How Companies Are Using AI in Digital Marketing
AI in digital marketing empowers companies by automating many marketing tasks and improving processes. It helps marketers save time on tasks that would be difficult or even impossible to do manually within a reasonable time frame.
The global artificial intelligence market is estimated to generate $433 billion in sales from 2020 to 2023. And AI marketing is expected to snowball in the coming years, with revenues exceeding half a trillion dollars by 2023.
Let’s take a deep dive into the answers and see how AI is used in digital marketing!
What Is AI in Digital Marketing?
Artificial intelligence allows marketers to create a combination of intelligence elements with human hands. Using AI in digital marketing facilitates and improves processes, in parallel to the main motive of AI-driven technological advances.
Offering more than automation or other simple digital tools, artificial intelligence imitates the human mind to make decisions and function. As a result, it helps marketing teams create effective marketing plans and workflows.
AI in digital marketing needs data to carry out its responsibilities for companies within the framework of models created by algorithms. The raw material of artificial intelligence algorithms and models is data. That’s why data collection or data protection is a hot topic in today’s business world.
The amount of data produced in the digital marketing world is enormous. It’s meta to sell, buy, own, and protect. The solution to the challenge of the management and analysis of this big data lies in AI technologies so that companies can benefit from it to improve their marketing performance.
How Do Companies Use AI in Digital Marketing?
Developing artificial intelligence helps businesses and brands in digital marketing create various alternatives in the ways and methods of communicating with their target audience. In digital marketing, it is possible to conduct target audience-oriented marketing by collecting data about customers, consumers, potential customers, and the target audience with artificial intelligence technologies.
Artificial intelligence can evaluate and process big data in real time with a predetermined design. In this way, marketers will be able to create competitive marketing strategies by seeing the whole picture. Artificial intelligence technologies and branches like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) play an active role in digital marketing on personalized content suggestions, email marketing, improved customer service, real-time customer support, and social media marketing.
Artificial intelligence provides companies with solutions to be more effective in their advertisements and constitutes a critical promotional expense. In addition, AI digital advertising with the right content enables companies to reach their target audiences at the right time and in the right environment.
AI marketing relies entirely on well-matched data, analytics, and research. Combining AI with digital marketing is currently one of the most successful ways to work wonders regarding lead capture for marketing strategies.
Let’s look at some key aspects of how AI is used in the digital marketing landscape:
AI in Marketing Visual Creation
The role of AI in visual content creation is becoming increasingly evident. As marketing visuals are crucial for audience engagement, AI is proving instrumental in enhancing this domain. Tools like Midjourney and Leonardo.ai are utilizing AI to refine designs and anticipate upcoming trends, all in real time.
A noteworthy example of the use of AI for marketing visuals is Heinz’s partnership with the agency Rethink. Together, they introduced a unique ad campaign featuring visuals entirely crafted by AI, aptly named “A.I. Ketchup.” They prompted the AI with inventive concepts like “ketchup in space,” and the generated images unmistakably echoed the Heinz brand identity, even without specific branding. Intriguingly, the online community soon joined the initiative, offering their own prompts, reinforcing the deep connection between the Heinz brand and ketchup.
This progression in visual marketing isn’t just about expedited content creation; it’s about evolving strategies that resonate with consumer behaviors and desires.
Curious about other ways AI is reshaping marketing campaigns? Here’s another blog post by DAN; this time, you’ll explore more AI marketing campaigns by agencies. After viewing these successful campaigns, we don’t think that you can resist the urge to skyrocket your campaigns with AI, and luckily, you’ll have our curated list of the best AI marketing agencies.
AI in CRM
Customer relationship management, also known as CRM, is a business strategy that adapts to a customer-centric approach by filtering valid information and maximizing the collection of user information. It is an excellent AI-driven strategy for gaining accurate insights.
Combined with CRM and AI, companies can now understand consumer behavioral information, such as which products or services they are interested in, how much they would ideally spend on those products, and more. Besides, AI-based CRM tools help companies access their marketing data around 95% faster.
Such tools allow companies to create an effective AI marketing strategy to increase leads and conversions. Marketers analyze consumers’ needs through this data and adopt artificial intelligence to increase sales. In this way, AI and CRM are helping to change the world of digital marketing.
