AI Adoption in Digital Marketing: Current Limitations and Solutions
By StackServe
AI has really taken off in recent years and is transforming the way businesses approach their marketing strategies.
While it may seem like AI just appeared overnight with everyone you know posting AI portraits on Facebook and talking about the wonders of ChatGPT, it has actually been around for years. Autocorrect, digital assistants, smart home devices, and Google Maps are all examples of AI.
However, in the past decade alone, advancements in AI have greatly surpassed everything that happened in the previous 50 years. It has rapidly integrated into our lives and some people are concerned as to how that will affect us, our jobs, and society as a whole.
In this article, we’ll dive into these concerns and explore the impact of AI adoption in digital marketing.
AI Limitations In Digital Marketing
The rise of AI in digital marketing has sparked debate within the industry about whether it will replace human digital marketers altogether. With AI’s ability to perform tasks that typically take hours in just seconds, there’s a fear that it could render human marketers obsolete.
From designing graphics to running and optimizing ad campaigns, and copywriting, AI is on its way to being a near-perfect digital marketer.
But that’s the thing, AI will always be good and nearly perfect but the authentic human element in marketing cannot be replicated. This is the intangible quality that people connect to and the spark that brings the marketing message to life.
While robots may be incredibly skilled, they lack the emotional intelligence and creativity that human marketers possess. As a result, the human touch in marketing will always be essential, and AI will never be able to fully replace it.
Another aspect of digital marketing that AI will just never be able to replicate because it’s a human trait is the ability to empathize with the consumer. Humans know what it’s like to be in the market for something. They can reverse-engineer strategies and empathize to figure out what their target audience wants.
AI is good at looking through data and analyzing consumer behavior but it will never understand the creative aspect and intuitive thinking that goes into developing marketing campaigns.
The fear of AI taking jobs is a valid one but not that realistic. Ultimately, the best solution is to work with AI technology rather than against it. The most successful digital marketers out there in the next few years will be those who strike the right balance between utilizing AI and their own creativity.
Benefits of AI In Digital Marketing
Along with all of the people who are skeptical of AI, there are just as many who are excited about it. Instead of resisting it, marketers should aim to at learn more about it, because adopting AI in digital marketing can make your life so much easier.
AI in marketing uses advanced algorithms and machine learning methods to analyze data, identify patterns, and make predictions. Whether it’s helping you generate some initial ideas when your mind is blank or running analytics reports that otherwise would have taken up a large chunk of your time, AI can serve as a type of assistant that enables you to be more efficient.
There are many ways in which digital marketers are using AI already in their jobs and finding it to be incredibly helpful. Each team member within a digital marketing company has at least one challenging or tedious part of their job where they could be reaping the benefits of AI.
Take some time to talk with your team about their pain points and bottlenecks within their roles, it’s highly possible that AI can help.
How Can I Use AI In Digital Marketing?
Figuring out where you should start integrating AI into your marketing practices can seem kind of daunting.
Below are some of the best examples of how digital marketers are leveraging AI in their business.
AI Chatbots
Being on call to respond to and cater to clients’ requests 24/7 is no one’s dream job so handing it off to a chatbot is a great option for any business. Customers do not like having to wait around for answers to their questions and a chatbot gives you the ability to tend to their needs immediately.
Having a chatbot on your website can provide customer support that benefits both the business and its customers. It is also fairly cost-effective to set up which makes for an easy way to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
By programming the bot to answer frequently asked questions or to connect the customer to an agent, they are getting the information they need in the moment. It doesn’t give them a chance to get bored, leave your site, and go to competitors.
Not only is your chatbot able to solve your customer’s problems and give them the information they need, but it also collects data. This data can be analyzed down the road and you can use it to proactively solve problems and gain valuable insights into what they’re looking for and their behavior in general.
AI as a Copywriting Assistant
Another form of chatbot AI software that performs a different function is AI writing software. These tools are filled with a multitude of information and can help you to write some pretty great content.
While it will still need to be re-rewritten because it does not have that authentic human writer’s touch, it can still be useful when it comes to generating new ideas and an outline from which you can expand on.
What is great about using AI copywriting services is the sheer speed at which they can source information. What would have previously taken you hours to research, copywriting assistant software can come up with instantly. This type of software is a major breakthrough in the copywriting world and it is an incredibly helpful tool to utilize.
