities specific to each SMB's situation, regardless of their AI literacy level
- Demonstrate value through clear data visualisation that makes complex information accessible
- Create personalised proposals that speak to the unique challenges of each business
- Track improvements over time to show tangible ROI and build lasting client relationships
By partnering with
Insites, your enterprise marketing organisation will be perfectly positioned to serve both today's traditional SMBs and tomorrow's AI-native entrepreneurs.
