Destruction. Apocalypse. Annihilation. This is probably what springs to mind when you think of artificial intelligence and robots. I know it does for me. From the Terminator to I, Robot to Avengers: Age of Ultron, we are repeatedly shown how artificial intelligence can evolve into sentient killing machines intent on wiping us out. Now whilst this is not an impossible scenario, I don’t think we should let that deter us from exploring where it can go and how artificial intelligence in marketing can help us.
First, let’s make it a little less scary by giving you some examples of how AI is already ingrained into our daily lives. Do you remember how many times you’ve unlocked your smartphone today? No? If I had to hazard a guess as to how many times I have I’m probably safe over 30 (and it’s only midday). The reason why I can’t remember is probably because of the ease with which I can unlock it. That’s right, face ID is actually AI. So is voice identification; next time you use Siri/Alexa to search something? They’ll be using AI to do it. And it’ll only be getting more advanced. Did you know that the google algorithm understands speech with 95% accuracy – which is the same as a human being? Don’t worry, they’re very far off from overtaking the planet, but right now they are only making life easier.
Think about the applications of say, a chat bot. Sure they’re helpful when you need some extra assistance whilst online shopping or researching a website. But have you thought about why a human couldn’t do the job as well as them? Firstly, no matter how much coffee they may drink, a human being cannot stay awake and alert 24/7. With a chat bot, you have help at hand whatever the time, which is handy considering there are over 24 different time zones in the world. It’s even more handy considering there are up to 7,000 languages spoken across the globe; far more than a human could possibly learn but definitely not for a chat bot. That’s the other great thing; they are always learning. Whilst humans can learn from our businesses and make improvements, chat bots can implement change much faster as they are constantly analysing their own programming.
Now that I’ve applied a little to your daily life, let’s look at artificial intelligence in marketing and why it is so beneficial to the sector. When marketing agencies are creating adverts and campaigns it helps to know who you are directing them at. AI presents a unique opportunity for more advanced data processing. Through this advanced processing, it can sift through customers’ behaviours and online habits in order to tailor content to them personally. This means that the user will be presented with ads and campaigns that solve their problems specifically and are more likely to use your company in the long run.
In this way, AI can also be utilised to observe and report back which adverts and campaigns are getting the most results and which are not, so you can then focus on the ones that work instead of wasting time and money on those that don’t. It also helps to avoid filtering out the good ones through basic trial and error, which takes time and costs money. It can also analyse which type of emails are getting sent straight into your overflowing spam folder and which make it through, allowing us to personalise the email/campaign more to make it eye catching and front of the inbox, where it belongs. AI can also gather and sort through massive databases for us in seconds, and soon it will be able to do our SEO much more efficiently for us by identifying keywords, analysing current marketing trends and more.
I hope you’ve possibly stopped being scared of artificial intelligence and are (at least a tiny bit) impressed, at least when it comes to artificial intelligence in marketing. For now let’s enjoy how much easier and more efficient it makes our daily tasks, whether that’s food shopping or creating a gripping marketing campaign. Don’t you worry, if they do end up gaining sentience and taking over I will happily stand there as one by one you tell me ‘I told you so’. But I don’t think today will be that day.
