By Dan Banas
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the marketing landscape and changing the way businesses operate. In this article, we’ll answer 5 common questions about using AI and Generative AI (GenAI) for marketing strategy.
Can you use AI for marketing?
Yes, AI can be used for marketing in all sorts of ways. As we detailed in this article on AI usage, adoption rates have exponentially increased in recent years. Here are 4 ways you can use AI for marketing:
- Personalized marketing: Segmenting your audience into more actionable segments, then delivering tailored messages that will drive the desired objectives
- Intelligent governance and approvals: Data regulations are a top priority when building models, AI can assist in streamlining approvals when trained on internal guidance and external data regulations
- Email marketing: Identifying opportunities, tracking engagement, and optimizing campaigns with audience insights and channel recommendations
- Predictive analytics: Forecasting future trends and customer behavior, enabling proactive strategy adjustments and improved workflow efficiency
How to use GenAI for marketing?
There are lots of ways to use GenAI for marketing. To differentiate between the two: AI learns from data and makes predictions, whereas GenAI generates new solutions.
One area where GenAI is useful is for content creation. It’s great for generating ideas for posts, social media content, and email campaigns including A/B experimentation variants discussed further in this subject line testing article. In short, AI-enabled processes can drastically reduce the turnaround time for generating content. This lowers costs and reduces the opportunity for error with manual processes. Benefits improve beyond just subject lines, especially with longer form content if it models are trained and tuned by prompt engineering experts with the right inputs.
As we’ll see in this next section, the human element is more important than ever.
Will AI replace marketers?
No, AI will not replace marketers. It is an understandable worry that Artificial Intelligence might replace humans’ role in marketing, however, having humans in the process is critical. As much as AI can aid in streamlining operations, people are still needed to engineer the prompts and verify output, or there can be big consequences as we saw in this article on data privacy.
While AI and GenAI are useful tools, digital marketers are the ones to steer creative storytelling, empathy, and
How to start AI marketing?
To start AI marketing, you need to:
- Identify your goals and objectives: Determine what you want to achieve with AI marketing.
- Gather and prepare your data: Ensure you have high-quality data that can be used to train and optimize AI models.
- Choose the right AI tools and platforms: Select tools that align with your needs and budget.
- Start small and experiment: Begin with simple use cases and gradually expand as you gain experience. Check out our article on optimizing your newsletter email.
- Continuously monitor and improve: Regularly evaluate the performance of your AI initiatives and make necessary adjustments.
Is AI marketing worth it?
Yes, AI marketing is definitely worth it. By leveraging AI, you can:
- Improve efficiency and productivity: Automate repetitive tasks and leverage key performance indicators such as inbox placement rate.
- Enhance customer experience: Deliver personalized and relevant messages to your audience.
- Make data-driven decisions: Use AI to optimize your marketing strategies and allocate resources effectively.
- Stay ahead of the competition: Gain a competitive edge by adopting innovative AI technologies.
- Achieve better results: Drive higher engagement, conversions, and ROI with AI‑powered marketing.
While there may be challenges and costs associated with implementing AI, the potential benefits often outweigh the drawbacks. By starting small and gradually scaling your AI initiatives, you can maximize the value of AI marketing for your business.
Dan Banas is Head of AI, Strategy & Analytics for Continuum Global, an industry-leader in engagement marketing. Named a ‘Top 25 Analytics Thought Leader’ by Thinkers360 and a ‘Top 100 Innovator’ by Top 100 Magazine, Dan has more than 15 years of experience designing executive business strategy, leading teams, and consulting clients. He holds an MBA and Masters of Business Analytics from the University of Iowa, and has consulted Fortune 500 companies across industries in Technology, Manufacturing, Travel, Hospitality, Financial Services, Retail, and AI.