AI Tools and the Future of Marketing - How to Keep Originality
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a huge impact on the way businesses operate, particularly in terms of marketing. AI has the power to analyze large amounts of data and draw conclusions from that data that can assist with many aspects of marketing strategies and their implementation.
But what does this mean in terms of the originality and creativity that are inherent in marketing? The truth is that AI can improve marketing processes and effectiveness, but it can’t replace the human touch. The key is to find a balance.
The Benefits of AI in Marketing
The biggest impact of AI in marketing comes from its ability to quickly analyze data and provide insights. AI can process and analyze vast amounts of data, providing marketers with valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends.
It can determine where companies can best target their potential customers, offer insights on the type of messaging that will resonate with those people, and predict their behavior.
For example, in the digital products world, AI could tell marketers where to find potential customers for their digital product and utilize the past behavior of previous users of the digital product to determine what features are most important to them. Marketers can then create a personalized message that emphasizes those specific features and benefits, and place that message on the recommended target channels.
This increases the efficiency of marketing processes – it would take a massive amount of time for a human to do such an analysis.
AI can also enhance the personalization of the customer shopping experience. It can make targeted product recommendations highlighting the important features of the product and displaying a relevant message to the customer that will resonate and increase the likelihood of a purchase. AI allows this to occur automatically without human intervention.
Additionally, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide customers with instant support and assistance, thus enhancing the customer’s overall experience.
AI-powered marketing tools can also automate repetitive tasks such as data entry, lead generation, and social media scheduling, freeing up marketers to focus on more strategic and creative activities.
All of these benefits can provide significant cost savings for companies as it reduces the need for manual labor.
The Risks of AI in Marketing
First of all, it’s widely believed that marketers will become over reliant on AI algorithms and automation, which can still sometimes be unreliable. Companies risk losing credibility if marketers produce incorrect information or faulty messages.
There’s also an element of homogenization in what AI produces, which can actually decrease personalization. Messaging can begin to lack originality which makes the target audience feel as though they’re hearing the same messages over and over again.
Most importantly, empathy and emotional appeal are critical elements of marketing, and AI cannot produce those elements. Messaging and content created by AI can come across as impersonal and cold, rather than creating an emotional reaction.
Content, in particular, produced by AI is easy to spot. The human touch is important to making content conversational, appealing, and emotionally relevant, and AI content generally can do none of those things. Would you want to read an article written by ChatGPT or would you rather read a human’s expertise and perspective?
Additionally, it’s been mentioned that Google may be able to detect ChatGPT produced content, which could negatively impact search engine rankings.
It’s also important to note that AI tools cannot distinguish cultural nuances, so relying on AI for content creation or other messaging could result in alienating certain segments of a target market.
Finally, the use of AI to analyze data has the potential to allow data breaches, so marketers need to implement strategies to prevent this from happening.
Strategies for Maintaining Originality with AI
The challenge is to avoid overreliance on AI and blend its uses with the human touch. For example, when AI targets marketing channels based on data, the results from utilizing those channels must still be measured to ensure that the recommended channels are effective.
In terms of messaging, marketers can use the insights that AI provides, but not the specific message. A human should intervene, view the message as a potential customer – a human – and enhance the message to appeal to a person, whether on an emotional level or in a more conversational or appealing tone.
AI can also not create a brand identity or convey that identity. Marketers need to infuse the company’s desired brand identity into marketing strategies and messages without the use of AI.
In terms of content marketing, many marketers have started using AI to automate the “mundane” task of content creation. Content creation is not mundane – it’s an art. AI cannot replicate the skills of a content writer and the human perspective and creativity they bring. AI, however, can support the content creation process by suggesting relevant topics and even creating content outlines.
Arguably, though, using it to fully create the content is likely to decrease the quality and relevance of content marketing, thus negatively impacting its results.
Overall, many of AI’s functions should be considered suggestions rather than actions. While AI can drastically increase efficiencies and provide valuable insights from data, people should still be fully involved in putting those suggestions and insights to use.
Can AI Replace Marketing Professionals?
Much concern exists about the potential loss of marketing jobs due to the overuse of AI in marketing. While this risk is real, effective marketing cannot occur without humans. Hopefully, companies will learn over time the risks of overreliance on AI in marketing, and understand the importance of people in creating valuable connections with customers and potential customers.
Ideally, AI will simply elevate marketers, allowing them to focus on higher-level strategies while mundane tasks are automated.
Conclusion
The only certainty about the future of AI in marketing is that it will continue to play a role. However, companies need to seriously consider the potential negative impacts of relying on AI when a human touch is critical. AI cannot form a personal connection between a brand and its customers, which is the key to creating customer relationships. The bottom line is that for marketing to be truly effective, it needs people and their diverse perspectives.