Adapt or Get Left Behind: AI Workflow Hacks and Automation Wins for B2B Marketing Teams with Nicole Leffer
May 17, 2025
The world of marketing is evolving at breakneck speed. Blink, and there’s a new tool, trend, or technology promising to revolutionize how we engage customers and grow businesses. At the heart of this transformation? Artificial Intelligence. And for B2B marketing leaders, leveraging AI is no longer a futuristic option—it's an operational imperative.
But here’s the thing: while LinkedIn floods our feeds with posts about agents, automations, and advanced workflows, many of us are just trying to get the next campaign launched and write a halfway decent prompt in ChatGPT. That gap between AI hype and actionable strategy? That’s exactly what this episode of Growth Activated, a marketing and AI podcast, tackles.
I sat down with Nicole Leffer, one of the most practical, down-to-earth experts in AI for B2B marketing. Nicole’s not just teaching theory—she’s working with real marketing teams every day to help them adopt AI tools, automate workflows, and think more strategically. As she put it: “The best time to start was three years ago. The second-best time? Right now.”
In our conversation, we broke down where marketing teams really are with AI adoption, what top performers are doing differently, and how leaders like you can start driving real transformation—without getting overwhelmed.
According to Nicole, we’re seeing a tale of three marketing orgs:
The gulf between these groups is growing—fast. And if you’re not actively leaning into AI now, your competitors are. The good news? The path to catching up is clearer than you might think.
One of Nicole’s most actionable insights: don’t wait for perfection. Don’t wait until your data is pristine or your tech stack is optimized. Start by simply documenting your processes.
“Your first step isn’t automation—it’s awareness,” she said. “Talk into a voice memo about what you’re doing, then use AI to help turn that into a process. That’s your foundation.”
Take writing a blog post. Don’t just say “I write blog posts.” Break it down:
Once you’ve captured your actual process, feed that transcript into ChatGPT and ask it to turn it into a step-by-step SOP. Then look for points where AI can assist or automate. This is how AI marketing automation tools start making a real impact.
Nicole recommends starting small—even just having AI summarize a webinar transcript or generate social copy. Then build on it. You’ll find repeatable prompts, workflows, and eventually, automations that save hours per week.
This build-it-forward approach aligns with insights shared in our episode on how fractional CMOs scale impact and how CMOs align with CTOs to drive innovation.
One of Nicole’s boldest claims? Small marketing teams are currently at a greater advantage than enterprise teams when it comes to AI. Why? Less red tape, fewer meetings, faster decision-making.
She’s seen solopreneurs rival the output of large teams by strategically using ChatGPT. From market research and competitive analysis to SEO planning and go-to-market strategy—what used to take weeks can now take hours. This is the power of using ChatGPT for B2B marketing.
“AI doesn’t replace experts,” Nicole explained. “It levels the playing field. It multiplies what experts can do and makes high-level work accessible to teams without huge budgets.”
If you’re a VP, CMO, or fractional marketing leader, your job isn’t just to use AI—it’s to model what great looks like. Nicole’s biggest piece of advice? Lead by example.
“If you want your team using AI, you need to be using AI. You need to talk about it, share what’s working, and make it safe for them to try and fail,” she emphasized.
That mirrors the leadership mindset we discussed in this episode on scaling a $750M brand and this conversation on collaborating across the CMO-CFO divide.
And when it comes to training, Nicole says most teams can dramatically level up in just 8-10 hours of structured learning. Her AI training for marketing teams course walks teams through everything from prompt engineering to workflow automation.
Nicole recommends starting with one foundational tool and mastering it inside out before layering on more. Her top picks for B2B marketing AI tools:
You don’t need a dozen tools. You need one powerful tool that your team knows how to wield.
Once you’ve mastered your core platform, then (and only then) explore add-ons like Descript (for video), Zapier (for automations), or Midjourney (for advanced image generation).
One of the most exciting examples Nicole shared was her own workflow for turning course videos into a suite of assets. With a simple Dropbox upload, her Zapier automation:
All in under five minutes.
“This workflow saved me dozens of hours,” she said. “And it’s not even using agents. It’s just AI, APIs, and knowing your process.”
And the same workflow could apply to podcast production, thought leadership, or campaign creation. It all starts with documenting your process—and then asking, “What could AI do for me here?”
Want more ideas on scaling thought leadership? Don’t miss our conversation with Zoe Hawkins on content strategy ROI.
AI is moving fast, but that doesn’t mean you need to catch up overnight. What matters is that you start. Start using ChatGPT every day. Start documenting your workflows. Start embedding AI into your daily tasks.
The time you invest today will be repaid tenfold tomorrow. And as Nicole so powerfully put it, “Once you know how to work with AI, the tech starts giving you your time back.”
I built the CMO mentorship I wish I had—because too many marketing leaders are figuring it out alone. At Growth Activated, we help B2B marketers bridge the gap between execution and executive leadership, equipping you with the strategic mindset, frameworks, and hands-on guidance to drive impact at every stage of growth. From scaling multi-million-dollar organizations to leading SaaS startups, I’ve been in your shoes—and now, I’m here to help you step into the marketing leader you’re meant to be. Whether you need a strategic marketing plan, expert coaching, or team training, Growth Activated gives you the tools to lead with confidence and deliver measurable results.
