The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Marketing

Written by: Robert Farrell.  
Robert is a lecturer in the Business Faculty at Griffith College. He specialises in Digital Marketing and Digital Transformation.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the marketing industry. AI can automate marketing tasks, personalise customer experiences, and provide valuable insights into customer behaviour. AI's impact on marketing is far-reaching and growing. With AI's potential to transform the marketing landscape, marketers must evaluate whether AI is the right fit for their business.

We look at the positives and negatives that the inclusion of AI can have on marketing.  

The positive impact of AI on Marketing: 

The impact of AI on marketing is still emerging, as new tools and practices emerge but it can be seen as transformative. One of the key areas where AI can have a significant impact is customer segmentation and targeting. With the help of AI, marketers can analyze customer data and behaviour, segment their target audience, and personalize their marketing efforts. This can lead to better engagement, higher conversion rates, and increased customer loyalty. 

 
AI can also be used to automate marketing tasks, such as email campaigns, social media management, and content creation. By automating these tasks, marketers can save time, reduce costs, and focus on higher-value activities. Additionally, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide personalized customer service and support, improving customer satisfaction and saving productivity time. 
 
According to Wharton University, AI has several Positive Impacts on business and marketing including: 

• Customer service & reduced inbound queries via chatbots. 

• Better product recommendations on websites. 

• Segment audiences and create targeted campaigns. 

• Sentiment analysis to assess customer satisfaction. 

• Fraud detection. 

• Boosting efficiency through process automation. 

• Improving the speed or consistency of service. 

The negative impact of AI on Marketing: 

According to HubSpot, AI can assist your marketing strategy. However, there are drawbacks and limitations to the productivity of AI in marketing, including: 

• Machines cannot replace human connection:  
  Chatbots are a generic form of AI used in marketing but currently, they have limited responses and may not have the data necessary to answer every customer's question. 

• AI predictions and analyses can sometimes be wrong:  
  Even when Ai is fed the right volume and quality of data, it can still struggle with reliable sentiment analysis and other tasks. 

• They require huge sets of the right data and human intervention:  
  For the best results, AI needs lots of high-quality data that has been correctly processed and some human intervention to develop and organise this information. 

• AI lacks human creativity:  
  AI displays its own creativity particularly generative AI such as midJourney and ChatGPT. While this can be powerful, it has its limitations. 

Conclusion:  

The impact of AI on marketing is transformative, with the potential to revolutionise how marketers work. By effectively leveraging AI technology, marketers can improve campaign performance, and customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.  
 
There are many tools out there that marketers should familiarise themselves with. These tools may be beneficial to their organisation and improve productivity. Here are several that are leading the way in AI integration in marketing: 
 

• ChatGPT: Copywriting and mixed uses 

• MidJourney: Image creation 

• Surfer SEO: SEO content writing 

• Writer.com: Content writing 

• Zapier: Automation 

• Chatfuel: Chatbots 

• Jasper AI: Copywriting 

 
Understanding the commercial applications of the technology for your business is critical. This may require those working in marketing to hit the books and study up on AI. Digital marketing requires less of an AI strategy but focuses more on how AI can design and generate your strategy.  
 
AI's impact on marketing is far-reaching and growing. This blog has looked at the aspects of how AI may have the potential to transform the marketing landscape. Marketers must evaluate whether AI is the right fit for their business and how, through its integration, it can improve the growth and productivity of their business and brand.