How Can AI Be Leveraged for Growth in Digital Marketing?

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, staying ahead of the competition requires more than just a strong online presence. It demands a data-driven approach that strategically harnesses technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to accomplish key marketing objectives. At a high level, some of the most effective ways to leverage AI and ML are to automate processes, personalize experiences, and analyze data. Whether working in an internal marketing department or an agency, all of these are core activities for digital marketers.

We at (un)Common Logic are big believers in using tools and technology to make our work more efficient and effective. Having said that, we’re even bigger believers in having highly trained and experienced experts using and managing those tools to ensure they deliver the results we want. So before we dive into the details of where and how digital marketers can implement AI and ML, let’s take a moment to discuss the necessity of human oversight for these tools in particular.

The importance of the human touch in AI-driven digital marketing

Despite the increasing role of artificial intelligence in the field, a human touch remains crucial in AI-driven digital marketing. Here's why maintaining a human touch is essential for driving optimal results:

• Brand identity and voice - Maintaining a consistent brand identity and voice is essential for building brand recognition and trust. Human marketers play a pivotal role in shaping and preserving a brand's personality, tone, and values. AI can assist in content production, but it's the human touch that ensures the brand's voice remains authentic and relatable.
• Ethics & mitigating bias - AI-driven decisions are based on algorithms and data patterns, but eliminating bias and other ethical considerations often requires human judgment. Decisions related to data privacy, responsible AI usage, and ethical marketing practices should be guided by human values and principles.
• Contextual understanding - Understanding the context in which marketing messages are received is essential for effective communication. Humans can discern the subtleties of context, such as current events, cultural nuances, and real-time conversations, to tailor their messaging appropriately.
• Adaptability - Human marketers can adapt quickly to changing market dynamics and consumer preferences. They can spot emerging trends, respond to unexpected challenges, and make strategic adjustments on the fly. AI, while excellent at data analysis, may struggle to adapt without human guidance.

How can companies leverage AI and ML for their digital marketing?

Now that we’ve covered why it is essential to have experts driving how the tools are used let’s get a bit more granular with some ways for companies to approach using AI in their digital marketing efforts.

Content Creation

Companies can harness the capabilities of AI to transform their content creation processes. AI-powered tools and platforms can generate content efficiently and at scale, from drafts of blog articles and product descriptions to social media posts and videos. Today AI systems are used to understand user intent, industry trends, and specific content requirements. They can then craft well-structured and engaging text, image, and video content that resonates with the target audience. Once an AI-generated draft is ready, having a content expert review it for accuracy, tone, context, and other factors before publication is essential.

By automating much of the content creation process, businesses can save time and resources while consistently delivering high-quality content that drives brand engagement and boosts online presence. For marketing leaders, exploring AI-driven content generation tools is a great time investment as the right tool can enhance your company’s content strategy and streamline content production all while improving the bottom line.

Code Generation

Harnessing the power of AI for code generation to streamline development processes is another great use of technology in digital marketing. AI-based code generation tools, often powered by natural language processing (NLP) and ML, can be great for assisting developers in writing code more efficiently and accurately. Often times these AI-powered code generation tools can take high-level descriptions or requirements in plain language and convert them into functional code snippets.

From a business perspective, this not only speeds up development cycles for companies with development teams, it also reduces the risk of human errors. The other benefit is that these tools can allow smaller companies with fewer resources the ability to do things that weren't possible just 2 to 3 years ago. For instance, with tools such as ChatGPT, a business owner with no prior coding expertise will have the ability to identify SEO page speed optimizations to their WordPress site with less time needed by external or experienced resources to review and test before implementation.

Data Analysis

In the age of data-driven decision-making, companies can harness the capabilities of AI to enhance their data analysis processes. AI brings automation, efficiency, and precision to data analysis, making it a valuable tool for businesses of any size. Through machine learning algorithms, AI can process and interpret massive datasets at incredible speeds, identifying patterns, trends, and insights that may be challenging to uncover manually.

This enables digital marketers to use the data to make more informed decisions, optimize marketing campaigns, and gain a competitive edge in less time. Whether it's predicting customer behavior, optimizing ad copy messaging, or enhancing product development, AI-driven data analysis has become an indispensable asset for organizations striving to thrive in the data-rich landscape of the modern business world.

Benefits of Artificial intelligence for your digital marketing strategies

The benefits may seem obvious, but let’s spell out why using AI and ML in your business and digital marketing strategies and processes is worth investigating.

Quick to ROI

One of the key benefits of AI in digital marketing is its ability to deliver a swift return on investment (ROI). AI-driven tools and algorithms can quickly analyze vast datasets, identify trends, and optimize marketing campaigns in almost real-time. This rapid decision-making capability allows businesses to allocate their marketing budget more efficiently, target the right audience with personalized content, and adapt strategies on the fly. As a result, companies have seen improved conversion rates and increased sales in a shorter timeframe than ever before. This speed to ROI not only boosts financial outcomes but also positions businesses to stay competitive in the fast-paced digital landscape.

