How to Use AI for Digital Marketing in 2023 [Entrepreneurs’ Guide]

We’re living in a love-hate saga with artificial intelligence (AI), aren’t we? 

On the one hand, they save us from repetitive tasks and make our lives easier. But they also threaten to snatch some jobs away. As someone offering content writing services, I could feel that. 

But let’s face it – AI is here and will continue to be in the future. So it’s time to change our standpoint and consider it a powerful ally. Instead of going against it, think of AI as a talented friend you have and learn how it can help your business! 

In this guide, I’ll show you how to AI for digital marketing. This is your chance to get started.

Understanding AI in the Digital Marketing Landscape

• 

Artificial intelligence might sound straight from a sci-fi movie, but its meaning is simpler than you think. 

Here’s how Britannica defined AI:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.”

You can imagine it as your computer having a brain of its own – able to learn and solve problems.  

In a nutshell, AI in digital marketing is like a super-powered assistant helping you execute and automate your marketing strategy. 

And here’s a fun fact – among all business areas, marketing benefits the most from AI. (Davenport, 2021) 

Marketing involves:

• Knowing your customers’ needs.
• Aligning them with what you offer.
• Convincing them to choose you.

Well, guess what? AI is a pro at all three! 

And 2021 data by Statista supports this claim. AI in the marketing landscape was already worth 15.84 billion U.S. dollars. And experts suggest this figure could soar to over 107.5 billion by 2028. (Dencheva, 2023) 

That’s a growth curve you want to be part of, right? 

Why Use AI for Your Digital Marketing Campaigns?

1 – Efficiency and Productivity

If set up correctly, AI marketing tools can help you streamline your campaigns by working 24/7, processing data quickly and accurately, and automating repetitive tasks.

Combine all these, and you get a more effective marketing strategy. That means you and your team can focus on what you do best. 

2 – Cost Saving

For entrepreneurs like you, the “Time is money” saying can’t be any more truer. Whether it’s time savings translating into money savings or direct cost reductions (i.e., hiring people), AI marketing tools allow you to keep more cash in your bank account.

3- Personalization at Scale

AI and machine learning can help gather information about your customers (Zia, 2023). It picks up clues from their browsing and buying history, demographic details, and even their interactions on social media. 

You can then use the analyzed data to create a customer experience tailored-fit to your target audience. Which, in turn, can increase engagement and conversion. 

4 – Better Decision Making

As you already know, AI can examine tons of data that would take us ages to get through. It can also spot patterns, trends, and insights that aren’t obvious. 

This allows us to do less guessing, develop informed action, and get better results. 

5 – Improved Customer Experience

AI helps you attend to customers’ queries and provide instant and relevant solutions through automation. Think of an AI chatbot and voice assistance. 

How to Use AI for Digital Marketing

Now that we know what artificial intelligence is in digital marketing and its advantages to entrepreneurs like you, it’s time to learn how and where it can be helpful in your process. 

Email Marketing 

Emails. We all get them, tons of them. That’s why the struggle is how your emails can stand out and be click-worthy.

With AI, you can analyze and gather data from your subscribers – what they click on, ignore, and enjoy. This can help you group your contacts based on their preference and tailor emails that resonate with them. 

You can also use artificial intelligence to create winning content in just a few clicks. 

One platform that can offer these AI email marketing tools is GetResponse. It’s an all-in-one marketing platform, but it really shines when it comes to email optimization. 

Customer Service 

Let’s move on to the heart of successful businesses. There are various ways to integrate AI with your customer support. But I’ll focus only on these two – chatbots and augmented messaging. 

Chatbots are like your 24/7 virtual assistants, always ready to help. You can create predefined workflows so they can answer FAQs, provide resources, help customers navigate your website, or assist with checkouts. 

On the other hand, augmented messaging identifies potential situations within the conversation where human intervention might be beneficial. For example, if your customer is upset or has a complex request that AI can’t do, someone from your team can take over and assist.

These two are great for starters. They lessen the handling of routine queries so your team can focus on complex issues. Plus, they offer instant response times, which customers absolutely love. 

For tools, check ChatBot or Brevo.  

SEO and Content Creation 

I combined these two because you’ll need them to secure the first spot on search results. 

