How Will AI Affect Digital Marketing?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping businesses to work more efficiently and effectively through automation and computing solutions. It allows them to gain better insights into their target market through the use of such methodologies as machine learning and data analytics. With this stronger understanding, it becomes possible to more easily automate procedures and plan for client engagement. 

From augmented reality in social media apps to the use of mapping software to reduce commuting time, and self-driving cars to facial recognition for unlocking phones, there are already many ways in which people are already using AI to make life easier.

Businesses are already making use of AI in their digital marketing efforts. It has helped them to achieve various goals including achieving better marketing performance, improved customer experience, and strengthening the brand. 

From creating content to making pay-per-click advertising more accurate, digital marketers have quickly realised the immense potential that is AI and are expected to expand their use of the technology going forward. Here are some areas businesses should consider when working on their marketing strategies.

Predictive Analytics

Predictive marketing is used to determine the best marketing strategies for particular target audiences. AI tools are used to analyse data analytics and identify what marketing approach will work best in achieving the desired marketing goals. 

These decisions rely on being able to extract relevant information from the huge data sets that the internet provides. There is however too much data that can be collected online for any human to comprehensively analyse. This is where AI comes in to provide the needed insights via machine learning and large data analysis. 

Predictive analytics allows programmers and data scientists to more easily and quickly collect and analyse data. This will enable more businesses to acquire better insight into their customers and their behaviours. With data-driven marketing efforts, businesses can create more effective campaigns, ensure better client engagement, improve lead scoring, and boost their revenues. They will also be able to determine what digital marketing efforts are most and least effective, enabling them to make changes that will reap them the most rewards.

Chatbot Technology

Chatbots have long proven to be an effective way to engage with customers on websites, giving them answers to the most frequently asked queries. They are very helpful in delivering some sort of customer service engagement at any time of day, especially when the business does not have personnel available to talk directly to the client. 

Chatbot technology can be expected to become more sophisticated, with smart chatbots now being AI-powered to deliver better responses in real time. They are also getting better at moving customers along the sales funnel by raising more specific questions that will help clients to better discern what product or service they want from the business.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

With younger demographics having become more adept and accustomed to augmented and virtual reality thanks to gaming, this is likely to play a major role in the digital marketing landscape. The rise of the metaverse and associated platforms are providing another reality in which businesses can connect with their target market. Hence the need to generate engaging visual content for these platforms that will encourage visitors to want to navigate the digital world created.

Investment in AR and VR is likely to result in huge payoffs in the future as these younger demographics grow their earning potential and become a more impactful customer segment for businesses. 

Ultra-Personalisation

It has already been established that personalisation helps to deliver more effective campaigns and generate more leads and conversions. The personalised digital ad campaigns that we encounter online are a result of the massive amounts of data collected through such channels as website cookies, social media profiles, and browsing behaviour. 

With AI and machine learning, businesses will be able to take this a step further by allowing for an even higher level of personalisation. They will be able to use AI tools to further segment audiences into smaller target or niche groups. This way, businesses can deliver ultra-personal experiences to people, ensuring higher conversion rates. 

This enhanced personalisation can be expected to impact various digital marketing efforts including targeted ads, messaging, chat conversations, social media engagement and social shopping.

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing enables businesses to be more flexible about the pricing of their products and services, allowing them to secure more sales by accommodating price changes based on differing circumstances. These changes could be based on such factors as peak periods, increase in demand, and customer demographic. 

AI can help businesses identify the most suitable prices for their target customers, allowing them to personalise them depending on the circumstances. This requires being able to collect and quickly analyse massive amounts of customer data and more. Digital marketers will need to adopt dynamic pricing as a means of identifying each customer’s optimal price that will maximise the potential for conversion and profit margins.

Content Creation

It takes time to create quality content and build up its visibility. Right now, digital marketers are focused on written content, however in the future, visual content will likely become more prominent. 

AI can help marketers to generate content faster, curate it, and deliver it to their target audience at the right time and through the right channels. This technology is still in its infancy and focused on automating content development. AI-powered content of the future may be expected to be more personalised, visual, and better timed.

Voice Search

People are constantly looking for that which will make their lives more convenient. While typing out queries on search boxes is still the norm, more people are opting to try voice searches that are helpful when multitasking. 

AI technology can help in responding to these queries which tend to be more conversational. These tools can be used to provide more casual or equally conversational responses that will drive customer engagement.