How Marketers Need to Evolve to Challenge Artificial Intelligence

“Artificial Intelligence is likely to be either the best or worst thing to happen to humanity” -- Stephen Hawking

I have built my marketing and communications career from scratch since 2001 and have amassed 15 years of local and regional marketing experience for B2B and B2B2C markets. Back then, I was dealing mostly with marketing and communications in the traditional marketing era. Fast forward now, technology has grown exponentially and is at an explosive stage. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) etc. aggressively and acquiring as much knowledge as possible.

Marketing is experiencing a tectonic shift due to the influence of technology. AI is changing the way traditional marketing is done. It is far more capable than humans enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of marketing. Do I feel threatened and worried? Yes, I get goose-bumps, starting to wonder whether my skill-sets as a marketer are relevant now and what’s more in the future. AI will do the job better than I. It can analyse millions and billions of data and make optimal decisions in a split second.

 AI powered marketing

AI-backed Chatbots are becoming an integral part of marketing. A chatbot is a kind of conversational interface that allows interaction with software in a natural language that is understandable by humans. Customers interact with businesses on a one-to-one basis on social media. However, it is not always possible for business to answer customer queries, which come in big numbers. That’s where AI comes to the rescue. These virtual assistants automate repetitive tasks and its promptness allows customers to prefer interacting with them. An example is Domino’s Facebook Messenger’s installed chatbot. If we type “pizza” in it, it starts the procedure for a pizza order.

To further enhance the customer experience, marketers have started implementing voice search technology that enables users to look for the desired product by speaking to the device, eliminating the need for typing. The voice interactions have enhanced the overall customer experience as less time is required than text-based software and being a more natural and seamless procedure. In fact, voice search is no more limited to Siri only; Amazon, Microsoft and Google have introduced Alexa, Cortana and Hello Googles voice assistants respectively. Domino’s has used voice search technology to allow customers to place order through Alexa and this feature has increased sales for them.

There is also Augmented or Virtual Reality (VR), an emerging trend which is changing the way marketing is done digitally. It is giving a personalised 3D view of the content to customers to promote products and services. E-commerce companies will benefit greatly from it as customers of today want to use the product before buying; not show and tell. IKEA used VR technology to give a virtual tour of the new store it opened in Hyderabad to attract customers and convert them into leads.

As marketers in this present competitive time, it is important to monitor the activities of competitors and plan the marketing strategy accordingly. AI-backed tools like Buzzsumo, SEMRush, Linkody etc. provide a detailed analysis of the traffic data, backlinks and much more, giving marketers the opportunity to stay ahead of competitors.

Then there is AI used in Bidding, Targeting and Messaging for all three layers of the pyramid. Bidding is using Smart Bidding Strategies, which use AI for bidding. It is Return on Advertisement Spend based bidding in which AI uses numerous factors to maximise Return-On-Investment from marketing. It is important to know how much one should pay for a keyword, or the right amount to be paid for an advertisement. Next is Targeting where the user data that is collected is used by AI to predict a customer’s next step. This allows improved targeting and showing of an advertisement to the right customer at the right time. Lastly, Messaging where Google provides an AI in the form of responsive search advertisements or responsive display advertisements.

Will marketers wake up one day and find themselves obsolete? 

This seems to loom valiantly like a dark threat for the future of digital marketers. Despite this vast growth of marketing automation, social media marketers and SEO specialists still face high demand across the businesses. Moreover, throughout the last few years, a lot of new marketer job roles have emerged. Until this tremendous growth of digital marketing demand and the emergence of new marketer roles continue to flourish, marketers will continue to play the key role along with the new marketing algorithms and tools. Marketers will remain relevant wherever business needs fresh ideas to push ahead. For bringing fresh and customer-centric perspectives to the marketing strategies, marketers will remain important. 

Why traditional marketing still matters in a technologically driven world?

While AI is revolutionising digital marketing, neglecting traditional marketing can prove to be a big mistake. We still need a mix of traditional and digital marketing strategies for overall marketing strategy to be effective. The benefits of face-to-face engagement are tremendous like experiential events, which focus on customers and help business maximise the brand experience through personal contact.

Though many consumers are using the internet to conduct and research business, there is still nothing like the power of the tangible, accessible, face-to-face attributes of traditional marketing. Imagine going to a trade show or networking event with nothing but your mobile device. How will onlookers know who you are, what your brand is and what you have to offer? You need to create your company’s presence and put yourself in the same space as your target audience. For instance, trade shows allow businesses to showcase their best products by offering samples or tests to consumers. Something tangible to hold onto and remember you by? Hence traditional marketing can help companies reach a broader audience while building an authentic relationship with customers – and beating out the competition.

What do I do next? 

“Learning is a constant process of discovery – a process without end.” -- Bruce Lee

Regardless of the outcome, I refused to be displaced by technology and instead embrace them fully. I need to make AI a friend before technology turns foe and terminates me. I decided to cannibalise myself before AI does by understanding how it is shaping marketing and upskilling myself to meet the new challenges. 

I challenged myself to learn and pick up new skills in Digital Marketing a few years ago, working closely with SEM and Digital Marketing companies. I tried to reap as much knowledge and insights from these agencies. I also went through some courses on Digital Marketing with reputable training providers earlier and did some Google online courses as well. Presently, I am doing a part-time one-year Specialist Diploma on Digital Marketing and Analytics course. Soon, I will be attending a day programme on AI for deeper knowledge. The learning journey will not end after this.

“Artificial Intelligence is a tool, not a threat.” - Rodney Brooks 

On further thoughts, although Marketing, mainly Digital Marketing has now become extremely sophisticated and precision-driven, these tools couldn’t fully replace digital marketers. Marketing automation may be a mainstay, but it is too early to assume that digital marketers will find themselves useless and obsolete because of AI, Machine Learning, etc. 

But the best way to go about this is to remain open, receptive and stay abreast of AI and its advancement so that you will always be on course! Read from as many sources as possible - follow blogs from Google Research, OpenAI, etc., attend conferences, talks and programmes and challenge these technologies!