Pivoting to and adopting new technology is not new for marketers. Ever-changing algorithms and emerging social media platforms make the ability to flex a marketing strategy to incorporate different tools and technologies an essential skill. 

So why has there been so much conversation around artificial intelligence (AI) over the past several months? With the release of several new tools like Copy.ai, ChatGPT from OpenAI, CoPilot by GitHub, and even Google’s release of Bard, AI is shaking up business operations.

There’s naturally some trepidation around incorporating AI into everyday marketing practices, and questions of bias and ethics, but it’s undeniable that these tools can potentially benefit companies and teams of all sizes. This advanced technology can quickly turn thousands of data points into actionable tasks, saving time for marketers and improving ongoing relationships with your customers.

How does AI work in marketing?

AI uses technology to collect and analyze data before returning the most relevant outputs. Data analysis with thousands of pieces of information can be processed in minutes — significantly faster than human review, synthesis, and delivery. While there are many types of AI tools, the focus of many marketers at the moment are tools that help the copy creation process.

Tools like ChatGPT or Copy.ai are fed prompts with topics, audience information, content length, and tone. Based on the data the tool has been trained on, it will generate copy that fulfills the requirements of the prompt.

There are many pain points that marketers face every day that new technology can address, at least in part. Every business has different needs, but key digital marketing and customer service efforts are some of the best places to start when trying to incorporate tools that can generate copy into your marketing efforts.

AI for scaling SEO and content marketing efforts

We all know how important content is when building out a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Whether that’s written copy, video, or transcribed audio, informational and educational content remains a significant driver of traffic to websites in all industries.

An issue that many marketing teams face with regularly producing high-quality content is a lack of time and resources. Small teams are often stretched to capacity with other important strategy and implementation tasks. Larger teams often deal with challenges in keeping up with the output required to compete in their niche.

With generative copy tools and new technology, many of these challenges can be alleviated. There’s been much discussion of AI replacing content teams over recent weeks, but the technology cannot yet reliably craft unique content that satisfies both users and search results.

But even if it reaches that level of sophistication, there’s still a place for writers and content creators. Instead of fearing AI, content marketers must embrace it. Automating individual content tasks can free up time and budget to focus on the most important areas. 

Editing AI content will become even more important, but using these tools to start the writing process is a helpful first step for many. AI can create content outlines, draft SEO titles and descriptions, and incorporate customer reviews and feedback into on-page copy — all tasks that content and SEO teams work on daily.

EXAMPLE —

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Source: ChatGPT

AI for personalizing the user experience

Customer data such as demographic information, purchase history, or even previous interactions with a company can all be used to train AI technology through machine learning. And once that data is in the system, it can be analyzed within minutes.

With the ability to analyze data in real time, it’s becoming possible for marketing teams to implement personalized outputs into their digital marketing. We’re already seeing this with recommendations in streaming platforms, where data is analyzed and recommendations are generated based on what user response. But this can go even further. From ad copy to visual user experience changes on a website or online portal, AI has the potential to create a truly custom experience for the end user.

Real-time personalization is one factor that can have a significant impact on user engagement and, ultimately, help drive conversions for a business. While this is all certainly possible without the use of AI, incorporating these tools makes the process faster and more accurate, thanks to the level of data it can analyze at any given moment.

AI for improving customer engagement across channels

Always-on marketing is something customers have come to expect, and not just from retail brands. Consumers want tailored service around the clock, from any location and any device. Staffing that expectation, though, is impossible for some businesses.

AI chatbots have become a solution to this problem and are becoming more advanced. Not only do they give your brand the opportunity to connect with customers 24/7, they also incorporate existing data to personalize that experience and generate increased customer engagement as a result.

With the recent developments of AI, many customers don’t even realize that they’re not talking to a real person when they’re looking to address issues with a product or service, or trying to find additional information. They can be assisted quickly, which keeps their satisfaction high, while businesses save money by not needing to fully staff a support center.

The more data these chatbots are trained on, the more effective they become. Incorporating these into your business means you can facilitate constant, high-touch communication with customers across multiple digital platforms at once, all while keeping messaging consistent.

What does this mean for the future?

The true power of AI is only just beginning to be explored by marketers, but there are plenty of potential benefits. 

An important point to note here: For all the incredible results AI can generate, the technology is only as good as the data it’s trained on. Data biases remain a critical problem for many AI tools, just as they have been for algorithms over the years. 

As this technology develops, collaboration and open-source data for training machines is essential for overcoming some of these flaws and creating more ethical AI outputs. In the meantime, marketers can solve for a number of key pain points by using AI to communicate with their customers and focus attention on the greatest areas of return on investment within the company.