Artificial intelligence in marketing

Will machines take over digital marketing?

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes possible what was unimaginable a few years ago: the computer knows what customers want - sometimes even before they know it themselves.

Will this make marketers' dreams come true or will they soon lose their jobs because the machine is taking over?

We want to show you how AI can become a huge opportunity for you as an advertiser and push your campaigns to the next level.

Does the name "Target" sound familiar to you? The American supermarket chain sent advertisements for baby products to a pregnant teenage girl, revealing her previously hidden pregnancy to her parents. How was that possible? The young girl had unknowingly bought various products in the discounter, which, according to statistics, indicate pregnancy.

Marketing measures that generate further purchase recommendations based on shopping behavior are not new and Amazon has been doing this for a long time. But it will not stop there, because self-learning machines are always working on predicting consumer behavior better and better

Hyper targeting fulfills the wishes of marketers and customers

For some marketers, data evaluation using artificial intelligence sounds like a dream come true: huge amounts of data are evaluated from multiple sources and channels in real time and the world of "Very Big Data" is becoming ever clearer. And most importantly, more predictable.

But it goes on. A self-learning master algorithm, which is composed of all functioning algorithms, should be continuously fed with data so that it programs and updates itself independently.

What does that mean for the future? Machines are getting smarter all the time, and the example of "Alpha Go" proves that they are now even defeating people in thinking.

AI will turn the marketing industry upside down and the following scenario will soon become reality: "Siri, please create a newsletter campaign for us for 20-28 year old vegetarians who are passionate about fitness. Can you do it in half an hour?”. So AI has long since arrived in digital marketing. The hyper targeting principle adapts advertisements to the individual user and the algorithm remembers how and in which phase of the customer journey they reach the consumer. With AI, user behavior can be reliably predicted and marketing campaigns can be automatically controlled, evaluated and optimized. Maybe products will soon be flying into our store that we haven't (yet) even ordered.

Chatbots in customer service, personalized Google results and analysis of social media data - artificial intelligence has long since been used to perform everyday routine tasks in marketing. And faster, more effectively and efficiently.

The future of digital marketing

All of these measures have long since become reality. But what else does the future of digital marketing bring?

Automatic real-time translation of advertisements
Face recognition of offline customers to respond to their preferences
Proactive customer service in the online sector
Content creation by algorithm
Development of new target groups through look-alike analyses
Automatic predictions for marketing performance
And much much more...

Do all these scenarios mean that marketing jobs will soon disappear from the face of the earth and that self-learning machines will take over the tasks?

Of course not, because AI systems are currently used for one thing in particular: the evaluation and processing of data. Machines help us to process this data in chord time and to analyze it in a meaningful way in order to recognize patterns - precisely at the points where the human brain reaches its limits due to sheer complexity.

The mass of data becomes controllable. But this is far from enough to replace jobs. Data scientists are needed to monitor AI applications. And creative minds who take care of the individual strategy and planning of campaigns. This is how strategic creative and interpretative tasks are still in the hands of humans – at least for the most part.

The example of Russian graphic designer Nikolay Ironov shows that AI is already capable of designing attractive logos. The designer is not a human, but a robot. Based on short briefings, he filters out textual keywords and designs graphic visualizations that almost always meet with approval. If we spin this scenario further, it can be extended to architecture, fashion and industry. Texts based on certain rules, such as press releases or sports results, have long been written by bots.

Nevertheless, we are still a long way from AI being able to act completely autonomously.

Marketing experts as a bridge between technology and reason

AI will help marketers simplify and accelerate the use of data to understand customer needs and derive revenue potential.

But the example of the artificially intelligent graphic designer also shows that in the future machines will not only take on routine work, but also creative tasks.

However, these technologies are still in their infancy and AI is still reaching its limits in some areas. Namely exactly where it comes to the development of ideas to create the basis for AI.

Design, programming, text - yes, machines will take over tasks for us, but they need our experience, our control and our supervision. Our solutions are still in demand and so we are sure that marketing experts can combine technical progress and human knowledge in the best possible way.

We are certain: the everyday life of marketers becomes more productive and exciting through strategic and creative tasks. Because human creativity and intuition are (still) unique.

So deal with the topic of AI as early as possible and always see it as a tool that brings you closer together with your customers, since you can now respond to their needs in the best possible way.

We wish you a lot of fun trying it out! If you reach your limits, we would like to give you a little help.