Although artificial intelligence technologies have not come to this world over the last few months, it is clear that it is in recent times that the digital world has begun to change dramatically and at breakneck speed because of their massive use. All thanks to the availability to the general public of generative artificial intelligences, such as the famous and discussed ChatGPT, which immediately triggered the transformation of the processes and working methods of entire online economic sectors. Among them: sales, social media and even marketing.
In this article we will talk about the relationship between artificial intelligence and marketing, the opportunities it offers and even those that, at least for now, it is better to let go.
The case of social media
If we talk about artificial intelligence in social media, it’s impossible not to start with Facebook. The social network created by Mark Zuckenberg is known for employing 4 types of algorithms that use artificial intelligence, or rather deep learning. Basically, when you open your Facebook profile, this monitors and analyzes the content, customizes your feed according to your tastes and the products you have already searched for in the past, as well as providing content translations and a voice function. All piloted by an AI.
Another interesting example is the moderation of comments on social media via artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, as we know, social media is often a place of verbal violence, and policing a large stream of comments isn’t always easy. An inappropriate comment could always escape surveillance and therefore offer a bad image of a brand. But Instagram (another social by Meta) uses artificial intelligence to analyze each single comment looking for offensive words and then removing the offensive ones.
Artificial intelligence and marketing in the digital world
The evolution of digital marketing has also been profoundly shaped by the arrival of tools based on artificial intelligence. When we browse the internet, we always leave traces through cookies. These are like small virtual robots whose job is collecting pieces of information about us and transmitting them to the site we are visiting (but not exclusively) to allow marketing specialists to establish our consumer profile and propose the products that may interest us. These data are age, geographic location, gender, etc.
The use of artificial intelligence through data mining helps professionals gather a large amount of data that will be processed through machine learning in order to provide an analytical model that they can then use to predict the performance of future marketing campaigns. This process is called predictive marketing.
The case of audio and video streaming
The use of “algorithms” in streaming platforms such as Youtube or Spotify has already existed for a few years. These are the source of the famous “recommendations” these platforms offer that should match your tastes. In fact, they are doing this better and better, with greater precision and more refined results. This improvement is the result of the improvement of artificial intelligence that works by following and analyzing the audio and video content you consult, to suggest other content that, most likely, you will like.
Lights and Shadows of Artificial Intelligence
Although we are often not aware of it, today the AI has a significant presence in our private and work life. We use it on a daily basis to order food, to analyze a road route during travel, to shop, listen to music and much more.
The first thing that stands out in artificial intelligence is its extraordinary ability to continuously learn. In the field of research and development it is considered a formidable ally to face the most complex challenges with greater efficiency and less time and resources.
However, like any other technology, AI doesn’t just have pros. Its large-scale use is already creating considerable problems in the labour market, since it has been used to replace humans in a unfortunately growing list of tasks. Goldman Sachs has estimated that 300 million jobs will be severely affected or completely lost due to AI. An exorbitant figure that, if it proves to be justified, will only aggravate the conditions of economic precariousness and unemployment for a considerable portion of the world’s population.
There is also another aspect to consider: according to some experts, AI can slow down or limit people’s intellectual development by creating a kind of intellectual laziness. This laziness manifests itself with the abusive use of artificial intelligence for tasks of reflection that were previously carried out by the people themselves, as well as the inability to get out of the “bubble” created around us by the algorithms’ suggestions.
Artificial intelligence in marketing: when yes and when no
With regard to artificial intelligence applied to marketing, there is no doubt that new technologies offer several advantages to companies that want to promote their brand, including:
• Greater capacity for data analysis, thanks to tools that directly offer us the answers to our questions.
• Ability to offer services at a lower cost, such as customer support (via bots) 24 hours a day.
• Ability to automatically generate responses to customer communications, such as emails, chats and reviews.
• Support in the creation and translation of content, to launch your message in new markets.
However, the temptation is strong to be dazzled by the potential of AI and rely on it excessively, without considering a fundamental point: machines, however sophisticated and programmed to learn, are not able to really listen to and know customers, and to communicate with them in a truly engaging and impacting way. This is a task that only human beings can perform.
Especially now that the use of artificial intelligence in marketing is increasingly common, the risk is to communicate indistinguishably from dozens, hundreds or thousands of other companies, flattening you message and confusing yourself with the competition. Which is precisely what you must never do.
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