AI in Digital Marketing – The Ultimate Guide

What is AI in Digital Marketing?

AI in digital marketing uses artificial intelligence capabilities such as data collection, natural language processing, machine learning, and data analysis to get customer insights and automate marketing tasks and decisions.

The advantage of AI is that it will help you gain insights into customer behaviors at speed by harvesting vast amounts of data. These can be used to respond to and tailor a customer’s needs depending on their actions and preferences. AI is also able to adapt and improve over time using feedback and new data.

Artificial intelligence offers great opportunities for marketers to be more effective and personalized. This means customers get relevant content that can be triggered by actions on a site, an ad, or a branded message.

But AI doesn’t replace the roles and efforts of humans! It is a technology that complements and enhances those but it requires human skills to use it effectively.

AI Digital Marketing Tools

While ChatGPT may be the most talked-about generative AI tool, there are so many more out there that are helping marketers in their daily roles. They can help marketers in a variety of functions from content generation to automation to SEO and design.

Here are some of the most effective AI tools out there:

• Jasper – A content generation and optimization tool designed for augmenting content production
• Writer – A highly-rated content generation tool that can repurpose content and includes an AI writing assistant
• Optimove – A customer data platform with AI-based marketing functions
• Zapier – Helps automate workflows by connecting apps and services that your company uses
• Surfer SEO – A cloud-based on-page optimization tool that analyzes and compares your pages against what currently ranks on the SERPs

Examples of AI in Digital Marketing

The power of AI means it can be leveraged across many digital channels. Companies use it for social media campaigns, to automate tasks and processes, and for digital advertising.

It can also be used in any industry. Beauty brands use it to deliver a tailored customer experience such as Sephora’s AI chatbot-powered shopping service, while publishers like The Economist use AI-driven programmatic advertising to target and influence ‘reluctant readers’.

How to Use AI in Digital Marketing

As AI technologies have become more accessible and easier to use, companies have started to use them in daily tasks such as creating content for PPC ads or setting up triggered email workflows.

When we asked our membership community at the Digital Marketing Institute about AI, over half felt their roles are changing due to the technology while 44% already use it. Of those who use artificial intelligence, 45% believe it has helped increase their productivity.

1. Content and image creation

Marketing teams are often under pressure to create content quickly for many purposes and channels. However, creating good content takes time and effort, and a lot of marketers are time- and resource-poor.

AI software such as ChatGPT and Jasper has exploded because it helps people generate content: that’s why they’re called generative AI tools! This could be email subject lines, ad copy, landing pages, blogs, or anything else you need for your content marketing. You can also use AI writing prompts to create catchy headlines and customize content for your audience which drives personalization.

Using these tools saves time and money. However, make sure to read over any content before publishing it live to ensure it has personality and fits in with your brand voice.

2. Customer service and support

AI-driven chatbots have been around for a while as a way to communicate with and provide information to customers. When people want to get instant answers to simple queries or interact with a brand, they first go to a chatbot.

However, AI has a bigger role when it comes to customers. It can improve customer experience by personalizing content and messaging, anticipating customer needs, streamlining purchasing, and directing queries or concerns to the right department or agent.

3. Customer segmentation

Customer segmentation and targeting help you identify and influence your most valuable customers. However, doing this manually can be time-consuming and costly.

AI can use algorithms to segment your prospects and customers into groups or segments of people with similar interests, needs, or behaviors.

You can then communicate with and target these segments with relevant and customized messaging that can be adapted and adjusted in real-time. Recommendation systems can suggest products, services, or offers that match customer preferences while Natural Language Processing (NLP) can analyze customer feedback and reviews to improve your products, services, or customer experience.

4. Pay-per-click advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a form of advertising where you pay when someone clicks your ad. As a strategy, PPC marketing is important as it can attract new customers through targeted campaigns, get quick results, and be easily tweaked and optimized.

The Pros of AI in Digital Marketing

• Boosts productivity – Automate a variety of jobs so your time and effort can be redirected to more difficult and strategic tasks.
• Drives efficiency – Handles mundane and repetitious activities such as data input, separating marketing campaign leads, and replying to consumer queries.
• Reveals insights – Eliminate guesswork and provide data-driven capabilities to develop a more effective marketing approach and open up new marketing opportunities.
• Increases ROI – Predict buying behavior and choices by evaluating data, improving the UX, and providing consumers with the content they require to complete their buyer journey.
• Create and optimize content – Automate content creation to produce quality content at scale for all online channels.
• Personalize at scale – Analyze customer data and generate personalized recommendations or content to enhance customer experience.
• Predictive analysis – Forecast consumer behavior or market trends based on historical data to help more accurate and effective planning.
• Automate tasks – Handle routine tasks such as data analysis, customer segmentation, email sorting, data entry, or basic reporting.

The Cons of AI in Digital Marketing

• Bias – AI can only be as effective as the data it draws on so it’s not inherently neutral. This means you need to be aware of the potential for racial, gender, cultural, or socioeconomic biases in your AI-driven strategies.
• Inaccuracy – Data inaccuracies can lead to faulty analyses and potentially costly business decisions.
• Data sensitivity and security – AI systems often require access to extensive datasets, which may include sensitive information that needs to be securely managed.
• Transparency – As AI-generated content becomes more common, questions about transparency, plagiarism, authorship, and IP ownership become relevant.

Conclusion: AI in Digital Marketing

We know that artificial intelligence can be daunting and it’s difficult to see where and how it fits into your role. But it shouldn’t be seen as a threat. AI can become an invaluable ally as you look to effectively meet your goals. Understanding and mastering AI will also give you a personal boost. You will gain new skills and real-life experience in a generative technology that’s going to become more widespread and an area that companies look for to recruit or promote.