Marketing is all about innovation. It is an industry in constant change due to emerging technologies and new trends, and the reality which most marketers learn to face the hard way is that a strategy which brought you results a year ago might not bring you results today.

A thing has not changed however, and that is the desire of companies to increase team efficiency, drive more conversions and improve targeting with as fewer resources as possible.

The debut of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 provided a fresh opportunity for organizations to achieve all of that. Although many people were already aware of the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for improving business results or processes, ChatGPT brought to light AI’s true creative potential. And that got them thinking: what are the true capabilities of AI platforms? And can they be employed in marketing, a field that requires constant adaptation?

Exploring AI’s Role in Marketing

AI’s impact on marketing strategy design is significant. It can enhance the efficiency and accuracy of marketing efforts, ultimately driving sales. Many businesses have already adopted AI for email marketing, chatbots, personal assistants, recommendations, and targeted advertising. B2B marketers anticipate that AI will further refine marketing strategies and improve sales outcomes.

But how exactly can you work with AI Marketing?

AI Marketing may be divided into two categories. Task automation software handles repetitive tasks that don’t need a high level of intelligence. They are designed to follow a set of rules and complete an assigned job depending on the received commands.

This category contains any program that sends automated emails to new customers or any chatbot available on Facebook Messenger. Although such technology relieves human employees of certain potentially time-consuming chores, it lacks the capacity to tailor replies.

On the other hand, there are machine learning algorithms. They are trained using large quantities of data and are capable of making advanced predictions and decisions.

These models can recognize images, decipher text and, among other things, predict how the customer will respond to campaigns or sales. You can find such technologies in recommendation generators used in e-commerce or online advertising.

AI applications can be categorized as standalone or integrated. Standalone AI tools require users to leave their primary platforms to access them, while integrated AI systems operate within existing platforms, often invisibly. For instance, Netflix’s recommendation system is an integrated AI application that enhances user experience seamlessly.

Building a Marketing Strategy with AI

AI should complement, not replace, your marketing strategy. Here are key steps to integrate AI effectively:

• Choose the appropriate AI platform.
• Define clear objectives and the problems to address.
• Ensure data security considerations are in place.
• Provide the AI with relevant and high-quality data.
• Assemble a team skilled in data management.
• Maintain data quality for optimal AI performance.

Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions

Despite significant investments in AI, many organizations struggle to achieve meaningful progress. Common issues include setting improper goals and asking irrelevant questions. For example, instead of asking AI to identify customers who are likely to leave, you can instead focus on those who may be persuaded to stay. This approach aligns with strategic thinking in other fields, such as political campaigning, where efforts target undecided voters rather than those already committed to another candidate.

Additionally, sticking to outdated practices despite implementing new technology can hinder progress. This “success bias” can lead to misleading results and incorrect conclusions. Proper interpretation of data is crucial, and reliance on old methods can undermine the benefits of AI.

A consequence in such a situation is misleading results and wrong cause-and-effect associations. A marketing strategy that on paper is based on the contribution of artificial intelligence will fail if the data is not interpreted correctly, but the responsibility for the result is not necessarily linked to the inclusion of new technology in the process.

The benefits of using AI in marketing strategy.

A marketing strategy that incorporates elements of AI can have numerous benefits for a company in general or for employees and customers in particular.

Artificial intelligence can bring time savings, more sales, a better customer experience, and other benefits that cannot be quantified. Among those that can still be measured, we can note four benefits:

• Enhanced targeting. AI applications enable much more precise audience targeting. It will receive personalized and relevant content. Using artificial intelligence, the marketing department can specifically target customers who have become inactive with the brand and re-engage them.
• Campaigns with increased profitability. If used correctly, Artificial Intelligence can help streamline processes, optimizing costs and resource use by analyzing extensive data sets.
• Improved results measurement: Beyond sales and raw financial data, a marketing strategy produces other results that managers can take into account. This is where artificial intelligence comes in and its high ability to segment data into comprehensive reports.
• Faster decisions. AI supports faster and more informed decisions based on robust data analysis.

AI holds great promise for the future of marketing, but it’s essential to manage expectations and apply AI where it can genuinely add value. While AI offers significant advantages, it’s crucial to use it thoughtfully and strategically, while acknowledging at the same time that it complements but does not replace sound marketing practices.