Fernando Beltran is the Founder and CEO of Identika, an Inc. 5000 and Davey Award winner creative agency.
getty
Artificial intelligence has reshaped many aspects of our business, personal and social worlds—you probably interact with AI daily and may not even realize it. As AI tools and solutions become less sci-fi and more business as usual, leaders are realizing how their companies can take full advantage of the true power behind their capabilities. Organizations across sectors are looking closely at and investing in technology to see where it can be used for a competitive edge. According to Grand View Research, the global AI market was valued at $93.5 billion in 2021, and it’s expected to keep climbing at a compound annual growth rate of 38.1% from 2022 to 2030.
In the corporate world, AI tech impacts how companies work and communicate with consumers for improved buyer experiences. More than ever, business goals are driven by the customer’s wants and needs. Thanks to digital innovations, they are no longer confined to the shelves of brick-and-mortar buildings. This makes new technology adoption imperative for companies as consumers look for brands to deliver top-notch modern experiences. For businesses that want a more nuanced, comprehensive understanding of their target audiences, AI technology is becoming a must-have for constructing optimized marketing strategies and campaigns.
AI technologies within marketing campaigns help speed up the decision-making process through automation based on data collection, analysis and additional observations. Current audience or economic trends can impact AI’s decision for marketing efforts, consistently keeping your brand at the pulse of consumer preferences and expectations. AI is often used in digital marketing efforts where speed is essential.
Businesses that cannot keep up with emerging technologies and integrate them into their processes will eventually be replaced by those that can. To scale up and boost campaign effectiveness, agencies need the right AI tools in their marketing arsenals.
Making The Most Of AI Tech
AI has the potential to elevate every society to unseen heights when leveraged correctly. Accenture Research and Frontier Economics’ model on the impact of AI in 12 developed countries revealed that AI tools can increase labor productivity by 40%, possibly doubling annual economic growth rates by 2035. AI can be an asset to businesses in areas like risk reduction, increased speed, greater customer satisfaction, increased revenue and much more.
Be sure to learn about new AI technologies and disruptors in other industries to help you continue to grow and better serve your clients. AI technology gives agencies the tools to cut through the noise of crowded markets to engage with customers on a personal level. It can analyze and be trained on large quantities of data and make recommendations about what marketing content will resonate the best with customers on different platforms and in different market segments.
AI also can complete basic tasks that help you free up time to focus on more strategic and difficult work. At my agency, using AI tools has expanded the boundaries of our creativity so we can connect with our clients on a deeper level.
Getting Started With AI
AI is not magic; it’s the evolution of technology. Understanding what AI is and how far it has come is the first step to embracing the technology. Encourage your staff to experiment with AI tools widely available in the market and join AI-related communities that can speed up their understanding of the technology. GPT-3-based tools as well as text-to-image generators are great starting points. Before your agency commits to using this technology on paid campaigns, test the waters by writing blog posts and social media content that uses AI tech.
Learn how to fight past the uncertainties of AI tech and instead use it as a supporting tool to learn from and leverage for leveled-up marketing efforts. We use AI text-to-image generators to help us develop compelling creative that we can use to market to minorities more effectively. With AI, we can generate a vast array of photos and illustrations representing people from multiple ethnicities. We can control and fine-tune the output to closely match the target demographics (age, different skin shades, nationalities, etc.). Stock media sites have yet to catch up to this flexibility.
One of the biggest pitfalls of exploring AI is trying too much too soon. While it’s important to act swiftly to stay up to date, you also need to prioritize the kinds of AI tech that will most help your business. What problem would you like AI to help you solve? Find the AI that fits your solution, and test it out. If you try to reinvent your entire company with top-of-the-line AI overnight, your employees will likely be confused, your budget will be toast, and you will be overwhelmed with new projects to manage and tech training to accomplish. While AI text-to-image generators are great for us, another company may benefit from first trying out a copywriting AI tech or AI that optimizes SEO on their company blog.
AI is beginning to impact other areas of marketing and advertising as well, including analyzing influencers and audiences and brainstorming new campaign ideas and content topics.
There’s no denying that AI is the technology of the future. With AI technologies improving all the time, the performance gap between companies with AI and those without is only going to get bigger. AI is already a part of our daily lives. If we stop resisting it and embrace it for the supportive technology it can be, there’s no doubt that we’ll be more productive and efficient than ever before.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
