Unlocking the Potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

· Written by Riley Woodell

AI Marketing has become a game-changer for businesses, revolutionizing customer experiences, optimizing campaigns, and driving growth. However, harnessing AI effectively requires a strategic and informed approach. In this article, we will explore key best practices that marketers can employ to maximize the benefits of AI in their marketing efforts.

From setting clear objectives and leveraging quality data to embracing a human-AI collaboration mindset, these practices will empower marketers to navigate the evolving landscape of AI and leverage its capabilities to drive impactful results. Discover how to harness the power of AI to supercharge your marketing strategies and stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape.

ai meets human

What Is AI?

AI, or artificial intelligence, is the development of computer systems that are able to think and work as humans do at an advanced level. It works by using algorithms that can process vast amounts of data and come up with clear, concise decisions, all within seconds. At its core, AI seeks to enable machines to exhibit "intelligent" behavior by analyzing vast amounts of data, recognizing patterns, and making informed predictions or decisions.

AI technology can be used in a multitude of ways, from natural language processing (NLP) which is used to analyze customer conversations and responses, to machine learning (ML) which can be used in predictive analytics.

A man accepting a cup of coffee from an AI bot

Different Types of AI Marketing Tools

To add to the basic understanding of AI, looking into what each form is responsible for can be useful.

Machine learning

Machine learning is a conjuncture of computer algorithms that learn what the user needs are more quickly than manual processes, and then take action to fulfill those needs. This process involves analyzing large amounts of data using powerful computers and generating new insights that can help optimize marketing decisions.

Natural Language Processing

According to IBM, the definition of natural language processing is the branch of AI “concerned with giving computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in much the same way human beings can.” This means that inputs and commands can be understood by the computer's processing system in a variety of languages depending on the AI software you choose to utilize. 

Tools such as ChatGPT are free and readily available to the public in the form of app or online portal access, while more advanced forms of AI such as Jasper, can be used at a premium for a monthly expense. These are both examples of NLP and ML artificial intelligence.

Deep Learning

Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that is responsible for developing neural networks. These networks simulate the way human brains process information, allowing computers to recognize patterns in data. Deep learning is useful for image and speech recognition, as well as language translation. Because of this, it can be applied to text analysis in order to identify consumer sentiment and optimize marketing campaigns based on real-time data.

How Does AI Impact Marketing?

AI is more important than ever as it enables marketing professionals to quickly and accurately measure, analyze, and interpret vast amounts of data. It can help identify customer trends and preferences in order to make better-informed decisions. This enables the product or service to be better in the long run, while the marketing team can simultaneously learn and create more tailored information for a target audience.

It can also provide up-to-date information on audiences and target markets, allowing marketers to respond quickly to changes in customer behavior and respond accordingly. Additionally, AI can improve customer engagement with personalized recommendations and advertisements geared toward a specific audience.

A marketing team working together to form AI best practices.

AI Best Practices for Marketers

For marketers looking to harness the power of AI, there are several best practices to consider.

  1. Firstly, it's crucial to clearly define objectives and identify specific problems that AI can help solve. This involves understanding your target audience, their needs, and the key metrics you want to improve. By setting clear goals, you can better align AI initiatives with your marketing strategy.
  2. Secondly, data quality and accessibility are vital for successful AI implementation. Ensure that you have access to reliable and relevant data sources. AI algorithms thrive on data, so it's essential to have a robust data collection and management system in place. This includes data cleaning, normalization, and enrichment to ensure high-quality inputs for AI models. Additionally, prioritize data security and compliance to maintain customer trust and adhere to regulatory requirements.
  3. Lastly, AI works best when it complements human expertise rather than replaces it. Marketers should embrace AI as a tool to augment their decision-making process rather than relying solely on automated outputs. By combining human insights and domain expertise with AI-driven insights, marketers can achieve more accurate targeting, personalization, and campaign optimization. It's also crucial to continuously monitor and evaluate AI performance, iterating and refining models as needed to ensure optimal results.

An snapshot introducing ChatGPT and it's features

The Best AI Tools Currently Available to Marketers.

AI options can be overwhelming when it comes to considering best practices and uses for marketing. However, the following list attempts to consolidate the best tools currently available.

Jasper

Jasper AI is a powerful artificial intelligence system developed by OpenAI that offers a wide range of capabilities and applications. By leveraging state-of-the-art natural language processing and machine learning techniques, Jasper AI is designed to understand and generate human-like text, enabling it to perform various tasks such as blog writing, meta description betterment, and event Google Business Profile and social media captions.

One of Jasper AI's key functionalities is language generation, where it can produce coherent and contextually relevant text given a prompt. This makes it an excellent tool for content creation, writing assistance, and generating conversational responses. Jasper AI can also perform language translation tasks, allowing users to seamlessly convert text between different languages. Additionally, it can aid in summarizing lengthy documents, extracting important information, and generating concise summaries.

