AI and the Future of Digital Marketing

The other day, I read an article about how brands are confusing artificial intelligence (AI) with data from Google Analytics. This was astounding to me. How can brands confuse human-like machines with data from websites? AI empowers machines to think, respond and perform tasks similar to humans. So while I was astounded, it also told me how brands really aren’t adapting or understanding technology.

Amazon uses AI-powered recommendation engines to provide personalized suggestions on products. This is actually one area that I can see being the easiest to implement AI. But will everyone be like Amazon and embrace AI in the future? What will marketing look like in five years?  

Technology is Moving Fast

With smart devices and digitally personalized experiences, technology will just keep creating a friction-less lifestyle for consumers. Communication patterns will continue to evolve and so will the channels we use to reach others.

Early in my career, I heard brands talk about how social media was a fad. In fact, I watched a lot of them delete their social accounts and continue with those old-school marketing tactics. Now, I’m seeing those same brands trying to build their audience on social channels, and it’s a little too late to do that without spending some money. In fact, Facebook has an algorithm that ranks content in its News Feed to connect with people rather than content for consuming media. So, if a brand really wants to reach a target audience on Facebook, they’ll need to supplement those organic efforts with some paid advertising. What was once free now comes at a cost.

Knowing the Customer is an Expectation

Consumers are expecting brands to know their preferences now more than ever. Content is meaningless without having some context. AI is going to paint a better picture for marketing when it comes to context. For example, marketers will be able to use chatbots in a way that will truly meet the customer’s needs. Some brands are already doing this in some form and that technology will only continue to get smarter. An increase in timely and personalized communication will be a must as marketing continues to evolve.

Search Becomes Even Smarter

So why am I so interested in AI marketing? Because search engine optimization will become simplified as AI gets adapted into the digital marketing world. Producing content will always be human-dominated, but optimizing that content will be left to the robots. I think those tedious tasks, like identifying keywords and creating backlinks, will be automated.

Another example is voice search, which will only be increasing as consumers buy more products that utilize voice commands. The way consumers find answers will evolve as marketers seek to optimize and advertise by taking the consumer through the buyer’s journey.

Are you excited about this evolution? How do you see AI altering the digital marketing landscape?