Artificial intelligence (AI) impacts numerous aspects of life, from smart devices helping out in homes, self-driving cars, to the way we consume information. With the ability to analyze data and learn from it, AI is revolutionizing our world. Many industries have a high demand for AI capabilities including the medical field, banking and of course: marketing. With the help of very effective data analysis, combined with an ability to adapt to input, AI can identify marketing trends. Organizations, brands and political parties can now leverage AI to save time and resources through automated digital marketing services.
Using statistical techniques, machine learning algorithms can easily identify patterns in data. By analyzing online behavior of users which includes their news and retail consumption patterns, relationships and social media patterns, it is possible to create unique psychographic and behavioral user profiles. This makes targeted advertising campaigns possible that can be sent to each user based on their individual psychology. The more interaction data is available, the better. It is all about sending the right information to the right person at the right time. This goal has been here for a long time and with the right data to be processed, it became reality.
FIVE MAIN BENEFITS OF AI IN DIGITAL MARKETING
1) MORE EFFECTIVENESS
AI helps businesses remove the guesswork to create a more effective marketing strategy with data-driven analysis. Live dashboards and journey analysis indicate what works best and how users react to certain events.
2) BETTER USER EXPERIENCE
AI makes it possible to provide any audience with the right content. This applies not only to websites, but also to newsletters and social media.
3) HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY
Automation of repetitive tasks becomes possible, saving time and money. Simultaneously, new resources are freeing up. Employees, who used to be occupied with those tasks, can now focus on even more important ones.
4) UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE
With AI, data can be analyzed to predict behaviors and decision of any target user. The outcome can be used for more tests that will deliver new insights and live results.
5) BETTER DECISIONS
AI empowers decision-making and helps to create better-performing content. It is now also possible to let AI do the creation work as long as some basic information and graphics are provided. Often, the website content might already be enough for AI to make some well and often high-performing ad creatives.
AI IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
When working in the political campaigning field, the first topic in a discussion about AI will often be the possible misuse of it. By knowing the profiles of the users/voters, AI can of course also be used to send personalized, political messages that are insincere and fake. Content that highlights a different side of an argument can be sent to potential voters and every voter gets a different version that is in line with their expectations. That helps the candidate in developing a general opinion that is in his or her favor.
In the 2016 US presidential elections, it was found that automated social media bots were used to increase the Twitter traffic for pro-Trump hashtags.
They had roughly double the activity of his rival, Hillary Clinton. On Facebook, Cambridge Analytica provided audience data that made super micro targeted campaigns possible and it was found that the way they had gathered data was against the policy.
That did not benefit Facebook’s general image – naturally, they had to do something about it. Suddenly, targeting for political campaigns and other social issues was reduced significantly by the big players.
But when checking whether audiences and targeting settings are acceptable and in line with policy, it is again AI that is coming in. In the 2020 US presidential elections, it was also used to mark posts with a fact-checking warning.
Another misuse of AI and machine learning is the development of so called “deepfakes”. It concerns audio or video content generated by AI that shows someone saying or doing something that was never said or done in reality. These kind of videos appear extremely authentic and can be used as a way of influencing people. Ironically, it might need AI again to detect this kind of content.
THE FUTURE OF AI IN DIGITAL MARKETING & CAMPAIGNING
Artificial intelligence is an incredible technology that can work wonders for any organization. Using AI digital marketing strategies will help deliver improved customer experience and market more effectively. AI digital marketing also changes the way we build websites and interact with customers.
But what must public and political organizations do to be able to use both the audience and creation part in a good way?
Everything comes down to collecting your own data, own AI and machine learning solutions and get in more direct content with your users. It is still possible to gain first-party data with campaigns on the big networks. Exactly that data should be used to create a perfect database to work with.
The demand of GDPR-compliant community-building services with an AI-based, smart marketing automation functionality are very high at the moment and I would recommend all kinds of organizations to find a way to build a so-called “client data platform”. With increasing restrictions on third party data, it is an absolute obligation to have your first party data in perfect condition. It will help organizations not only reach their users more efficiently, but also give them valuable information they might not have expected.