How To Use AI (Artificial Intelligence) For Digital Marketing?

Since the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in society, it has been adapted to various fields. In the age of communication, understanding how to use AI for digital marketing is exciting and filled with opportunities.

More and more companies are adopting AI tools to enable efficient workflows and generate creative content. Much of the current marketing conversation revolves around artificial intelligence.

In light of this emerging paradigm shift, digital marketing firms are harnessing the power of AI to boost the efficiency, customization, and overall effectiveness of their marketing approaches. AI has opened up a world of possibilities for marketing agencies and brands, from text-based tools to design and audiovisual resources.

As the marketing industry embraces new and exciting possibilities for reaching highly specific target audiences with more personalized content, it's crucial for agency leaders to consider potential obstacles, including significant ethical concerns that must be addressed to ensure responsible AI use in marketing.

Determining the extent to which AI can power up digital marketing is a challenging question. Thanks to AI tools available in the marketing industry, developer interventions, and proper utilization of AI, it's now possible to find various AI-based marketing solutions. These encompass text tools, design tools, audiovisual resources, content summaries, key campaign definitions, task automation, as well as customer personalization and segmentation.

Many people fear being replaced, but the key is knowing how to harness AI tools because they are an additional resource for content creation, delivering precisely what one seeks. AI can generate images based on specific user requests.

Different uses of AI in digital marketing

To understand AI today, it is important to differentiate the types of dynamics that exist today and how they impact consumers.

Tasks automation: These applications excel in handling routine and structured tasks that require relatively limited cognitive abilities. They are designed to follow a set of predefined rules or execute a specific sequence of actions based on given inputs. However, they lack the capacity to address complex issues, such as nuanced customer inquiries. For example, a system that automatically sends a welcome email to every new customer falls into this category. This group also encompasses simpler chatbots, like those commonly found on platforms such as Facebook Messenger and other social media services. While these chatbots can provide basic assistance to customers by leading them through predetermined decision pathways, they are incapable of understanding customer intentions, offering personalized responses, or adapting based on ongoing interactions.

Machine Learning: This is a domain in which algorithms undergo extensive training with vast datasets to equip them with the ability to make complex predictions and decisions. These models have the capacity to recognize images, interpret text, segment customers, and forecast how customers will respond to various strategies, such as promotional campaigns. Machine learning has already brought about significant transformations in programmatic advertising, e-commerce recommendation systems, and sales prediction models within customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. Alongside its advanced counterpart, deep learning, these technologies are at the forefront of artificial intelligence, emerging as powerful tools in the marketing arena. However, it's crucial to note that current machine learning applications are predominantly tailored for specific tasks and require substantial data for training.

To comprehend how companies employ AI in marketing, it's essential to grasp the distinction between two key dimensions: the depth of AI intelligence and whether it functions independently or as an integrated part of a larger platform. It's worth noting that certain technologies, such as chatbots or recommendation engines, don't neatly fit into a single category; their specific use in a given context determines where they fall within this classification.

Standalone Applications: These are distinct AI programs. They exist separately from the primary channels through which customers interact with, purchase from, or seek support for a company's products or services, as well as the channels employees use for marketing, sales, or service.

For example, Behr utilized IBM Watson's natural language processing and tone analysis capabilities (which detect emotions in text). The application provides personalized paint color recommendations from Behr based on the desired mood consumers want for their space. Customers use the application to select two or three colors for the room they want to paint. The actual paint purchase occurs outside of the application, although it allows a connection to place orders through Home Depot.

Integrated Applications: AI applications are often less visible to customers, marketers, and salespeople who employ them. For instance, machine learning algorithms that make real-time decisions about which digital ads to present to users are integrated into platforms responsible for the entire ad procurement and placement process. In the case of Netflix, or any streaming platform, integrated machine learning has been offering video recommendations to customers for over a decade; these recommendations simply appear in the menu that visitors see when they visit the site. If the recommendation engine were standalone, users would need to access a dedicated app to request suggestions.

CRM system providers are increasingly incorporating machine learning capabilities into their products. In Salesforce, the Sales Cloud Einstein suite includes various capabilities, including an AI-based lead scoring system that automatically ranks B2B leads based on their likelihood to make a purchase. Providers like Cogito, which sells AI solutions for call center agents, also integrate their applications with Salesforce's CRM system.

Marketing professionals are likely to derive the most benefit from integrated machine learning applications, although simple rule-based systems and task automation can enhance highly structured processes and offer reasonable potential for business gains. It's worth noting that task automation is increasingly merging with machine learning (to extract crucial data from messages, make more intricate decisions, and customize communications), creating a hybrid approach that spans across these categories.

Independent applications still have their place when integration proves challenging or impossible, though their advantages have limitations. Therefore, we recommend that marketers progressively integrate AI into their existing marketing systems rather than relying solely on standalone applications. In fact, many companies are moving in this direction; according to Deloitte's 2020 survey, 74% of global AI executives agreed that "AI will be integrated into all business applications within three years."

How can AI power up digital marketing? Let's see specific tools.

Automatic content generation: ChatGPT

Digital marketing agencies can employ AI-powered content generation tools to create persuasive texts, blog articles, and product descriptions efficiently and quickly. These tools can save agencies time and resources, allowing them to focus on more advanced strategies.

