Artificial Intelligence has seen incredible growth since the beginning of 2016.

The achievements of AI over the past year are impressive, from autonomous driving to the AlphaGo victory over Lee Sedol the world champion, these are just a few examples.

Google’s DeepMind AI is now able to read lips better than professionals and has mastered the notoriously difficult video game Montezuma’s Revenge. It learned how to play the game in the same way as humans – by trial and error. IBM’s AI platform Watson doesn’t search for keywords and matches like a search engine. Natural language processing allows it to read, analyze, and interpret texts as if it were a human.

It can access as much as 80% of all of the information available today. This makes it smarter than anyone on Earth. Tesla’s AI power is hidden in its innovative self-driving cars. These cars now have eight cameras for 360-degree visibility. Artificial Intelligence has been a part of our daily lives for many years. But what does it mean for businesses? How will it affect the job marketer?

Artificial intelligence is a topic that has excited people for a long time. While some believe that artificial intelligence will revolutionize digital marketing, others aren’t sure. AI is here to stay, and its influence is growing. While smart machines will not run the world and take over, it is obvious that AI has made rapid advances in marketing and human interaction.

These statistics show how significant AI will be shortly.

* By 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be automated ( Gartner). 

* $1.5 Billion was invested in AI by May 2016, CB Intelligences  

* 1 196 AI startups were listed in Crunchbase ( Crunchbase ). This online listing includes all the venture capital-funded startups around the globe ( Crunchbase ). 

* 16% of American jobs are expected to be replaced by AI before the end of this decade ( Forrester).

Artificial Intelligence is being adopted by many businesses around the world.

What should marketers consider when considering artificial intelligence and its impact on digital marketing?

Personalized content will be even more personal

Marketers have unlimited data access. Recent developments in artificial intelligence will allow them to make the most of this data to provide a highly personalized experience for customers. Machine learning will prevail over human analysis so marketers can better understand customers’ needs and connect with them on a deeper level.

Marketers will need to use AI and machine learning more to make sense of the data and engage customers. Customers are demanding a personalized experience. This will lead to new levels of personalized marketing. Brands can tailor interactions to meet the needs and wants of their audience. All promotional content will be relevant to users throughout the online experience.

IBM Watson can be used by AI travel companies such as WayBlazer to apply cognitive analytics to social media data to determine what a destination looks like and who it appeals to. This creates an experience that is centered around the customer. WayBlazer uses Watson technology to provide highly personalized travel recommendations. This includes local insights and points of interest for customers.

Under Armor is one of the most well-known brands in athletic wear. This brand uses IBM’s AI technology for personalized training, recovery, and nutrition recommendations. Watson will analyze users’ activity, sleep, and food, and share it with UA Record, Under Armor’s core fitness and health app. The insights will allow users to be compared with others.

Advertisements will be targeted at the audience’s needs, which will increase user engagement. Brands that implement machine learning and content personalization correctly will see an increase in revenue and conversion rates. The ads shown to users will be relevant to them. This means that the firms can potentially get a higher ROI by showing fewer ads to the right audience. This will not only improve the user experience but also increase user engagement.

2017 will be the year for chatbots, and virtual assistants, and it will be a great year!

In 2016, chatbots, and virtual assistants, saw phenomenal growth. Facebook attracted many developers and brands to its platform to build bots for almost anything. An example of this is the KLM Messenger chatbot. This allowed passengers to request directions to the closest clothes shop, ATM, or restaurant by sending an emoji.

Both bots and virtual assistants generate lots of excitement due to their sci-fi natures and human-like interactions. Gartner predicts that marketers will spend more than $250 million on conversational technology by 2017 than they did in 2016. Room-based, screenless devices like the Amazon Echo, will also be available in more than 10 million homes.

Consumers will be less likely to spend time browsing websites and apps and instead will start asking questions and conversing with bots. Mobile apps are becoming too expensive for many brands due to the need for regular updates and maintenance.

According to Adobe Research app downloads have dropped by 38% in the U.S. since 2014, and by 5% in France, Germany, and the U.K. Chatbots, which are becoming more popular, are another option. Websites and apps will not be replaced by bots. Bots can answer people’s questions in a much shorter time, improving customer service.

While AI will not replace humans, it will simplify their lives in a significant way.

Although it is hard to argue that AI will transform marketing, it doesn’t mean that marketers won’t be needed in the future. Marketers use big data to discover insights, analyze market trends, and create content that promotes brand awareness.

Some of these tasks will be automated in a few years. AI’s ability to adapt in real-time to changing environments will make it easier for marketers to adjust campaigns to follow new trends. Human involvement in campaign execution will also be reduced. AI’s best feature is its ability to adapt to changing environments and anticipate future changes. This is one of its greatest strengths.

Marketers will establish guidelines for AI, and ensure that every interaction is consistent with the brand’s vision and context. AI will track emerging trends and optimize campaigns in real-time. Marketing teams can concentrate on more subjective aspects of campaigns, while AI does the harder tasks.

Marketers will be involved with all creative tasks that require understanding customers and determining the overall goal. AI will perform all repetitive, time-consuming, and logic-driven tasks. This allows marketers to be more creative, and to focus their efforts on more delicate matters such as generating new ideas to improve their marketing campaigns and overall business results.

AI Problems

AI in marketing can be confusing. Demandbase’s survey found that while 80% of marketing executives believe AI will revolutionize marketing by 2020, only 26% of them are confident in their knowledge of AI and only 10% of them are using it. Many marketers fear losing control. Many marketers are concerned about integrating AI into existing systems and working procedures within their companies. They also worry that employees may find it difficult to adjust to these changes.

Boxever also found that there is a disconnect between consumers’ and marketers’ perceptions of digital transformation and innovation. Although marketers may believe that consumers are ready to embrace AI, reality shows that they seem to be quite misinformed about developments in this area. 

Marketers have the opportunity to attend conferences and hear from experts who help them to understand the true value AI has in marketing. Unfortunately, this is not the case for consumers. This is why AI is so far elusive.

Marketers believe that 79% of consumers are ready to embrace AI. However, almost 45% of consumers don’t think AI will improve their brand experience and nearly 50% are not excited about AI innovations, particularly chatbots.

Final thoughts

Modern marketers must accept that the digital world is changing, and that AI could impact consumer decisions. AI is already present and is becoming more integrated into our daily lives.

AI-enabled businesses will be able to differentiate their most valuable users and provide them with more personalized treatment. Because I already know everything about the online behavior of consumers, marketers will be able to recognize users’ needs and desires in real-time. This will enable them to deliver a highly personalized experience for customers that is more personal and will improve customer service.

Artificial Intelligence is one of many current trends that are changing digital, along with Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. As digital agencies, we have been thinking and talking a lot about the changing landscape of digital marketing.

We’re all excited about the possibilities that AI will bring to digital.