There are two factions when it comes to AI: Those who think the future is here, and those who don’t think the tech is ready yet. The truth, as is often the case, is somewhere in the middle.

Some tasks are still beyond current generative AI models, and they’re definitely not ready to take over any human’s job entirely. However, there are certain tasks and areas where they already excel and are more than ready to be integrated into your workflows. Digital marketing is one of these areas.

Current AI tools can provide game-changing access to new data and insights, transform workflows with smart and flexible automation, and add a level of personalization to campaigns that would be impossible even with an army of human agents. For digital marketers, AI is not the future; it’s the present, and your whole team should be using it right now.

The Proof That AI is the Present Day of Digital Marketing

According to the latest State of AI report from McKinsey, 78% of survey respondents said their companies and organizations use gen AI in at least one business function, and marketing is by far what most organizations are focusing on.

The reason for this is simple: the type of gen AI models we have access to right now and their level of advancement are just well-suited to digital marketing. Large language models are perfect for the communication side of marketing, and their context-based decision-making skills also help create useful automations. 

Over on the machine learning side of things, we have predictive algorithms that are excellent at forecasting user behavior and helping us gain insights from impossibly large data sets.

AI Capabilities Marketers Are Already Relying On

Here are some of the main ways marketers are using AI tools today.

• Large-scale data crunching and predictive analytics for segmentation

• Always-on personalization at the individual level (push notifications, email, etc.)

• Campaign automation and optimization loops (bidding, creative testing, etc.)

• Generative content creation (copy, images, and video)

• Chatbots, voice assistants, and zero-party data capture

These are just the new “standard” tools, but there are also newer innovations on the rise as well. One such trend is “synthetic influencers,” which essentially refers to influencer-style content with a digital persona generated by AI.

Personalized messaging is so huge within digital marketing, for example, that you likely experience it yourself every day. From promotional emails that arrive at just the right time and advertise just the right product, to push notifications that reference your past activities and personal preferences, hyper-personalization is already everywhere.

What to Consider When Integrating AI into Your Marketing Processes

Here are some things to keep in mind as you start including AI into your marketing workflows.

Choosing the Right Tools

Another bit of proof that AI is the present day of digital marketing is the sheer variety of AI tools available. Even setting up an AI chatbot for your website isn’t completely straightforward because you need to conduct comparisons of LLM models and chatbot providers to find out which (out of hundreds) best suits your needs.

Beyond that, there are also analytics engines, generative suites, automation hubs, and CDPs to choose from as well. And partnering with third-party providers isn’t even the only option. If you have a dedicated data science team and the desire to invest, you can also consider building in-house models.

Building the Right Culture

Tools are only the beginning, however. To really get value out of gen AI, your employees have to understand its value and be invested in its implementation. To get this right, you need comprehensive training and upskilling to make sure your workers are AI-literate and present a positive message about AI initiatives that focus on valuing the creativity, strategy, and logical decisions your employees contribute to the process.

Staying Compliant with Regulations

The law moves slowly, and many aspects of AI use are still unregulated. However, regulation will arrive over time, and while no one can predict the future, it’s still best to avoid particularly reckless or risky use of the technology.

When it comes to privacy laws, however, there are some pretty clear-cut rules. You need to make sure your AI systems and tools are GDPR and CCPA compliant, for example. If your tools are scraping data from European citizens illegally, for example, you will bear responsibility and likely end up paying EU fines.

The Basic Steps to Implementing AI

While AI marketing tools are all about speeding things up, it’s best to start slow when rolling out new systems.

1. Audit Your Existing Processes

All AI tools need data to work well, so you need to start by evaluating the data your company collects and determining how comprehensive and organized it is. You may need to invest in some clean-up or set up some new data collection channels to fill any gaps.

The areas with the most complete data sets are the best places to start. Understanding how AI-ready your current processes are and what level of tooling you need is best achieved through demos and consultations with the AI platforms you’re interested in using.

2. Start with One Quick-Win Use Case

Implementing AI requires a lot of support. You need executives, shareholders, and employees on board. The easiest way to make your case is to run a controlled and limited experiment on a single use case within your marketing campaigns.

This way, you can easily collect data and visualize the gains for your colleague to see. An easy example would be to set up an AI system to optimize the send times for your marketing emails. These models draw on user behavior and location data to send marketing emails at the exact time an individual is most likely to open them.

3. Measure and Communicate Early ROI

As you begin to roll out your AI initiatives, everyone will be interested in knowing how it’s going. To keep support up and encourage further investment, make sure you’re measuring early ROI and other metrics to share with your organization.

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t already joined the 78% of companies that are implementing AI into their business functions, the time is now. Current AI capabilities are perfect for enhancing digital marketing campaigns in both efficiency and quality, and you don’t want to be the only one not taking advantage of this tech.