How AI Can Be Used in Marketing + Its Strengths and Weaknesses
Everyone’s talking about AI, so naturally, we had to check it out.
It seems like no matter where you turn, everyone’s talking about AI right now. Is it efficient, is it creepy, will it take all our jobs one day? We don’t know exactly what the future holds, but we’ve been cautiously optimistic and dipping our toes in the waters to find out. We’ve even enlisted AI tools like ChatGPT to help us with writing this blog! (Not this part though, can’t you tell this is a human?!) So that we’re all on the same page before we dive in, let’s answer…
What Exactly is AI?
AI (Artificial Intelligence), refers to machines or software able to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving. It can be helpful in writing blog posts and marketing content, generating code, analyzing data, and creating customized imagery and videos - and these are just a fraction of the ways it can be used.
So do these AI integrations live up to the hype? Here are some of the strengths and weaknesses we’ve found while putting a few popular AI tools to the test:
How AI Can be Used in Marketing + Its Strengths & Limitations
1. Written Projects & Content Creation
Strengths: Provides a solid starting point for content ideas
Weaknesses: Sounds generic and lacks human creativity and personality
AI can create content, such as blogs or articles, based on keywords and user data. This can save time in researching a subject and may help generate a few talking points you hadn’t considered. It’s a great starting point for content creation, but lacks the creative edge that humans possess, so it can sound bland if it's not edited with a human touch.
You also run the risk of becoming too dependent on AI-generated content. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of complacency, but often users CAN tell when content has been written solely by AI and you will get called on it, similar to what happened with Buzzfeed recently, in this article by Futurism.
2. Image Generation
Strengths: Quick generation of simple images/video
Weaknesses: Strange errors and lack of personality
AI-powered image generators can use keywords and visual specifications (such as colors, sizing, descriptions, etc.) to quickly generate custom images or video assets. Image generators can be super helpful for creating simple images, such as flowers and inanimate objects, but we’ve found it to be trickier to use for more complicated designs. Similar to writing projects, these assets lack the creative intuition that human designers have, sometimes leading to uninspired visuals, and strange errors (like a hand with 6 fingers, YIKES).
For example, here are a few images we’ve generated using AI:
Prompts:
Create an image of a…
A. Red bicycle outside of a restaurant
B. Woman wearing eyeglasses
C. Man drinking a glass of water
D. Drawing of a purple unicorn flying through a field of pink flowers
The Results:
Image generated by Canva’s Text to Image AI tool
Whew… let’s get into it. As you can see, image A, the bicycle picture looks great! The only minor detail would be fixing the small sign hanging over the door, but you could do that fairly easily. Image B, the woman in glasses looks heavily photoshopped and fake (as she is), but also not too bad. Where the train really comes off the tracks is image C, the man with the 6 fingers holding what appears to be tea and not water (or at least hopefully not!) AI tends to struggle with images of real people, especially on hands and faces. Lastly, we got more specific with the description in image D and requested a drawing of a purple unicorn flying through a field of pink flowers. We think it turned out pretty good, even if it is a bit of a Lisa Frank knockoff. (80’s & 90’s kids let’s goooo)
3. Chatbots
Strengths: Can automate broad customer questions
Weaknesses: Lacks nuance and can leave a brand vulnerable on a public form
AI-powered chatbots can engage with customers on social media, answering questions and providing customer service. This can be helpful for quick questions, or routing a customer to the right page or department for their inquiries. While there are some highly evolved chatbots out there, we’ve personally found in our industry, nothing beats human engagement. Bots can lack the nuance to understand sarcasm, or take human phrases too literally. They can leave you particularly vulnerable in a public customer service situation where a customer is upset and needs the delicate care of a live person with empathy and understanding.
4. Analytics & Data
Strengths: Can analyze large amounts of data and help automate marketing processes
Weaknesses: Could pose a concern for privacy and data security
AI can analyze vast amounts of data, helping identify patterns in consumer behavior and using them to make predictions about future trends, which can help marketers optimize their social media strategies. Some software can pull customer feedback and reviews to understand sentiment and identify themes, which can help businesses improve products and services.
Sentiment tracking and reporting is a semi-automated service we’ve been providing for our clients for a few years now, but we still use human review to ensure its accuracy. (You can find our Case Study that provides more context on how we’ve helped clients make informed decisions based on sentiment tracking here.)
While this capability is useful for marketers, the obvious concern of using AI for data analysis centers around privacy and data security. If data is not properly secured, it can be vulnerable to theft, leading to data breaches and the exposure of sensitive information, cyberattacks, fraud, and identity theft. There are also concerns that it can infringe on individuals' privacy and lead to surveillance and tracking. There’s a certain calculated risk we take by utilizing AI tools, both personally and professionally, which should always be kept in mind.
Finally, here are a few factors to consider:
(Once you’ve had a chance to test out AI tools for yourself!)
Does it create quality content that my audience is genuinely interested in?
Once content has been edited and personalized by a human, does it save time overall?
Does it create vulnerabilities for my company, and if so, what are they?
Does it create complacency?
How can it be used most efficiently?
Our Conclusion: We’re Cautiously Optimistic
As of now, we think marketers’ and content creators’ jobs are safe. This blog was about 80% written by me (a human 👋) and 20% written by ChatGPT ( 🤖). The information AI provided sounded too impersonal when generated, but it was still helpful in providing some of the facts and talking points.
We're excited about what the future holds and the possibilities AI will bring, but we’re stepping into this cautiously, and trying to figure out how to use it efficiently without becoming too dependent or losing our creative touch.
If you’re curious about what tools we’ve been experimenting with, check out Part 2 of this blog where we detail each tool we’ve put to the test and our unbiased opinion of each.
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How are you feeling about the emergence of AI platforms and what it means for the future? Is it cool or creepy, or both? Will you be using it? Let us know in the comments.