Furthermore, Jasper AI excels in language-based question-answering, where it can comprehend complex queries and provide accurate responses. This ability makes it a valuable resource for information retrieval, educational purposes, and even customer support applications. Jasper AI is continually improving through advancements in training techniques and larger datasets, ensuring that its language generation capabilities become even more refined and reliable over time.

ChatGPT 

ChatGPT is a free AI tool enabling marketers to generate real-time customer service responses. It uses natural language processing capabilities to recognize user queries and provide personalized answers quickly and accurately. Utilizing this tool, you can ask for ideas, input emails, and create processes to automate and simplify your daily workload.

ChatGPT remains accessible to users in its free research stage. Once the AI tool has exited its learning phase, we expect this to change, however, trying the platform for basic tasks such as idea generating to familiarize prior to this change might be beneficial for marketers to have exposure to excellent quality AI technology.


Moreover, OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Plus, an exclusive subscription service for ChatGPT. For $20 per month, subscribers gain several advantages, including continued access to ChatGPT during peak demand, faster response times, and prioritized access to new features as they are introduced. Additionally, ChatGPT Plus provides users with exclusive access to the cutting-edge GPT-4 large language model, amplifying the capabilities and possibilities of the platform.

Salesforce Einstein

 Salesforce Einstein is an AI-driven sales tool designed to help marketers better understand customer needs and automate their workflow processes. It can be used for lead scoring, segmentation, and more.

Salesforce Einstein aims to provide sales and marketing teams with a holistic and real-time understanding of their customers and sales prospects. By incorporating AI into the Salesforce clouds, the company strategically acquired technologies that enable the integration of machine learning and deep learning analytics into its cloud products.

Through the seamless integration of Einstein, businesses gain valuable customer data insights, allowing them to proactively address customer service challenges and optimize their bottom line. Furthermore, this integration facilitates the prediction of a potential customer's position in the sales cycle and their preferred communication channels, enhancing sales effectiveness and customer engagement.

Google Cloud Platform

The Google Cloud Platform provides access to a range of AI tools, including machine learning and natural language processing. It can be used for things like image recognition and customer insights.

Google Cloud Platform provides generative AI for building out content quickly. Additionally, they provide data science which helps the user to gain insight into a dense breakdown of the analytics within the platform and how the AI content on the site is performing.

Finally, this platform also provides responsible AI. Responsible AI ensures that proper practices and training methods are put into place to help the user understand all the data associated with their Google Cloud Platform.

Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio

Azure Machine Learning is an advanced cloud-based service designed to streamline and oversee the entire lifecycle of machine learning projects. It caters to the needs of machine learning experts, data scientists, and engineers by empowering them to efficiently train, deploy, and manage models while embracing MLOps principles.

Whether you prefer to create a model from scratch within Azure Machine Learning or leverage existing models from popular open-source platforms like PyTorch, TensorFlow, or sci-kit-learn, the platform offers seamless integration. Additionally, with the aid of MLOps tools, you can effortlessly monitor, retrain, and redeploy models, ensuring continuous optimization and performance.

The Azure AI is designed to be a drag-and-drop workflow, making the process of building, testing, and deploying machine learning models, easy!

IBM Watson 

Watsonx is a forthcoming AI and data platform tailored for enterprise use, aimed at amplifying the influence of AI within your organization. This comprehensive platform consists of three robust elements: the watsonx.ai studio, empowering you with cutting-edge foundation models, generative AI, and machine learning capabilities; the Watsonx.data store, providing the flexibility of a data lake and the efficiency of a data warehouse; and the Watsonx.governance toolkit, facilitating AI workflows that prioritize responsibility, transparency, and explainability in their implementation.

Different tears of IBM's Watson AI software

Adobe Sensei 

According to Adobe "Adobe Sensei is the technology that powers intelligent features across all Adobe products. Whether you’re a creative, marketing, or business professional, Adobe Sensei can help you work more productively, create the right content faster, and deliver that content to the right customer across the right channels – all at the right time."

Adobe Sensei serves as the driving force behind intelligent capabilities found in all Adobe products. Regardless of whether you're a creative individual, marketer, or business professional, Adobe Sensei is designed to enhance your productivity, accelerate content creation, and enable targeted content delivery across various channels, precisely when it matters.

As Adobe continues to advance its AI, machine learning, and deep learning offerings through Adobe Sensei, the emphasis remains on three fundamental strengths: understanding content, fostering computational creativity, and cultivating experience intelligence. These competencies empower our customers to deliver highly personalized digital experiences swiftly and effectively.

SAS Viya

SAS Viya uses next-generation SAS programming with advanced CAS programming language. SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning provides automated insights that help you discover the frequently occurring variables across all models, the key variables chosen across models, and assessment outcomes for all models.

It employs natural language generation to produce a project summary in plain language, making it simple to understand the reports. Additionally, the analytics team can include project notes in the insights report, promoting seamless communication and collaboration within the team.

