With the increased accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, businesses of all sizes can leverage this rapidly evolving technology today and position themselves well for the future. AI is no longer just for large enterprises with deep pockets. We’ve now reached a tipping point where AI-powered marketing tools are at the doorsteps of all businesses, and many are ready to open the door.

In fact, according to a 2023 Forbes Advisor survey, most business owners believe AI will benefit their businesses, with 64% anticipating AI will improve their customer relationships and increase productivity, and 60% expecting AI to drive sales growth.

Besides reaping its immediate benefits, enterprises incorporating AI are also preparing a solid foundation for the innumerable applications on the horizon. Here are a few good reasons to incorporate AI in your company’s marketing endeavors today.

1. Marketing content

Simply put, Generative AI is AI capable of generating original content in various forms. One of Gen AI’s greatest gifts is its ability to quickly generate optimized and targeted marketing content based on deep customer insights.

At 6 Pillars Marketing, we have engaged Generative AI for our hotel and hospitality clients to produce high-quality text, graphics and videos — tasks that would previously have been executed manually by three marketing professionals with different skill sets. This has allowed us to launch marketing campaigns more quickly than was possible in the past, including developing strategy, content design and targeting. The technology, however, did more than save us time. Because the information used to create the content was based on volumes of synthesized information, the end product was increasingly effective at reaching and motivating target audiences.

Such refined content helps improve click-through rates and customer satisfaction. AI-generated content can enhance the complete spectrum of marketing communications, including blogs, websites, newsletters, emails, social media posts, and digital ads.

2. Personalized customer experiences

Another advantage of AI in marketing is its ability to drive personalized experiences and target customers with precision. By analyzing customer data, AI algorithms can provide consumers with targeted recommendations, offers, and content based on their interests and behaviors. To personalize a customer’s website experience and boost conversions, our team employs AI to gather insights from their browsing history, location and preferences. The result is a superior online experience with thoughtful recommendations, personalized discounts and tailored content.

3. Predictive data analytics

We also use AI predictive analytics to sort through massive volumes of data to predict future outcomes. We can dive deeper into data from previous marketing campaigns and customer behaviors — such as past purchases, time on page and email opens — to discover meaningful patterns and trends. Armed with these insights, we can strengthen future campaigns with a level of confidence not previously possible.

For example, we recently created a social media strategic report for one of our retail clients, which included Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). AI-powered analytic tools allowed us to project social media growth, engagement and impressions over the next six months. These data projections, complete with informative graphs and charts, were produced with far greater precision and in a fraction of the time needed in the past when similar reports were created manually.

AI-powered marketing tools can also help optimize advertising buys. AI algorithms can provide insights into which advertising channels are most effective for a particular audience through customer behavior and preferences data analysis. We can use these insights to help allocate advertising budgets more effectively, reducing wasted spending.

Companies can also better understand and predict the behaviors of existing clients and prospects in various stages of the marketing funnel, ultimately improving the online customer experience and resulting in high-value leads and sales. The bottom line is that AI can help take the guesswork out of marketing plans and improve return on investment (ROI).

4. AI-powered chatbots

AI-powered chatbots have come a long way. This technology can help advance customer service goals by answering customer queries at any time of the day — a most helpful tool in our 24/7 global economy. And, thanks to ever-advancing technology, chatbots can now go far beyond regurgitating basic company information. They can provide customer order status, product recommendations and even close sales with increasing success. As a bonus, chatbots can help lessen staff workload.

Human marketers are still required

While I highly recommend all businesses adopt an appropriate measure of AI now, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to address the technology’s lingering shortcomings. In a nutshell, AI is not perfect, and human intervention is still required at the front and back end of the process.

To produce high-quality content, humans must feed high-quality prompts into generative tools. Those prompts must be clear enough to drive communications in the right direction. Without well-crafted prompts, your content will be dull, generic and likely miss the mark. In the worst-case scenario, content could include errors and misinformation.

It’s critical that marketing professionals or business owners carefully review, refine and fact-check all content. Humans are still the last line of defense in ensuring that a company’s brand standards are met and its established tone of voice shines through. For some time to come, it’s a sure bet that human marketing skills will continue to be a vital component of AI-generated content.

The AI revolution

It’s undeniable that AI’s role in marketing is evolving and improving with each passing day. As we are catapulted further into the AI stratosphere, brands that experiment with and master the technology today will be well-positioned to capitalize on the countless benefits AI will offer tomorrow. The remarkable revolution of AI is well underway, and we’re fortunate to have the chance to participate in its groundbreaking transformation.

Read this article originally published in bizjournals.com