Operational efficiency

By automating repetitive tasks, analyzing data at scale, and making data-driven decisions, AI can significantly streamline business operations. This not only saves time but also reduces errors and frees up human resources to focus on more strategic and creative tasks. From chatbots handling customer inquiries to predictive analytics optimizing landing page messaging, AI-driven efficiencies are transforming industries and helping organizations operate more smoothly and effectively in the digital age.

Improved decision making

One of the significant benefits of AI is its ability to enhance decision-making processes. AI systems excel at processing vast amounts of data quickly and extracting valuable insights. By analyzing historical data, market trends, customer behavior, and other relevant information, AI can provide valuable recommendations and predictions that empower businesses to make more informed and data-driven decisions. Whether it's optimizing marketing campaigns, identifying emerging trends, or making strategic choices, AI's analytical capabilities contribute to more accurate and strategic decision-making, ultimately leading to better outcomes and competitive advantages in various industries.

How should you choose AI platforms for your marketing strategy?

Before we outline considerations companies should use before leveraging an AI platform, it's important to understand a little more about how we approach things at (un)Common Logic. For the purposes of this article, there are two core philosophies that we apply to digital marketing and technology.

1. One of our favorite answers that applies to almost any question in digital marketing is, "It depends." We truly believe that there are very few strategies that can be successfully applied across businesses of varying sizes and maturity in different industries and markets. Every business is unique in the way that it operates and sets goals and so should the strategies and tactics that are implemented to achieve those goals.
2. No matter how advanced the technology, technologies are tools that are designed to make us more efficient and effective. As with any job, you need to know which tool to use to accomplish your goal.

That being said, here are some factors to consider when choosing AI platforms for your digital marketing efforts:

• Business objectives - Start by clearly defining your marketing objectives. Whether it's increasing website traffic, improving lead generation, or enhancing customer engagement, having well-defined objectives will guide your tool selection.
• Integration capabilities - Check if the AI tools you’re considering can seamlessly integrate with not just your existing marketing technology stack but also with your specific business process. Compatibility with your processes, CRM, email marketing platform, analytics tools, and other systems is essential to avoid data silos and ensure a smooth workflow.
• Ease of use - Consider the usability of the AI tools. Are they user-friendly for your team, or do they require extensive technical expertise to operate? Choose tools that align with the skill set of your marketing team to maximize their effectiveness.
• Scalability - Ensure that the AI tools can scale with your business as it grows. Consider whether they can handle increased data volumes and complexity without compromising performance at a price point that makes sense.
• Support and training - Assess the various levels of customer support and training provided by the AI provider and ensure that you know what your subscription level offers. Adequate training and ongoing support are essential for your marketing team to maximize the tool's potential.
• Security and compliance - Ensure that the AI tools adhere to industry-specific security and compliance standards. This is especially important if you deal with sensitive customer data or operate in regulated industries or regions.

Challenges of AI implementation for marketing campaigns

Despite its challenges, successful AI implementation can offer a substantial competitive advantage. Addressing these challenges proactively and strategically is essential for businesses looking to harness the power of AI efficiently and effectively. Some challenges to keep in mind prior to and during the implementation phase are outlined below:

• Talent and skills gap - Businesses may struggle to find and retain AI talent. Skilled data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI experts are in high demand, making it competitive and challenging to build and maintain internal AI teams.
• Change management - Employees may resist or struggle with changes brought about by AI implementations. Effective change management strategies are needed to educate and train employees, foster acceptance, and mitigate potential resistance. The wide-scale change is coming and it's on us as leaders to ensure a smooth transition for our teams.
• AI strategy alignment -  Ensuring that AI initiatives align with the overall business strategy can be a challenge at the rapid rate of change happening in the industry. Marketing teams should define clear AI objectives and ensure that AI projects contribute to broader organizational goals as well as digital marketing objectives.

What does the future look like with AI in digital marketing?

AI in digital marketing promises to revolutionize the industry. Marketers will harness AI's capabilities for hyper-personalization, delivering tailored content and experiences to individual consumers. Predictive analytics will become more precise, enabling better trend forecasting and data-driven decision-making. AI will play a significant role in content creation, optimization, and the generation of visual and video content, speeding up production and enhancing quality at a price that will allow small businesses the opportunity to compete at a large scale.

Even with AI's growing role in realm of digital marketing, we believe that human creativity, ethical practices, and strategic oversight will remain central to successful marketing strategies in this AI-driven future.

Contact us to talk more about how to implement AI and other key strategies into your marketing plan.

Interested in how to rev up your customer acquisition efforts in our new privacy-centric world? Come to our panel discussion with speakers from Meta, Morgan Stanley, and more on February 28, 2024 at Vuka in Austin, Texas.

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