Why AI in Marketing Works, Where Companies Fail, and a Framework to Succeed

Apr 30
3 min read

Artificial intelligence aids in digital marketing by automating execution, improving targeting by quickly crunching large data sets, and enabling real-time and ongoing optimization. But the real advantage comes from how marketers use AI, not the tools themselves.

AI improves marketing performance in 3 ways:

Faster decision-making through data analysis
Easy personalization across channels
Ongoing optimization based on live metrics

AI is becoming part of marketing.

How do I use AI in marketing?

AI can be used in digital marketing to quickly analyze large amounts of data, improve or generate ideas for content, and automate decision making in campaign performance. AI can collect data, analyze patterns in the data, execute (ads, content, segmentation, number crunching), then learn from the results.

The advantage to marketers comes from:

their knowledge to ask the right questions.
how effectively they apply what was learned from AI.

Where AI creates the most value

Personalization

AI enables marketers to tailor messaging to individual users based on behavior and their learned preferences, without intervention.

Forecasting

Instead of reacting to performance, AI forecasts outcomes and adjusts campaigns proactively based on historical trends.

Automation of repetitive work

AI reduces manual efforts across data analysis, reporting, content building, and audience segmentation. This allows the marketing team to focus on strategy instead of the tedious tasks.

The biggest mistake companies make with AI

Some companies treat AI as an eventual replacement for their marketing team. And they shouldn't.

When using machine learning to create your marketing, you will get:

More content but not better content. Everything looks alike and you sound like a computer. AI hasn't mastered the fine details just yet.
Faster execution but not a better end product. AI can't replicate a human's judgement, emotional intelligence, and bias.
Automation without strategy. You'll get content but will your customers relate (which is the whole point, right?)
Inaccuracies. AI is not perfect and always needs human oversight. BBC found that AI misrepresented news content 45% of the time. Yikes!

AI improves productivity, but not neccesarily quality, and strategy still matters more.

A practical framework for using AI in marketing

Phase 1: Automation

Using AI for time-consuming tasks like building reports, crunching numbers, and performing research.

Phase 2: Optimization

Give AI permission to improve campaigns, ads, or targeting through collected audience data.

Phase 3: Implementing

Allow AI to connect marketing channels and make strategic recommendations.

Phase 4: Business Guidance

Give AI access to all funtions to inform hollistic business decisions.

From our experience, most businesses are currently at Phase 1 or 2... even 0 and not using AI regularly at all. We'd be willing to bet that changes in the next year or two.

How to actually start using AI in your marketing

AI works best when paired with a human strategy and oversight. We think it's always best to start small and test:

Audience building
Paid media optimization
Lead scoring
Content tweaking for readablity and SEO.

FAQs

What is AI in digital marketing?

AI is the use of machine learning to automate, generate, optimize, and improve marketing. Read more about AI in digital marketing.

How is AI used in marketing?

AI can be used for personalization, analytics, content, and campaign optimization.

Is AI replacing marketers?

No. AI can improve efficiency and help guide a marketer in research but human strategy, tone of voice, and creativity remain essential to the success of a marketing.

The bottom line

Is AI helpful for marketers with oversight? Absolutely! Can it be harmful when used incorrectly? Also, yes. Can it take the jobs of human marketers? It definitely shouldn't. AI lacks the strategy, brand voice, and reasoning that is needed for successful marketing.