4 Ways to Start Harnessing the Power of AI in Digital Marketing
Big tech companies have been broadcasting their Artificial Intelligence (AI) breakthroughs ever since Open AI’s ChatGPT became a sensation late last year. In fact, Microsoft (an investor in ChatGPT), Meta and Google reportedly said “AI” over 50 times on their recent earnings calls.
However, AI has long been a driving force behind the algorithms of major platforms such as Meta, Google, Twitter and LinkedIn. These channels leverage AI to personalize advertising and deliver seamless online experiences.
In the realm of digital marketing, tech giants have introduced new generative AI capabilities to optimize paid and social media. Google recommends using it to super-charge search and to test new products through Search Labs. LinkedIn encourages experimenting with generative AI assistant prompts for writing profiles. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has hinted at an upcoming release that will enable companies to automate the creation of ad copy and image variations.
To navigate the digital media landscape and tap into the potential of AI, companies can employ machine learning for ad personalization while simultaneously exploring generative AI capabilities. The best way to get started is just to jump in. Here are four effective strategies to get started:
- Conduct a Paid Search campaign using Google’s Responsive Search Ads to identify the most effective variations of ad copy.
- Launch a Google Display Network campaign employing Responsive Display Ads, which use machine learning to determine the optimal combination of creative images (rather than just ad copy) – going beyond traditional banner ads.
- Use ChatGPT to brainstorm ad copy, social media posts and other paid content.
- Leverage AI-powered social listening and analytics tools like Sprinklr to determine the optimum channel mix, content format (video vs feed posts), days-of-the-week and time-of-day to post on various social media channels.
One of our clients in the healthcare space has successfully utilized these strategies, reaffirming the value of AI in digital marketing. By doing so, they have positioned themselves to further leverage machine learning in the future and gain a competitive advantage. Our team is currently running Responsive Search Ads and seeing higher-than-expected click-through-rates (CTR), which indicates that the algorithm is serving ads that closely match what users are searching for. This success motivated us to experiment with Responsive Display Ads.
In addition, we’re experimenting with ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas for ad and social copy. While generative AI can be used to write full posts, it shouldn’t be fully trusted to produce perfectly polished assets. Tools like ChatGPT are best used as idea generators – rather than a replacement for copywriters – because they have been known to “hallucinate” and even plagiarize. A good strategy is to look at the algorithm’s suggestion, but fact check and personalize it. Integrating your expert perspective into the copy ensures it remains accurate and audience appropriate. Treat it like your phone’s auto-complete function, with cautious optimism.
We’ve also partnered with this healthcare client to roll out AI-informed social media analytics. This has allowed us to optimize the ideal days and times to post across various channels, resulting in increased post engagement, compared to this time last year. Leveraging social listening has been a game-changer, enabling us to monitor online corporate reputation by analyzing sentiment trends in social comments, tweets and online stories. With new AI-enabled functions emerging every day, digital marketers have a unique opportunity to discover what works best for them and their clients.
The key takeaway from this article? There’s always room to experiment. You never know where you’ll find pockets of innovation.
By Melissa Stone, Head of Digital Media