AI-Powered Design Tools: Automatic Design Generation

Agencies can efficiently use AI to create logos, social media images, and website designs. These tools provide a wide range of options and styles, enabling quick and easy customization. Additionally, they allow for time optimization and efficiency. AI-based tools can analyze and enhance existing designs based on visual attention and usability metrics. This helps marketing agencies create more engaging and effective designs, increasing user engagement and conversions.

Automatic image recognition and tagging

Digital marketing agencies can employ AI-powered image recognition tools to automatically tag large quantities of images, facilitating organization and search. This allows agencies to leverage visual content better and create more effective visual marketing strategies.

AI-Assisted Video Editing

AI-assisted video editing tools can accelerate editing, enhance quality, and enable advanced special effects. This helps marketing agencies create engaging, high-quality video content without requiring specialized editing skills.

The Impact of AI on Brands: Personalization and Segmentation

AI tools enable marketing agencies to personalize strategies and messages for different audience segments, improving campaign relevance and effectiveness. Brands can offer more personalized experiences to their customers, increasing loyalty and retention.

Automation of Routine Tasks

AI enables marketing agencies to automate repetitive tasks such as email sending, social media post scheduling, and ad management. This frees up time for brands to focus on more strategic and creative tasks.

The Marketing Professionals Behind AI

AI enhances marketing work not only in image and text recognition but also in understanding the consumer audience. Today, we can explore and use AI to obtain precisely what we seek. If a designer, creative writer, or marketing specialist is behind the AI, including the details of what needs to be generated, a highly professional product can be achieved. It is a mistake to assume that AI will run smoothly and without errors with a few simple instructions. Human intellect will continue to be necessary to teach, correct, and achieve truly good AI results. Tools make our marketing work easier by optimizing our time, but a professional always configures the new roles.

How AI Is Used in Marketing Today

ChatGPT is one of the most widely used tools, and it can be thought of as having the same level of use as a search engine like Google. Practice is needed to use these tools effectively because usage and learning are required to achieve the desired results.

Today, many AI application plugins are not well-known, as they are created by different developers (collaborative plugins). In most cases, these plugins are not explored, even though they offer various solutions for their use.

For example, there are plugins that can read video subtitles just by entering the video link, allowing users to ask the AI later if the video referenced a particular product, brand, or word. Similarly, creating a prompt can request a summary, script, or specific content generated from that video. It should be noted that the more information and details provided to the AI, the better the result obtained.

The AI challenges in the marketing industry

Although many tools have been created, there are still many that, due to lack of regulation, may have errors, and when launched en masse, they can generate conflicts with copyright.

Ethics of AI in Marketing: Transparency and Trust

Agencies must be transparent with their clients about the use of Artificial Intelligence in marketing strategies. Transparency fosters trust and allows clients to understand how their data is being used.

Responsibility and Equity

It's important for marketing agencies to avoid bias and discrimination when using AI tools. Proper controls and monitoring should be established to ensure that AI-driven decisions are fair and ethical.

"I have been preparing for this AI moment for more than 10 years. We know how important it is to be responsible from day one." - Sundar Pichai, Google's CEO.

Brands That Are Embracing AI

As we've been highlighting, AI has revolutionized marketing, and major companies worldwide understand this, including Stradivarius, Burger King, IBM, Starbucks, Hilton, Tesla, Uber, and Netflix.

Understanding AI today in the marketing industry

Companies today use AI to connect with customers in different ways and enter different stages of their journey. When potential customers are researching a product in the "consideration" phase, AI will target ads to them and can help guide their search, for example.

Starbucks also uses AI in its mobile app to personalize offers and promotions for each user, improving customer service in physical stores and their app. They also utilize their AI, Deep View, to optimize inventory management and customer data analysis.

Hilton has employed AI to enhance guest experiences. Their virtual assistant, Connie, answers customer questions and provides recommendations for restaurants and tourist attractions.

Uber employs AI for fraud detection, risk assessment, driver-passenger matching, and route optimization to ensure user safety and improve customer service.

The future of AI-driven Digital Marketing

When considering new technologies, dissemination, marketing, and growth, it is essential to become proficient in AI. Today, more and more products and services incorporate AI that detects user needs.

AI-powered text, design, and audiovisual tools are revolutionizing how digital marketing agencies operate. These tools offer greater efficiency, personalization, and effectiveness in marketing strategies. However, their implementation requires careful ethical attention to ensure responsible and fair use. With an ethical focus, marketing agencies can maximize the benefits of AI and deliver exceptional experiences to brands and consumers in the digital age.

Agreements and Education on Artificial Intelligence: The Key in the Agency-Client Relationship. Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the field of digital marketing, providing agencies with powerful tools to enhance effectiveness.

The future of artificial intelligence in marketing promises a radically transformed business landscape. As AI evolves and matures, its influence on business decision-making and marketing strategies becomes deeper and more pervasive. In the coming years, companies that effectively adopt AI will be better positioned to compete in an increasingly dynamic and consumer-oriented market.

The future of artificial intelligence in marketing will be an exciting and transformative journey for companies. Those who embrace this technology effectively will be able to deliver highly personalized customer experiences, automate tedious tasks, and make more accurate data-driven decisions. However, ethical responsibility and transparency will be equally important to ensure that AI is used in ways that are beneficial to both businesses and consumers. As we move into this future, it is clear that artificial intelligence will continue to be a driving force in the evolution of marketing and how companies connect with their audiences.