AI for Personalized Interactions
Creeping on customers is part of the online marketing game. We all know it and have accepted that’s the way things are – targeted ads, cookies, online fingerprinting, and more.
AI can help you analyze this data to really get to know your clients. Who’s on your website, what are they doing, how are they spending their time, and what else are they shopping for?
The list goes on for what you can discover about your audience and over time this can help to paint a bigger picture of who exactly your target audience is – their demographic, buying history, location, and online habits.
By decoding these insights, you will be able to create incredibly tailored marketing campaigns since you will know exactly who you’re targeting.
AI for Predictive Analytics
The more data that AI collects from various sources throughout the sales funnel, the better it will get at predicting buyer behavior. This can include picking up on factors that will make customers more likely to buy or use your services.
With more and more data, the AI can start to see trends and patterns that occur among buyers which can be used to improve campaign performance.
Being able to look at a holistic view of your data from multiple sources – social media, sales pages, website, and items left in the cart, can give you great insights. You will be able to pivot and tweak your content and campaigns to give your clients the nudge they need to close the deal.
If you are a digital marketer who is on the fence about AI, use it for this one thing and nothing else. You will see what a game-changer it is and how much you can grow.
AI to Automate Repetitive Tasks
Those tedious, time-consuming tasks that every team member has to deal with can be solved by the wonders of AI. Whether it’s data entry, report generation, or email marketing, AI can take the majority of the workload off of your shoulders – you just need to show it what to do.
Automating these tasks not only frees up your time, but AI is also very meticulous. It will likely make fewer errors than you and also complete the task in a fraction of the time.
Analyzing data and creating reports can be streamlined using AI. It can review huge quantities of data quickly and accurately to identify patterns and trends that humans might not see.
AI for SEO
Let’s be honest, SEO and catering to Google’s algorithm, in general, can be frustrating. It’s a long, complicated game that takes tons of attention, time, and focus to make sure you’re checking all the right boxes to move up in the rankings. One wrong move and Google will smack you back down a few pegs to teach you a lesson. Using AI, marketers are able to generate some great ideas for content in a fraction of the time.
AI is used in SEO for:
- Identifying trending topics
- Identifying high-traffic keywords with low competition
- Generating content outlines
- Auditing content readability and SEO-friendliness
- Recommending content improvements and fixes
- Suggesting unique content titles
- Suggesting best meta titles and descriptions
AI for Content Creation
Using AI for content ideas is the modern-day equivalent of pitching ideas in a boardroom. AI can be useful in helping to identify trending topics, keywords, and user interests.
AI can do your keyword research for you, formulate strategies, implement ideas, and even write code to help with the technical aspects that may be lacking.
You can then use it to help you write a blogging roadmap, social media calendar, email marketing campaigns, and pretty much everything else. AI analytics is also a great place to go to see what type of content is working best and what you may need to refine and personalize.
Not only can it create written content but some of the AI-generated art and videos that you can get made are out of this world. While this may still be unchartered territory with AI plagiarizing some work, there are other AI art platforms that are heading in a better direction.
AI for Ad Optimization
AI optimization in your ad strategy can not only save you money but also the time you may otherwise spend using a trial and error method. AI-powered optimization software can help digital marketers analyze a ton of data to optimize their ad targeting, bidding, and creative elements in real-time.
AI powered software can also help with testing different formats of your ad, collecting insights on each one, and determining what ad is more effective. This can help you with designing more impactful and successful campaigns in the future.
Conclusion
AI adoption in digital marketing is happening whether you like it or not. By incorporating AI innovation into your team, you’ll be able to streamline workflows, save time and make your jobs easier and more efficient overall.
Rather than resisting change, it’s worth giving AI a chance to see how easy it can be to improve your marketing strategies and campaign performances.
We highly recommend that digital marketers consider exploring the possibilities of AI in their digital marketing efforts to stay ahead of the competition and achieve success.
As AI technology continues to evolve, digital marketers need to be willing to adapt and integrate AI effectively. If not, they will be left in the dust- still running and analyzing their own reports and scratching their heads at the latest Google algorithm changes while the rest of the digital marketers and their AI robots run circles around them.