Let’s start with search engine optimization. AI marketing tools like SEMrush can help you check your competitors, find the best keywords to include, and discover authority-boosting opportunities in a simple click. 

For content creation, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about ChatGPT and Jasper.ai. They are great AI-writing assistant tools on challenging days. But I want to emphasize the “assistant.”

Depending too much on AI can lead to an overflow of ‘spammy’ content (Vincent, 2023). So, it’s important to use these tools wisely. Let AI provide foundations like topic ideas and outlines. Then use your human touch to make the content engaging and relatable.

If you want to learn some hacks to publish the best-written materials without using AI, check out this writing masterclass I’m a part of.

Social Media

I bet you know how important social media marketing is for your business brand. But managing multiple platforms, publishing consistently, and keeping up with trends can be demanding. 

AI can help you with social media in so many ways.

For instance, DALL-E. This tool can assist in creating engaging visual content, whether realistic or painting-like. All you need is to describe what you’d like, and AI will give it to you. 

If you want to create good copy, find the best hashtags to use, and schedule posts more efficiently, AI can also help. Hootsuite is a great example of a social media platform that can provide these features. 

BuzzSumo is another great tool using artificial intelligence to explore the web and find the best influencers to collaborate with.  

Programmatic Ads 

This might be new to you, but programmatic ads are about buying and selling ads in a much smarter, automated way. 

The ‘programmatic’ part signifies how this process works – it’s based on algorithms and automated technology.

Compared to traditional digital advertising, it’s more efficient, precise, and highly adaptable. It helps you show your products to the right person at the right time, minus the stress. 

For a tool to help you get started with programmatic advertising, consider Google Ad Manager.

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is an intelligent move where businesses adjust prices based on demand.

And you know what? It’s catching on fast. According to Statista, 21% of North America and Europe businesses jumped on the dynamic pricing bandwagon in 2021. 15% more are planning to do so (Chevalier, 2023).

Let’s say you’re running an e-commerce store. With dynamic pricing, you can adjust the price of a product based on demand, competition, and even customer behavior. This means you’re consistently hitting the sweet spot between profit and customer satisfaction.

Dynamic pricing works best for businesses where the product value changes quickly, like travel, e-commerce, or event ticketing. But it’s not for everyone. If you’re selling hand-knit sweaters, for example, it won’t be ideal. 

Challenges and Ethical Considerations in Using AI

Now, don’t get me wrong. AI marketing tools are ground-breaking, but it’s not all roses and sunshine. There are things you have to remember and consider when using it. 

First up is data privacy. AI thrives on data, but be careful not to cross any lines. Only use tools that ensure your customer data is secure and used responsibly. 

Then there’s the bias issue. Remember, AI learns from data; if that data is biased, so are its decisions. It’s up to us to ensure fairness and inclusivity.

Conclusion

So what do you think about AI digital marketing? And which one of the above will you apply to your online business first? 

We can’t deny that AI is, in fact, changing the industry. From personalizing customer experience to streamlining operations, it boosts efficiency and effectiveness. 

But remember. In the end, you’re still the one running your business. So use AI as a supplement and not as your replacement.

If you need help choosing the best content for better engagement and conversion, you can check out this free e-book. 

Sources 

Copeland, B. J. (2023, July 25). Artificial Intelligence. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence

Davenport, T., Guha, A., & Grewal, D. (2021, August 30). How to design an AI marketing strategy. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/07/how-to-design-an-ai-marketing-strategy

Dencheva, V. (2023, January 6). Global AI in marketing revenue 2028. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293758/ai-marketing-revenue-worldwide/

Zia, Dr. T. (2023, July 6). AI-powered personalization: How machine learning is transforming customer experience. Techopedia. https://www.techopedia.com/ai-powered-personalization-how-machine-learning-is-transforming-customer-experience

Vincent, J. (2023, May 2). Ai is being used to generate whole spam sites. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/2/23707788/ai-spam-content-farm-misinformation-reports-newsguard

Chevalier, S. (2023, March 15). E-commerce companies adopting dynamic pricing 2021. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1174557/dynamic-pricing-ecommerce-companies-worldwide/