Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a concept or a technology focused on robots. It has a wide range of applications for marketers to automate tasks, personalize content, organize leads, or analyze and predict customer behavior.
That’s why there has been an explosion in new AI tools and technologies. Technology companies are racing to create bigger and better tools to help brands across industries improve productivity and increase efficiency.
AI is changing digital marketing. It is offering people new ways to search and be found online, get tailored recommendations, communicate with brands (e.g. chatbots) and access information such as through voice search.
When it comes to the best uses of AI in marketing, a recent survey with our members found that 68% believe it's most useful for automating routine tasks, 46% say improved customer experience, and 45% say improved targeting and segmentation.
AI is no different from any other technology in that there are pros and cons to using it. It’s important for marketers to be aware of these so they can make decisions about what tasks to use AI for and how to use it.
There is a wide range of tools, techniques, and methods in AI that enable machines to perform tasks that traditionally require human intelligence. Here are some of the most commonly-used AI technology types and some great examples of AI in marketing.
Machine learning (ML) is a process where machines can figure out how to problem-solve on their own by drawing on previous data sets and making predictions on decisions based on data. This means they “learn” on their own.
For marketers, machine learning can be applied to a number of applications such as ad targeting, lead generation, and search engine optimization.
Platforms such as Facebook, X, and Instagram use ML in their social media algorithms to provide a better user experience and make it easier to use.
For example, ML can analyze large sets of customer data to identify patterns and categorize customers based on behavior, preferences, demographics, location and purchasing history. This can help you craft tailored content for each customer segment for emails, landing pages or social media posts.
Chatbots are an example of a tool that uses ML and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to interact with clients and customers. They can answer customer questions or queries and fulfill orders.
It’s now common to go onto a website and get a chatbot popping up to ask if you need help with anything. You can now even build a chatbot in Meta Messenger to act as an autoresponder. Platforms like Drift and Intercom can help you offer automated response platforms and gather information about visitors.
Lyro is an example of a conversational AI that talks to customers and answers questions. It is used by brands such as Glossier, Uber, and Netflix to manage customer queries.
Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, has rolled out internally ‘My Assistant’ to its employees. This app feature uses generative AI to serve its 1.6 million workers to answer questions like “Do I have dental coverage?”, summarize meeting notes, and help write job descriptions.
AI has the capacity to handle a variety of types of searches, including voice recognition. Moreover, they can integrate various types of search methods to customize results.
Voice search is on the rise. In fact, 62% of Americans use a voice assistant while 36% own smart speakers like Alexa or Siri according to NPR and Edison Research.
For example, Google uses AI through its voice recognition technology which is integrated into its products and services such as Google Search (particularly with Google’s Search Generative Experience to be rolled out globally), Google Assistant, and Google Home devices.
Voice search is also important for SEO optimization as people turn to asking devices for information and expect accurate information from brands.
“If people are speaking and they're revealing something more, then brands can do more through content. They can connect with them in a different way,” said Clark Boyd, CEO and Founder of marketing simulations company Novela on a DMI podcast.
AI marketing automation uses AI and machine learning algorithms to automate and optimize marketing activities.
Machine learning and AI are used to understand buyer behavior and decision-making and the more it understands, the more advertisers will be able to target their marketing strategies towards consumer preferences.
The benefits of using AI-powered marketing automation are:
One of the most interesting and useful applications of AI in automation is for ad targeting. For example, dog food company, tails.com used Google’s AI-powered broad match, smart bidding, and responsive search ads to triple conversions leading to an all-time high in trial sign-ups.
There’s been a lot in the media recently about AI replacing jobs. However, when it comes to marketing, we believe that AI should be a tool that you leverage to plan, inform and optimize your marketing activities.
While AI can perform many tasks well, it does have its disadvantages so it requires human intervention to review, tweak or even optimize its outputs.
The key to growing in your career is to use and experiment with AI tools so you have hands-on experience and the ability to use it in your marketing tasks whether that’s generating content, finding keywords for SEO, optimizing paid ads or creating an email workflow.
“Nurture your human creativity, apply it wherever you can, and enjoy the creative process. It's so important that we still hold on to it, nurture it, love it and find joy in it. AI is great but it's not a patch on that,” says Kerry Harrison, AI educator and copywriter in a recent DMI podcast.
AI has already changed marketing. It’s helping companies gain a deeper understanding of their customers - and their needs - and figure out the best channels and content to engage with their target audience online.
Big companies like HubSpot, Zapier, and Salesforce are incorporating AI solutions into their pipelines and products to help marketers and salespeople use the technology effectively.
As AI technologies advance, they have the potential to drive personalization and leverage data analytics to connect with customers on a deeper level. Our short certified AI in Digital Marketing course will introduce you to AI-driven digital marketing and help you implement it in your activities. You will also get hands-on experience with key AI tools such as ChatGPT and Stability AI, amongst others and learn new AI skills. Sign up today!