Brand marketers face several challenges heading into 2023, including strained resources, the end of third-party cookies, and the need to secure improved campaign performance in a competitive environment. Set against this backdrop, there is a growing interest in adopting approaches to marketing that are less dependent or not at all dependent on cookies. Constrained budgets mean brands need to secure higher ROI in customer acquisition. Artificial Intelligence can be used to craft strategies that beget high-ROI campaigns that are more automated, better targeted, and more impactful. This article explores three trends for AI in marketing that are set to take center stage in 2023:
1. Generative AI
Generative AI gives marketers the ability to pico-target audiences with tailored campaign creative based on each customer cohort’s unique profile. Generative AI uses words as the basis to generate imagery and text, and research suggests it’s set to grow at 20% CAGR until 2027. The marketing generated by this AI is designed to be cohort-specific and self-evolving meaning that it adapts its approach based on the feedback it receives. The AI uses creative feedback and reinforcement models to improve with every action. Generative AI can gain an understanding of what creative assets resonate most with a given cohort based on brand and industry data to produce persona-based recommendations. This means that the AI becomes more effective as time goes on and can ingest the data of the most engaging campaigns to create similar copy and imagery.
Examples of this include generating highly photorealistic product shoots from simple text prompts and creating 3D backdrops for static campaigns. There has also been significant progress in generative AI for video, which is expected to become more widely used in the coming years.
One of the many advantages of generative AI is its ability to reduce the strain on internal resources for businesses. AI has the potential both to transform the marketing industry and what it means to be a marketer today. The results of anything produced by a Generative AI system is only as good as the prompt that is fed to it by the brand team; be it writer or designer. The more specific and descriptive the parameters of the prompt, the closer the out is bound to be to what the writer or designers wants. In essence, it is the professional’s who can truly being out the best in the technology.
2. Targeting beyond cookies
With cookies set to be phased out by 2024, companies need to find alternative means of reaching web users with the degree of accuracy and effectiveness that can match the cookie. In 2023, brands will be focussed on experimenting with new approaches, fine-tuning ones that work, and sharpening their ability to build campaigns using AI. AI can be used to maintain campaign performance and brands can use the data they have accumulated already to train AI to detect patterns and trends. Some brands are turning to first-party data as an alternative to cookies. While this can yield useful results, used on its own, first-party data cannot make up for the 30% decline in advertising effectiveness. There are now no-code AI systems available that work by drawing on large amounts of campaign data to determine what kind of content performs best with an individual or cohort. It can then automatically generate creative assets that the target audience will respond to based on this information. Such systems have the advantage of allowing for cross-platform targeting and optimizing performance without walled gardens obstructing a brand’s view.
3. Decision-making
AI enables more thought-out, intelligent, and accurate decision-making for marketers. The capacity for AI to ingest trillions of data points, identify patterns, and show them to marketers will transform how marketing decisions are made. Marketers are going to become more aware of how spending can be saved, reallocated, and leveraged to return the best results are the lowest costs. Due to the potential it has to boost innovation and productivity, enhance strategy, and improve marketing decision-making, brands are under pressure to deploy AI so that they can remain competitive in a fast-changing industry.
More broadly, decision-making, in general, is likely to be changed thanks to AI in the coming year and is already being deployed in sectors such as defence and business management.
In sum, Artificial Intelligence not only offers marketers the chance to automate their campaigns but also continuously monitors and autonomously takes the most logical decisions leading to high ROIs.These trends will grow in popularity as brands continue to adapt their strategies to meet the unique challenges created by this major shift in the business landscape. For targeting that doesn’t compromise on accuracy, creativity, or impact, the use of AI is the clear way forward.