Spotify is one of the companies that use AI-based CRM tools. Its choice is to go with Salesforce to enhance its account engagement and build differentiated consumer journeys, besides providing the users with an omnichannel support system to meet their needs as quickly as possible.
AI Chatbot Applications
With the developments in semantic definition, such as artificial intelligence’s language processes and matching the questions asked with relevant topics, chatbot applications have started to provide many advantages to improving customer experience and customer services. For example, while customer representatives deal with a single person, chatbots can deal with many customers at the same time.
Another advantage AI can provide is a fast and smooth 24/7 service. As a result, you can establish uninterrupted communication with your customers. It helps you stay one step ahead of your competitors who do not provide such a service. In addition, if your company carries out operations abroad, your communication with your customers continues without interruption thanks to different language options and regardless of the time zones.
Let’s see an example of a company providing customer service with a chatbot:
By enabling users to easily get information about balances and expenses, and set up customized notifications, the chatbot has made managing finances more intuitive and user-friendly. This is just one example of how chatbots and AI are transforming the financial industry and enhancing the customer experience.
AI in Digital Advertising
Undoubtedly, one of the areas where AI studies are most successfully integrated is digital advertising. For the best possible experience, big brands such as Facebook and Google use artificial intelligence in their advertising platforms.
It analyzes user information, such as age, gender, areas of interest, and location, and shows its ads to people or audiences to whom the business is relevant. This results in a higher return on investment (ROI) from advertising.
Another example of using AI in digital advertising campaigns is generated by Coca-Cola. The brand uses artificial intelligence to generate logos, texts, and narratives in ads automatically.
As the use of and interest in AI grows, the number of AI-driven ad campaigns shows an increase. Every other day, another brand announces its new AI-generated digital advertising campaign.
For example, industry giants like Unilever and Nestlé notably utilize generative AI. They pointed out that they have been leveraging AI tools such as OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 to both enhance their ad campaigns and realize cost savings. These companies’ digital agency, WPP’s CEO, mentioned that the use of AI can benefit up to 20 times the investments.
So, in short, the benefits of AI for digital advertising, when applied correctly, are innumerable. The support of artificial intelligence while running advertising campaigns boosts the efficiency of your efforts and provides high conversion rates in your campaigns.
But don’t forget that there are also ongoing debates about ethical concerns, and proposals such as watermarking AI-created content are emerging to enhance transparency. If you want to learn more about ethical concerns about the use of AI in digital marketing, Check out our blog post about the shift from classic digital to an AI-driven approach in agencies.
The benefits of AI for digital advertising, when applied correctly, are innumerable. The support of artificial intelligence while running advertising campaigns boosts getting efficient results from your efforts and provides high conversion rates in your campaigns.
AI in Content Marketing
Artificial intelligence is increasing its impact on content marketing as well. Especially audience targeting is getting more straightforward with AI in digital marketing. By using such insights, marketers can reach users more efficiently, attract more potential customers, and realize digital transformations.
Nestle is among the companies benefiting from AI in content marketing. The brand leverages natural language processing (NLP) technology to generate personalized content for different audience segments, thereby enhancing its content marketing efforts and resulting in increased sales.
AI strengthens content marketing by making it possible to connect with visitors on websites with more relevant content. AI content generation accelerates the process, and content marketers can create more digital content. We recommend trying out AI-based content tools like Jasper.ai, Writesonic, and even ChatGPT to determine if AI is suitable for content marketing. Once you’ve identified the areas where you can benefit from it, you can use AI to create various types of content, including blog posts, social media content, video scripts, and ad copies. However, it’s essential to remember that editing the content generated by AI is necessary to ensure it meets marketing standards, as recommended by experienced marketers including Whitney Cornuke from TalentLaunch.
Another well-known figure from the marketing field, Alex Cattoni tries ChatGPT to generate copies and summarizes the situation with these words:
Is it a magic wand for creating high-converting copy? No. Is it a shortcut to building a business people trust? Definitely not. Will it replace you as a writer? No, not if you have a single creative idea, which I know you do, but it can be your new BFF if you learn how to use it properly.
