Using AI in Digital Marketing

Spend a few minutes scrolling through digital marketing news, and you’ll probably come across plenty of articles about artificial intelligence (AI). This cutting-edge technology has quickly become a vital part of many businesses’ digital marketing strategies. 

In 2023, for instance, Coca-Cola rolled out a generative AI platform that lets customers design custom greeting cards with the brand’s iconic logos. Similarly, RNR Tire Express leverages AI tools like Midjourney to generate high-quality images for its marketing campaigns. This content engages customers while boosting marketing teams' productivity. 

Many AI tools are user-friendly, so you don’t need to be a computer whiz to effectively use this technology. This article explores three applications of AI in digital marketing and also offers practical tips to help you use these tools ethically. 

How Is AI Used in Digital Marketing?

Artificial intelligence has made a fast leap from a science-fiction concept to an everyday tool for digital marketing professionals. A recent SurveyMonkey study found that 88% of marketers use AI in their current roles. Among these AI users, 93% use it to produce marketing content faster, and 81% rely on it to uncover insights. 

Are you looking to incorporate AI into your digital marketing strategy? Here are three ways AI can improve your workflow.

Data Analysis

As a digital marketer, you have a wealth of data at your fingertips, but gathering and analyzing it can be daunting. You may feel overwhelmed by email performance metrics, social media engagement data, website analytics, and more.

Save time by using AI solutions to automatically collect data from various platforms. These tools often use application programming interfaces (APIs) to pull data from different channels. For example, Sprout Social connects with social media platforms to gather engagement metrics, user comments, and other types of data in real time. Similarly, you could use AI to scrape websites for customer reviews and references to your brand. 

Next, AI algorithms can analyze the collected data to uncover patterns and deliver actionable insights. Say, for instance, you want to evaluate your Instagram comments to understand how customers engage with your brand. You can use a natural language processing algorithm to analyze the sentiment of the comments and detect emergent themes. 

Based on these findings, you could develop a targeted email marketing campaign that spotlights popular products or addresses common customer concerns. This AI-driven approach can boost your conversion rates and improve your client satisfaction as you develop more relevant messaging. 

Many AI tools also have predictive analytics capabilities. This function uses historical data to forecast future outcomes. For example, you could analyze sales data and market trends to predict customer behaviors. These insights help you tailor your digital marketing efforts to fit your target audience’s changing needs and preferences. 

Topic Research

Marketers often produce content on a wide range of topics. One minute, you might be writing a dense blog post on new electric vehicle legislation, and the next, you’re whipping up a silly TikTok video about windshield wipers. You want to get the facts straight, but researching new topics can be time-consuming. 

AI tools like Consensus and QuillBot can assist you by summarizing articles, podcast transcripts, and more. These summaries let you quickly determine whether the material applies to your campaign. That way, you can pick out the most relevant content instead of spending hours sifting through information that may not be useful. 

Google’s AI overviews are a perfect example of this application. These snippets highlight webpages that are directly related to your search, displaying them at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). This helps you access the information you need without having to click through dozens of links, improving your efficiency.