Artificial intelligence – also known as AI – is no longer the stuff of sci-fi fantasies. With 15% of enterprises using AI in 2018 and as of 2019 31% said it will be part of business plans, it’s clear that the rise of technology in the workplace is unlikely to slow any time soon. AI is already shaking up sales teams and influencing customer decisions, but how might it influence how the marketing function operates? Find out how AI is redefining the modern marketing campaign.

 Audience behaviour

One of the elements of AI that marketers will find the most useful is its ability to pinpoint audience preferences, past purchasing behaviour and overall trends. Marketing has grown increasingly sophisticated with the rise of technology in recent years, and AI is set to heighten this even more. Combined with machine learning, AI can synthesize enormous pools of data and identify patterns much more quickly – and accurately – than the human mind can. As 2020 sees the first time the majority of the global population will be connected to the internet, there’s a big opportunity for marketers to harness AI in tracking audience behaviour, creating individualised paths for every consumer and knowing more than ever about their target market. To marketers, this level of detail is incredibly helpful.

Content and messaging

Once AI has helped to determine exactly who an audience is and how they behave, it can then be used to create super-personalised messaging tailored to those behaviours. We know that a customer-centric approach is vital for successful marketing campaigns, and indeed overall business strategies, and personalisation is key to this as customers become more fickle and there’s more choice than ever when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Mass-marketing on social media platforms will die out as increasingly targeted strategies are made possible through AI. As companies identify consumer preferences and journeys, they can then align this with microcontent that can be targeted by location, region, behaviour, interests and channels. The result is a unique, personalised content strategy that treats every customer as an individual.

Editorial calendars

As campaigns become more personalised thanks to the identification of new audience traits, marketers will find traditional editorial content calendars becoming less effective. More tailored content and micro-campaigns for different audience clusters would mean multiple editorial calendars, which would become time-consuming and arduous for marketers to manage. Instead, AI will help to organise audiences into similar categories, from which marketers will analyse engagement rates and responses to content, before moving to a marketing landscape where calendars may be altogether obsolete. Expect to see AI and machine learning helping to create more intelligent marketing strategies that are tailored towards unique audience groups, rather than the traditional one-size-fits-all editorial calendar.

Increased creativity

While there has been some uncertainty in the business world over whether AI and machine learning will threaten jobs, it’s widely agreed that the clever use of AI will only enhance the human labour in a workplace, not compete with it. In the marketing world, artificial intelligence will replace tasks, not jobs. One of the most obvious ways that AI is redefining the modern marketing campaign is its ability to take on menial, repetitive tasks that would take humans long periods of time to complete accurately. Data analysis is a key area where AI can shine, with its ability to crunch extraordinarily large data pools quickly and with precision. This frees up human marketers to take on more strategic and creative tasks, as well as focus on achieving marketing KPIs.

Accurate measurements of better results

Using analytics to determine ROI is one of the key skills marketers need into the future, and AI will make this easier than ever. AI is only going to get smarter, which means more powerful technology will be involved in running marketing campaigns and analysing the results at every step of the way. Combined with human team members who have more free time to think creatively and focus on the big picture, the results of using AI to drive engagement and ROI could be incredibly significant. Marketers can rely on AI to optimise engagement metrics and tweak campaigns as new learnings are discovered, allowing them to take a more holistic approach to the overall marketing function.

Is your marketing team looking to the future?

AI is redefining the modern marketing campaign, and businesses need to take note in order to remain competitive.

A strong, forward-thinking marketing team must find ways to work with AI and emerging technologies, not against them. To do this, you need to hire marketers who are prepared to think creatively and adapt to new challenges and opportunities. At BMS Performance, we can help you find the perfect candidates to help future-proof your marketing function and keep driving business success. Find out how we can help you hire the best marketers today.