If you want to learn how you can make ChatGPT your best friend in copywriting and leverage it for your company’s sake, here’s the full video:
AI in SEO
Marketers have become more dependent on the use of AI to adapt to search engines’ algorithms. SEO covers a myriad of requirements, both technically and semantically. The use of artificial intelligence in SEO improves the ranking of your web page and allows for more adaptive strategies and better content development for your business.
According to the research by HubSpot, more than half of marketers said keyword rankings and organic traffic are the primary ways marketers gauge the performance of their SEO strategies.
With the recent hype that artificial intelligence created, many companies focused on leveraging their SEO practices with the help of AI. For example, STACK Media used artificial intelligence to identify relevant keywords with high search volumes, analyze the visibility of these keywords on SERPs, and conduct competitive research to identify successful content themes and structures.
Another way of benefiting from AI in SEO is by improving the technical aspects of a website. For example, you can generate Hreflang tags or structured data like FAQPage Schema markup, set the rules for your robots.txt, and build links. And here’s the cherry on the top, as Aleyda Solis exemplifies in her blog post about the use of ChatGPT for SEO, writing simple and short prompts will be more than enough to do so.
To see an example, let’s try to generate Hreflang tags with ChatGPT together:
AI and User Experience (UX)
A well-established UX requires human intervention for the best results. Although artificial intelligence is currently solving particular optimization problems for various content, it doesn’t seem to be ready to take over the role of humans. Here is a YouTube video from a UX designer that will help you learn more:
AI for UX design will keep mingling the human brain and creativity with the practical solutions of the virtual world. This rising field can support the generation of new ideas by facilitating the technical process. With the help of AI, marketing teams can spare more time for human-based skills, which will accelerate the application process.
Moreover, UX algorithms, which follow us for all our actions, continue to learn from user movements at every moment. They keep track of what content we use and how intensely we use them. They know us so personally that they can guess what our preferences might be. When customer data in such services is combined with artificial intelligence, they become a separate product for each user. As a result, they provide each member with a unique experience.
For example, the Netflix Search feature enables users to discover new videos by expressing their entertainment preferences through search terms. Using the data collected from these searches, artificial intelligence generates a personalized homepage that suggests content relevant to the user.
As explained in this video, Netflix creates a unique homepage for each user with the help of artificial intelligence to maintain the user’s interest and encourage them to continue watching.
What Is the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Marketing?
AI is making undeniable inroads in the modern market and the usage and benefits of AI in digital marketing have been rapidly increasing day by day. While many acknowledge the current strides, the consensus is that we are merely scratching the surface.
When we think of AI’s potential to mirror human cognition, analysis, and adaptability, it’s evident there’s much more to uncover.
Currently, AI’s role in marketing extends beyond simple automation. It delves into intricate data analytics, strategic planning, and nuanced customer interactions. We are already seeing its profound impact, but this is just the beginning.
Many experts suggest that AI’s true prowess will be showcased when it can think, analyze, and adapt with a depth that mirrors human intuition and foresight.
Imagine marketing systems that not only sift through massive datasets but also genuinely grasp customer emotions, preferences, and nuanced triggers! Such platforms could soon detect societal shifts, adeptly navigate market fluctuations, and even predict emerging consumer desires.
As this technology matures, we’ll likely witness an unprecedented blend of AI’s precision with human ingenuity, reshaping the marketing realm in ways we’ve yet to fully comprehend.
What Are the Challenges and Concerns in AI-Driven Digital Marketing?
AI holds transformative promise for digital marketing, yet its adoption demands discernment, particularly concerning privacy. Transparent data handling—aligned with global privacy standards—is non-negotiable to sustain user trust.
While AI optimizes processes, the nuances of empathy, intuition, and discerning judgment remain uniquely human. Notably, biases embedded in human data can inadvertently shape AI outputs. Periodic audits, complemented by human oversight, are imperative to uphold ethical, potent marketing practices.
So, the pressing question is: How can marketers harness AI while retaining the authenticity of the human touch? Undoubtedly, the marketing vanguards of tomorrow will seamlessly weave technology with genuine human connection.
If you are looking for opportunities to make AI the key player in your marketing strategy, we can save you from wasting time hunting through agencies. Here’s our selection of top AI marketing agencies in the UK ready to polish your marketing strategy with the help of AI and boost your ROI!
