How AI could be about to reshape digital marketing
Technologies branded as AI have rapidly progressed from producing roughly-rendered approximations of human content, into an everyday tool may transform how the creative sector does business. Kate Farrell, head of design at digital marketing agency Sherbet Donkey, explains how AI is transforming digital marketing practices.
As marketers, we’re always looking for new ways to hit our KPIs and for things that will make our job easier. Many agree AI could be both of those things, so you’re probably familiar with the Large-Language-Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Copilot, that have been busy picking up time-intensive work like keyword research, copy drafting or brainstorming.
Asking AI to do the work we normally do is one thing, but what about the bigger, more exciting opportunities that AI brings to digital marketing? The real excitement comes when it starts to do things that you wouldn’t know how to do.
AI & Data Analysis for Ads
Looking at a couple of weeks of campaign data is easy and allows us to spot a couple of trends or concerns that need following up, leaving us feeling like we’ve had a productive and vigilant day.
However, when you give data to AI (for example, the social media algorithm that decides what you see in your feed) it processes, looks for patterns and makes decisions – all in a fraction of a second. AI can digest huge amounts of data in the time it would take you to click your mouse.
Imagine a website that remembers your past purchases and suggests complementary items. AI analyses your browsing history and past interactions to predict your interests and personalise content recommendations. This can be anything from suggesting a new book series based on your favourite author to recommending that perfect pair of headphones to go with your new phone.
Laser-Focused Ad Targeting
Gone are the days of irrelevant ads cluttering your screen. AI can analyse demographics, online behaviour, and even social media activity to target ads with pinpoint accuracy. Imagine seeing an ad for the hiking boots you’ve been eyeing after researching trails online – that’s the power of AI-powered ad targeting in action. However, these methods do have to keep up with user’s growing awareness of data privacy.
At the same time, by automating repetitive tasks, AI becomes the ultimate time-saver. This allows marketers to shift focus to more strategic areas, such as developing long-term marketing plans; analysing marketing data to identify trends and opportunities; building stronger relationships with customers; staying ahead of the latest marketing trends.
CX Enhancement
Remember, AI is a tool to be used alongside human creativity and strategic thinking for a future-proof marketing approach. Some aspects of business will always need a human touch; customer experience (CX) for example. But AI tools can still provide a number of ways to reach customers more quickly, and with personalised messaging.
AI-powered chatbots can answer frequently asked questions, troubleshoot basic issues, and even direct customers to the right resources. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also frees up human customer service teams to handle more complex inquiries. AI can also supply sentiment analysis, helping understand what your customers feel, AI can analyse customer feedback, including social media comments, reviews, and email inquiries, to gauge overall sentiment.
By providing 24/7 support and offering valuable insights into customer sentiment, AI empowers businesses to deliver a more personalised and responsive customer experience. From personalised content and automated tasks to enhanced customer experience, AI offers a powerful upgrade for digital marketers. By leveraging AI strategically and ethically, businesses can create targeted campaigns, gain valuable customer insights, and ultimately drive real results.
In demonstration of the potential of AI, the author typed into ChatGPT an outline of this article – what they wanted to talk about, some examples they had in mind – and asked it to structure the piece automatically for them with bullet point summaries of each paragraph. Then they went through and wrote each paragraph.