Ask anyone who spends any amount of time on the internet what the top-five biggest debates are these days, and chances are they’ll name artificial intelligence (AI) as one. It’s blown up in the last few years, being made widely available to the average user. It’s being implemented across almost every industry, so using AI for marketing is one of the results. The technology is definitely impressive (you can find out more about how it works in this blog), and has opened enough doors to fill a skyscraper. Some of those doors lead to great things, while others can be harmful.
Yours truly is writing this blog with a firm understanding that the subject matter is controversial. I myself know better than to trust a strange computer, but I’m not blind to the beneficial opportunities AI presents. While many of us roll our eyes when we see a “heartwarming” story of a gorilla who adopted an orphan squirrel (along with uncanny photos and videos) on our feed, there are more subtle ways to use the technology in practical ways that serve to help us. Let’s walk the tightrope of AI and marketing, shall we?
Content Creation & Copywriting
We’ll start with the area of marketing this writer is most familiar with: content creation and copywriting. How can AI be utilized to supplement and assist with this work? I’ll explain by outlining my process.
Copy and paste directly from AI? “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” These words are being typed out by human hands. So what do I use AI for? I tell it what I want to write about, and ask it to create an outline for me. This allows me to write without missing any of the important points I want to touch on.
But that’s just one use for AI in content creation. It can be beneficial for other types of content, such as website copy and simply sparking some ideas when the creative juices haven’t fully started flowing yet. Benefits include:
- Saving time on brainstorming and drafting
- Fresh ideas to get the imagination going
- Scaling of content production for growing businesses
It’s important to note that there are limitations, which is one reason AI should never be relied on to create content outright. The content it generates lacks the nuance, humor, and storytelling depth that a human brain can provide. On top of that, it will likely miss your brand’s unique voice and tone.
And then there’s the big reason that could potentially land you in hot water: AI isn’t always correct, so human review is crucial to ensuring everything it generates is accurate.
In short, AI is best used as a starting point in writing. Taking its raw results could yield poor results. Not only could the content be inaccurate, but AI’s writing style has plenty of tells that in-the-know individuals will be able to spot from a mile away. What makes the content truly great is the human being behind its creation and refinement.
AI-Powered SEO & Analytics
As content creators, we want to make content that people enjoy, but it’s also important to optimize for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Google loves to read good stuff and recommend it to other people, after all. Using AI for marketing is a big help in this arena, as the tools can be used to:
- Identify popular and effective keywords
- Optimize and “clean up” content
- Anticipate audience behavior using predictive analytics
- Provide real-time reporting on a piece of content’s performance
This is the crossroads of big data and machine learning, and here we find deep insights into the wants and needs of our audiences. How do they interact with content? What kind of content are they looking for? Having this information helps us with our marketing strategy development. The data is gathered by AI, but real people are still an important part of its analysis. We know your audience, meaning we know what needs to be done with the data.
Social Media Management
If you know anyone who manages social media, go give them a high five or something. They have a lot to juggle. Fortunately, AI for marketing is available to take care of the more tedious stuff and streamline the process. It allows these social butterflies to focus on making great content for their clients. But how? Platforms like Agorapulse utilize AI tools to:
- Schedule posts at the best possible times for engagement
- Provide recommendations on popular content formats
- Perform social listening that tracks brand mentions and analyzes general sentiment around a brand and its products and services.
With these features, we can create actionable strategies for you. Seeing the trends is one thing. It’s understanding them and taking action that makes the big difference!
Customer Personalization
How do you build stronger connections with your audience? By giving them what they want, of course! With that in mind, AI is great at delivering tailored experiences that will generate leads. So what are some of the common ways it does this?
- Recommendation engines can use browsing or purchase history to make product suggestions.
- Dynamic email campaigns can use personalized messaging for different segments of your audience.
- Chatbots can provide customer support in real-time.
When a customer feels valued as a result of such a catered experience, they’re more likely to become loyal customers and maybe even spread the word!
Advertising and Paid Media
Many of us are familiar with targeted ads. We tell an ad platform such as Facebook the demographics of the audience we’re marketing to (age, income, interests, etc.) in order to maximize chances that our ad money is being spent well. Thanks to AI for marketing, such advertising tactics are even more precise.
Ad targeting and bidding strategies can now be automated, tests can be run to determine which ads perform best, and budgets can be optimized for maximum efficiency. Essentially, much of the guesswork around where ad spend will be most effective is removed. I say “most” because the audience is still human, so we’ll never be able to fully predict their behavior. Instead of full on mind-reading, we use the data provided to us by the AI to make real-time decisions on geography, spend, campaign type, and more!
AI and Marketing Still Need a Mediator
“But, blog writer guy, doesn’t that mean your job is obsolete.” Nope! Despite all the amazing things AI can do, the human element is still as important as ever. Just take a look at the examples I gave in the “Content Creation & Copywriting” section above. Successful marketing strategy development still requires the most complex computer—the brain—to stand out in a marketing landscape. AI can’t hold a candle to a human mind when it comes to:
- Storytelling and creativity that creates a connection with an audience
- Strategic oversight that keeps campaigns on track
- Authenticity that builds trust between you and your customers
It’s important to note that AI doesn’t really have an imagination. If humans haven’t thought of the idea, these tools won’t be able to. Do androids dream of electric sheep? Yes, but only because we gave them the idea.
AI Is a Great Assistant, but It Doesn’t Run the Show
AI for marketing is here to stay, no matter which side of the debate you find yourself on. The real question is this: How will you use it? How will we collectively use it going into the future? This technology can be used to make our marketing processes more efficient, but people are still the leaders.
Still have concerns about this technology? Totally understandable. We’re here to help you gain a deep understanding of its capabilities and how we use it to maximize the efforts of your marketing campaigns. Get in touch and we’ll give you the lowdown on how to make the most of this impressive tech!