The growing popularity and development of artificial intelligence (AI) has the power to revolutionize how we live and work and is already shaking up the marketing world. AI encompasses many things that affect the lives of marketers in different ways. Before discussing the effects of AI, it’s important to understand what it is. Components of AI include:

  • Machine Learning: Computers can learn from data and make recommendations without extensive human interaction.
  • Natural Language Processing: This technology allows computers to understand and generate language.

These capabilities can significantly impact many parts of the digital marketing field and may be incorporated in unique ways to improve organizations’ marketing efforts.

How is AI Being Used in Marketing?

AI marketing uses machine learning and natural language processing to help strategize, plan and create marketing campaigns. It can generate content, assist in customer engagement and provide consumer insights.

Major companies already use AI for marketing to improve the customer experience. For example, the My Starbucks barista service allows customers to order and confirm a pickup location through AI. They’ve also added AI-powered machines in-store to streamline the process. Meanwhile, home improvement company Lowe’s has launched LoweBot, which offers customers personalized shopping recommendations and tailored informational content.1 Below are just a few AI capabilities marketers use to improve their marketing experiences and optimize their work.

  • Conversational AI: This AI-driven form of communication uses data and machine learning to mimic human conversations. Examples include virtual assistants and chatbots. This technology can be beneficial for customer service.
  • Predictive analytics platforms: Predictive analytics platforms help marketers use data to predict future events, identify trends, and plan accordingly. This insight can benefit marketers in all specialties.
  • Content generation tools: These tools can quickly generate content by referencing available data. This capability can be useful in developing outlines for digital content, repurposing content, or coming up with ideas.
  • Programmatic advertising: AI can be extremely useful for targeting online advertising and adapting language and creative assets to individual audiences. The ability to personalize advertising quickly can improve the outcomes of online advertising campaigns.
  • Social media AI: Social media AI tools can analyze interactions and uncover data about your online audiences, allowing you to create posts that resonate with your audience. AI on social media platforms also ensures users see the most relevant content.

Benefits of AI for Digital Marketing

As marketing professionals figure out how to incorporate new tools into their work, the benefits of using AI for digital marketing become clearer. Some benefits include:

Improved Efficiency

AI marketing assists in creating optimized strategies and gathering real-time feedback, allowing marketers to adjust their approaches with less staffing and shorter timeframes than they could without AI. Professionals can spend their time on creative and strategic tasks, optimizing time spent on marketing projects.

Enhanced Personalization

AI marketing improves the customer experience by delivering highly personalized messages based on customer data, reducing errors, and identifying unhappy customers based on their behavior. While humans can do these things, AI can often do them faster and more accurately.

Data-Driven Decisions

Marketing teams using AI tools can quickly gain insights from collected data and adjust the course of action. They can also use data to plan new marketing efforts, ensuring that their work is backed up by numbers and more likely to succeed.

Analytical Forecasting

It’s impossible for marketers to sift through all the data available to them when planning. Using predictive analytics, AI can analyze enormous quantities of data to provide insights and spot opportunities that can lead to future marketing efforts or improve current campaigns.

What are the Risks of AI for Digital Marketing?

The opportunity that AI for marketing presents does not come without risk. All marketers should be mindful of what could happen when using AI tools. Here are a few risks to keep an eye on.

Security Concerns

AI often uses vast amounts of customer information to perform its tasks. Professionals working with AI must follow the laws and consumer data regulations regarding what data can be used. Failure to do so could result in legal action or damaging consequences for the business and customers.

Potential Job Displacement

Working with AI can be difficult for those who make a living through the work that AI enhances. Workers may find themselves needing to be retrained. Marketing leaders should work with employees to ensure they know how to use AI to complement their work so team members can become efficient instead of redundant.

Implementation Challenges

AI is only as good as the data used to train it. It requires quality input to provide quality insights, which can take time and resources. If professionals don’t ensure AI is adequately trained, the work it generates will be inaccurate or ineffective.

Future Trends and Possibilities

It’s highly possible that over the coming years, AI and other technologies like augmented reality and computer-generated images will drastically change how marketers deliver messages to their audiences. Marketing professionals using AI will be able to provide more personalized customer engagement, focus on telling the most compelling stories, and get feedback on their marketing activities faster than ever before.

Sebastian Naum, digital marketer and co-founder of Go Global Agency, warns that professionals must approach AI capabilities with thoughtfulness. “It’s essential to approach these tools with a strategic mindset and human creativity, focusing on delivering value and relevance to consumers rather than simply chasing the latest trends,” he said.2

Marketing teams that leverage AI strategically will be able to enhance their efficiency by automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks and streamlining AI to provide impactful customer experiences and engagement.

Many marketers will likely need to upskill to learn how to leverage AI and fill the roles that will be in demand with new capabilities. Marketers will be expected to oversee campaigns and interpret data like never before. There will also be an increased need for technical skills as marketers integrate AI and other technologies into their marketing strategies.

As AI becomes more prevalent, up-to-date professional development will take a front seat. More than ever, marketers must stay creative, strategic, curious, and open to new ideas.

Gain Innovative Skills to Stay Competitive

To learn more about the advancing digital marketing industry, consider a graduate degree. The 100% online Master of Science in Digital Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University prepares students with the cutting-edge skills they need to be competitive in today’s marketing roles.

The online master’s in digital marketing was created with input from advisory board members who work full-time in digital marketing. The courses are taught by active professionals in their field. They know how AI is affecting and assisting marketing teams and will be able to provide real-world insight on topics such as social media marketing, consumer behavior, and digital marketing analytics.

The online master’s in digital marketing is designed to provide expert training and help working adults reach the next stage in their careers. In a community of scholars, FDU helps participants master their abilities through advanced education.

Sources

  1. Digital Marketing Institute. “Best Examples of AI in Marketing.” Published October 17, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/some-inspiring-uses-of-ai-in-digital-marketing.
  2. Forbes. “AI, Augmented Reality and CGI Marketing Trends in 2024.” Published March 18, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2024/03/18/ai-augmented-reality-and-cgi-marketing-trends-in-2024/.