How AI Revolutionizes Digital Marketing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) represents a technology that profoundly shapes the way we live and do business. From a digital marketing standpoint, it is nothing short of a game-changer. In a nutshell, AI revolves around the process of building intelligent machines that “think” and respond like humans. Machine learning allows them to automatically improve the performance, while deep learning lays the groundwork for the development of neural networks and algorithm conglomerates. These fine core workings make AI a potent asset in the digital marketing arsenal. Smooth adoption is the name of the game.

New learning heights

Back in 2015, a historic milestone was reached. Google has launched a machine learning project called RankBrain, a system capable of answering user queries in the same manner humans can. That means that the search engine giant does not need humans to feed answers into the database anymore. It has never been easier to figure out what users want because machines do the heavy lifting. Trillions of search queries can be processed and activity across millions of websites picked up.

The business sector has quickly realized the potential behind AI, mostly in terms of harnessing the power of data to guess user’s intent and deliver spot-on user experience. Indeed, the majority of forward-thinking digital marketers are taking advantage of AI to analyze data points and deliver a personalized experience to users. After all, people adore content, features, and offers that seem to perfectly reflect their wants and needs.

Gaining insights into customer behavior

Along similar lines, sophisticated AI methods such as propensity modeling enable us to anticipate consumer behavior. Modern predictive analytics use various customer characteristics to identify prospects that are most likely to positively react to an offer/marketing message. Extracting only the relevant information quickly adds value, as AI formulates models, validates them, and finally uncovers purchase and other behavior patterns.

Likewise, AI empowers us to target ads with laser precision and match the audience’s genuine interests. Take the example of in-market audiences that increase your reach among users searching for specific terms. What is more, we are in a position to sift through pools of data containing user location, device, past interactions, and demographics. The integral part of this is analyzing all those micro-moments that speak volumes about a preferred way customers interact with brands.

Of course, the benefits do not kick in by some stroke of magic. Just like with any kind of new technology, AI implementation seldom comes without friction. One has to invest time in finding suitable platforms and train employees to use the advanced tools effectively. Those who struggle with the transition tend to seek established digital marketing agencies in order to obtain killer marketing ideas and work out a strategy. There is hardly a more surefire way to make the most bang for the marketing buck.

The rise of the chatbots

There are other signs of AI shaking things up across the digital marketing landscape. One of the most prominent trends is a widespread implementation of AI-powered chatbots. Modern customers are already getting used to this chat feature, which manifests on their screens in the instant messaging format. In other words, chatbots act as customer assistance tools that provide answers to common queries. In the process, they are supposed to make websites more helpful, engaging, and relevant.

This goal is certainly close.  Unlike human representatives, chatbots are available around the clock and they soak in huge volumes of consumer data. They never have to rest or keep their emotions in check. Multiple requests can be handled at once, which means there are no waiting times.  At last, chatbots have the capacity to create personalized ads, track purchase patterns, and help sales departments close more deals.

Searching for the Holy Grail

Furthermore, content marketing also stands to benefit. They have cutting-edge AI tools like Wordsmith at their disposal, tools that serve as natural language generation (NLG) engines turning raw data into texts. Wordsmith, in particular, has managed to come up with millions of articles that successfully emulate human tone and style. We have seen other tools being introduced for enterprise-level content.

Moreover, major brands in the league of Facebook and Microsoft are already putting them to good use to create articles in many different languages. So, yes, producing content at scale is a real possibility and we have arrived at the new frontier of AI-generated content. For now, though, AI is not able to effectively cover all topics and craft certain types of articles. The application is mostly limited to the area of data-focused content, but this could change in the near future.

One final thing to note is that AI is also changing the way people search for brands, products, and services. Traditional text-based search still prevails, but more than 20% of all Google searches are now voice-activated. Marketers have to take notice of this trend and start optimizing their websites and content for voice search. Rest assured that this is just a beginning of a revolution. In its wake, not a single corner of the marketing realm will remain the same.

A shifting ecosystem

AI is here to stay and open thrilling new possibilities for marketers. It is poised to save them a tremendous amount of time and money. Sales agents no longer have to go out of their way to serve clients. Tech marvels like chatbots do it instead. To reap the benefits, however, you might need to revamp the existing digital marketing strategy. Adjust it to fully embrace automation and data-backed systems. Foster a smoother user experience and delight people every step of the buyer journey.  Make no mistake: this is a chance to get ahead of the pack.