A Beginner’s Guide To AI in Marketing: Everything You Need To Know

“Artificial intelligence is not a substitute for human intelligence; it is a tool to amplify human creativity and ingenuity.” – Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

Most people who are not well versed in Artificial Intelligence see it as a potential threat to human jobs, but this statement from Fei-Fei Li does not advocate for the replacement. Instead, it highlights the collaborative potential of humans and AI.

When we talk about AI in marketing terms, it means AI can enhance the work of marketers by providing insights and automating tasks, allowing for more creativity and personalized customer engagement.

Simply put, this duo of human creativity and AI’s capabilities offers marketers a powerful tool to innovate, improve their strategies, and build genuine connections.

But there’s more to AI marketing than just the strategies and the tools.

Discover how you can use AI to scale up your marketing game, its pros and cons, and popular examples.

What is AI Marketing?

AI marketing or artificial intelligence marketing refers to using AI models to improve marketing strategies and campaigns.

Generative AI can analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns, predict consumer behavior, personalize content, optimize ad placements, and automate email marketing and customer service tasks.

By leveraging AI, marketers can make data-driven decisions, improve customer experience, and ultimately increase ROI.

How is Artificial Intelligence Used In Marketing – The Use Cases

Imagine you’re browsing your favorite online store for a new pair of sneakers. Suddenly, you start seeing personalized recommendations for sneakers that exactly match your style and previous purchases.

This isn’t magic; it’s AI marketing at work. By analyzing your past behavior, preferences, and even the time you spend on certain pages, the store’s AI system can predict what you might like next, making your shopping experience both seamless and enjoyable.

It’s like having a personal shopper who knows you well, but it’s actually sophisticated algorithms crunching data to serve you better.

According to a report from McKinsey, 14% of business leaders regularly use generative AI in their marketing and sales activities. Also, 88% of marketers believe they must use automation and AI to meet their customers’ expectations and stay competitive.

AI has already started the transformation journey and has left its mark in marketing.

But how exactly are marketers using AI?

Let’s take a closer look at some of the applications of AI in marketing:

1. Data Analytics

Data analytics is the most promising use case of AI in marketing. Marketing is a data-driven activity, and AI makes it easy to analyze large sets of data to identify trends, behaviors, and patterns to make informed decisions.

AI can predict the outcome of marketing campaigns through historical data like consumer engagement metrics, purchase history, email open rates, on-page time, and more.

This can help you better strategize your marketing campaigns and develop assets.

2. Ad Spend Optimization

When it comes to Ad spend optimization, AI can help you find waste in your budgets in real-time and optimize your ad spending. Imagine if you could increase the efficiency of your Facebook or Google Ads by 10, 20, or 30%. Wouldn’t it be great?

AI can be a financial advisor, meticulously analyzing which ads are performing and why. By understanding the ROI of each campaign, AI can reallocate your budget to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) and achieve marking goals more efficiently.