99% of marketers use AI every day, in some way. Backstroke Co-Founder Egan Montgomery is one of them, of course. In fact, he’s been using AI tools for marketing for quite some time.
Considering Egan’s familiarity with marketing strategy, content, and generative AI, we decided to ask him 5 tough questions that marketers have regarding these technologies. Here, he shares his honest answers on what AI tools for marketing can do, how they actually enhance campaign performance and how AI messaging applications like Backstroke’s email subject line generator work.
Is AI for Digital Marketing Over-Hyped?
Since last summer, this question has been posed: Is AI over-hyped? Are we in an AI bubble?
Egan explains that, while AI is experiencing some over-hype right now—seemingly every week, we hear about a massive valuation or hyperbolic statements from Silicon Valley’s biggest hype men—AI tools for marketing do work. And they do drive performance. You just need to be selective and intentional with the solution-oriented tools you work with.
Does AI Make You Nervous, As A Marketer?
In the video, Egan explains that AI doesn’t make him nervous anymore. He acknowledges concerns around job security and changing industries, but ultimately, he views AI as another tool for marketers to use.
Like Canva, Hubspot, or any other digital marketing solution, AI is something that will help people do better work. And while it has the capacity to enhance creativity, balancing your own human ingenuity with AI-fueled optimization is what marketers will really do in the future.
I Haven’t Tried Any AI Tools for Marketing . . . Is It Too Late For Me?
Simply put, no. If you’re using generative AI for digital marketing projects now, you’re still an early adopter. Still, Egan suggests you start learning more about AI sooner, rather than later, due to its rapid pace of innovation.
In fact, you can learn the basics of how AI tools for marketing like Backstroke work in our blog post Backstroke’s Email Subject Line Creator: How it Understands Audiences, Emotions, and More.
How Often Do You Use AI Tools for Marketing?
Egan says he uses AI for digital marketing every day! And not just once per day . . . He uses these tools multiple times a day. Perplexity and Claude are some of his personal favorites he lists, along with Backstroke’s AI message generator, trends dashboard, and subject line generator.
You can learn more about the Backstroke Sandbox’s 3 free tools—and try them for yourself—here.
How Does AI for Marketing Impact Your Own Work?
When it comes to impact, Egan says that the greatest growth he’s seen AI deliver to his work is in marketing content creation. He explains that, while his own team is small, their output is very high, thanks to the AI tools they use.
In fact, Backstroke has been helping email marketing teams scale up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, their busiest days of the year. They’ve also been helping marketing teams personalize content for segmented audiences, particularly after the changes iOS 18 has brought to Apple’s email experience. The pace of innovation isn’t slowing down, and while AI tools for marketing are certainly accelerating the industry, they’re also enhancing the work of its individual contributors.
