Artificial Intelligence 101 for Digital Marketing

In elementary school, I remember seeing a Scholastic visual of what the world would look like by 2010. While we still are working on flying cars, the artist illustrated artificial intelligence (AI) somewhere in that futuristic world.

Many marketers today shy away from digging deeper into AI use cases because their brand is still working out how to use essential media and basic website tools effectively. I am here to tell you that it’s simpler than it sounds and can significantly impact your brand’s line, especially with social media use declining.

If a client asked me whether to build new social media channels or integrate AI into their existing strategy, I would lean towards AI development. Webster defines Artificial Intelligence as “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent behavior.”

No, I am not telling you to grab some robots to rep your brand, but rather think about what this means at a basic level. For example, every time that help chat pops up on a website, it is most likely using a form of AI to converse with you and lead you to the right person to help you with your issue. 

One of my first jobs included writing fictional brand personas for a global washing machine company. I had to make educated guesses on what type of person was purchasing the washing machines to guide marketing moving forward. Now, quite intelligent tools can find that persona for you, spitting out a detailed report of your product’s persona and illustrating how AI seeps its way into how we do traditional and digital marketing.

Before we get into specific ways you can use AI to enhance your brand, remember that since AI is about machines imitating intelligent behavior, it is only good as your machine, aka the tool you choose. 

To apply that information to your digital marketing, complete RFPs must determine which tool has the most accurate information shown the most effectively.

Okay, now on to the fun part! Here are five ways for beginners to start using AI in digital marketing:

 

Customer Service via Chatbots

ChatGPT is recently making airwaves as the most brilliant yet weird chatbot. If you use the built-in Facebook chatbot, you are already using a form of AI. If you want ideas of where and how to use your chatbot, just search #ChatGPT on Twitter to see all of the crazy accurate answers this bot delivers.

My go-to chatbot is Sephora’s beauty assistant. Sephora is always ahead of AI trends, allowing it to perfect its chatbot just as Facebook released its own. Customers don’t have to go to the store as Sephora’s learning algorithm tailors product picks especially for them. Artificial intelligence allows brands and customers to go where traditional marketing could never take them.

 

Optimized Digital Content Marketing via Predictive Analysis

H&M, Zara, and Fast Fashion use predictive AI to understand what fashion trends are popping up and where. Predictive analysis impacts product development, website hero, sitemap, SEO keywords, social media posts, and more! By predicting what users want, they can create effective content marketing and pathways aligned with their target audience.

 

Copywriting via Motivational Artificial Intelligence

Chase Bank, Athleta, Comcast, Michael’s, and LendingClub use Persado, a Motivational Artificial Intelligence tool. Persado defines Motivational AI as “the capability of a machine to identify, leverage, and make use of language and related elements to emotionally engage individuals and activate behavior.” Persado can rewrite marketing copy, so it is more engaging to your specific target audience, ultimately influencing their behavior. 

Persado’s copywriting includes everything from digital ads to email subject lines. Imagine a tool that can use AI to write the subject line of an email that your specific customer wants to open. No more imagining! It is already happening with brands such as eBay.

 

Experiences via Augmented Reality 

Augmented reality is as scary as it sounds. Another world is put in front of your eyes and ears, allowing you to become completely immersed in a separate reality. My elementary school Scholastic didn’t even see this one coming!

Brands are currently using augmented reality on a variety of levels. Home improvement apps like IKEA, Lowe’s, and Wayfair allow you to see furniture and paint colors directly in the room of the house you are remodeling. 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Gucci is running its own metaverse and its head designer is an actual designer in The Sandbox, available to style NFTs from other metaverses built within The Sandbox.

 

Personalized Recommendations via Recommendations AI 

If you are new to AI, “Recommended for You” is most likely the most familiar use of it to you. Netflix is an excellent example of AI use as it pulls what movies and shows it recommends for you, while clothing stores like Nordstrom now also recommend products based on AI.

Amazon is one of the first adopters of new AI, always looking for innovative ways to incorporate it into its site and marketing campaigns. My Amazon Prime account looks 100 percent different than my husband’s. He would prefer not to see dog dresses and skincare on his homepage, and I would like not to see electronics and tools.

 

While large brands are using strong Artificial Intelligence to perform tasks and improve their digital channels, small businesses can also use some of these methods on a smaller scale in their digital marketing channels. Social media marketing can be improved just by turning on the Facebook chatbot. The bot will help answer questions on products or services from potential customers on the social media site.

Regardless of where you are in your Artificial Intelligence journey, hopefully, this post will get you thinking about ways to incorporate it into your digital marketing world. An investment in AI will outlast an investment in social media, given the current turbulence and fatigue. While social media is deciding what kind of day it will have, spend some time developing stable customer-centric digital marketing experiences using AI.

Your digital marketing strategy will thank you.

 

– Marji J. Sherman