No familiarity with SAS code? Not an issue. SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning allows you to integrate open-source code into an analysis, utilize open-source algorithms within a pipeline, and access these models from a shared repository—all seamlessly within Model Studio. This promotes collaboration throughout your organization, as users can perform these tasks using their preferred programming language.

Additionally, you can leverage SAS Deep Learning with Python (DLPy), Sas’s open-source package available on GitHub. With DLPy, you can employ Python within Jupyter notebooks to utilize high-level APIs for various deep learning functionalities, such as computer vision, natural language processing, forecasting, and speech processing.

Practices for AI-driven Marketing Campaigns

To maximize an AI tool's capabilities, here are a few best practices to follow:

  • Utilize multiple data sources: Make sure your AI system has access to all relevant data sources including customer feedback, website analytics, and social media insights. The more information you can provide the system with, the better the results will be.
  • Act quickly on insights: Utilize AI-generated marketing insights to act quickly and efficiently. Doing so will allow you to capitalize on opportunities before your competitors can.
  • Measure performance: Monitor and measure the results from your AI-driven campaign to ensure that it is meeting its intended goals. You can do this by utilizing tools such as Google Analytics or Google Search Console to name a few in order to monitor your website performance for optimized content on web pages.
  • Stay informed: Regularly review resources such as news articles, industry publications, and white papers for updates on the latest trends in AI-driven marketing.

A marketing team collaborating on ideas based on AI best practices

Where Can AI Content Make The Most Impact On Your Marketing Campaign?

AI content can have a significant impact on various aspects of your marketing campaign. Here are a few areas to consider:

  1. Personalization: Utilize AI technology to tailor your marketing content to specific audiences or individuals based on their preferences and behavior patterns. This can include personalized recommendations, product suggestions, and customized email marketing campaigns.
  2. Customer Service: AI-powered chatbots can assist with customer service inquiries by providing automated responses to frequently asked questions. This can help improve customer satisfaction and save time and resources for your support team.
  3. Predictive Analytics: Use AI technology to analyze large amounts of data and gain insights into customer behavior patterns, trends, and preferences. This information can then be used to optimize your marketing campaigns and improve ROI.
  4. Website Content: Adding content to your website such as images generated by AI, re-writing and refreshing outdated information, or focusing on set keywords you're attempting to rank for in the SERP.
  5. Coding A Website: Chat GPT allows the user to have an intelligent conversation with the AI bot to completely code out a website if needed. You can use this tool to revamp existing web pages to look fresh or start from scratch by posting code directly from Chat GPT into your website's page source.
  6. Improving Your Site SEO: Improving the SEO ranking of your site is now more important than ever. Google places a significant amount of importance on the intent of the site. This means that insuring your website has useful and up-to-date information that's helpful to visitors is considered a forefront feature of generating content.
  7. Generating Images For Campaigns: Whether you're looking for essential graphic design elements or complex images of individuals, you can use AI technology to generate copywrite-free images. Whether you're looking for essential graphic design elements or complex images of individuals, you can use AI technology to generate copywrite-free images. Additionally, the use of images and designs made by AI can help to boost the UX quality of your website when applied to site pages effectively and strategically

Follow These Best Practices For Data Driven Results

AI is revolutionizing the marketing industry and businesses that fail to adapt risk falling behind their competition. Understanding the different types of AI tools available and AI best practices will help businesses stay competitive in this ever-changing digital landscape. 

Keep up to date with the latest developments in AI as the field constantly evolves by researching and setting goals to automate your marketing processes utilizing these best parties. By leveraging the power of AI-driven marketing, businesses can gain valuable insights, improve customer engagement, and increase their ROI for long-term success.

A team evaluating marketing KPI's

Final Reflections On AI Best Practices for Marketers

AI applications span across diverse domains, including healthcare, finance, transportation, manufacturing, and entertainment. In healthcare, AI can aid in diagnosing diseases, predicting patient outcomes, and developing personalized treatment plans. In finance, AI algorithms can analyze market trends, automate trading, and detect fraudulent activities.

Self-driving cars and autonomous drones rely on AI technologies for perception, navigation, and decision-making. The field of marketing is no different; with AI advancing how we distribute, discuss, and analyze information to better our campaigns as marketing professionals.

The field of AI continues to evolve rapidly due to advances in computing power, data availability, and algorithmic innovations. Deep learning, a subfield of machine learning, has gained significant attention in recent years for its ability to analyze complex data, such as images, speech, and text, achieving state-of-the-art performance in various domains.

While AI holds tremendous potential for automating the creative and analytical sides of marketing, ultimately how marketers choose to use the tools will determine the success of campaigns.

Continuous monitoring and evaluation of AI performance, coupled with iterative refinements, ensure optimal results and continuous improvement. By adopting these AI best practices, marketers can navigate the complex landscape of artificial intelligence, fueling innovation and delivering exceptional customer experiences in the age of digital marketing.

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