Generative AI In Marketing: Benefits and Strategies Explained

If you’re new to generative AI in marketing, or you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, then this blog post is for you.

Marketers always have lots of different tasks to juggle whether that’s creating new content, analysing data and analytics, or crafting campaigns to better connect with their audience, the job of a marketer is vast.

Generative AI can help with all of these things by using advanced machine learning algorithms which use vast amounts of data to produce human-like text, generate images, and even create videos.

Lots of companies recognise the importance and benefits of using generative AI to support their teams and increase the efficiency and quality of their output. But it’s not all about the tech – your team needs to understand how to use it to their advantage, striking the right balance between AI generated content and human-generated content.

In this blog, we’re going to be exploring the importance of AI alongside benefits and strategies you can use to leverage this tool for success.

What Is Generative AI?

Generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new content, imitating the complexity and variety of human-made data.

This technology is powered by advanced algorithms and deep learning models so that it can understand what humans want based on materials they provide and prompts.

Lots of companies are now using generative AI for a whole range of reasons, including automating content creation, improving creative processes, and personalising customer experiences without having to spend lots of time and human input.

For example, marketing teams can leverage AI tools like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to help create compelling ad copy or blog posts. Similarly, platforms like DALL-E and Midjourney enable marketers to quickly generate unique images and artwork, which can be used in branding, product design, or social media posts. In both scenarios, time-savings and therefore cost-savings, are huge benefits and driving forces behind why companies are using these tools.

By integrating generative AI, businesses can work faster, smarter, reduce costs, and deliver personalised experiences at scale.

What Are the Benefits of Generative AI in Marketing?

Generative AI brings lots of benefits from saving marketers time to helping them be more creative.

We’re exploring some of these benefits below along with some handy top tips to make sure you get the most out of these tools!

Content creation

Creating content can be a time consuming process. From brainstorming ideas, to creating engaging headlines, to writing compelling copy, it often requires a lot of human input. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as you want your content to be authentic and representative of your company.

However, wouldn’t it be great to have a helping hand? Especially on those days when you have lots of other tasks to juggle! This is where generative AI comes into play as it’s transformed content creation by automating tasks that used to require a large amount of time and resources.

A particular area where this has been beneficial is copywriting. AI-powered tools can generate content on a large scale, helping with blog posts, social media, and ad copy quickly and efficiently.

By entering some prompts and giving the tool an overview of what you want to create, it can analyse vast amounts of data, understand context, and produce cohesive and engaging text. Additionally, AI enables a high level of personalisation in content creation which is important for engaging your customers and making them feel valued.

By analysing individual preferences and behaviours,these tools can tailor content to meet the specific needs and interests of different audience segments. This not only improves the relevance of the content but also increases engagement and conversion rates, as readers are more likely to interact with content that resonates with them on a deeper level.

Top tip: When entering prompts into an AI tool, be as specific and as detailed as possible. The more information you can give AI, the better it can understand and learn the type of content you want to create. This also helps ensure the content it produces is authentic instead of generic, as this can be harmful from an SEO perspective.

Improved creativity

Creativity is one of the biggest factors in making your brand stand out as you need to differentiate your offering from others in the market. That said, we all get them days when we have a mental block, and the ideation process just feels a little more difficult!

This is why lots of companies are turning to AI as it’s become an invaluable tool for improving creativity, particularly in idea generation.

In brainstorming sessions, AI can suggest new concepts and unique approaches that you might not have considered by analysing trends and historical data. This helps content creators break free from their usual mode of thinking by exploring new, untapped possibilities.

Moreover, AI plays a key role in producing visual content, such as graphics and videos. Advanced algorithms can generate design layouts and even animate videos, all while adhering to specific brand guidelines or creative briefs that have been provided by you. This capability not only speeds up the creative process but also ensures a consistent and high-quality output.

It’s important to highlight that AI doesn’t remove the need for any human interaction as you still need to provide the creative brief. Similar to the point above about providing prompts for content, you still need to tell the AI tool what you want to achieve so that they can learn and build on this.

Efficiency and cost-effectiveness

Any tool or platform that can help you save on costs has to be a good thing! With generative AI, companies can enjoy big cost-savings as it makes tasks more streamlined and efficient.

By reducing the time required to create and manage content, these tools free up more time for businesses, allowing them to focus on strategic planning and other essential activities that are going to drive growth.

Automated tools help with numerous processes such as keyword research, SEO optimisation, and content scheduling, which traditionally consume considerable time and effort from your team.

Furthermore, AI tools help in budget optimisation by analysing previous sets of data to identify the most cost-effective strategies and resource allocations. This allows you to be more savvy with your spending by understanding which areas produce the most return on investment (ROI).

Essentially by automating routine tasks and providing valuable insights, AI helps businesses operate more efficiently and with less wastage.

Data-driven insights

Having access to data is key as this is what lets you make informed decisions about different campaigns and activities. Without seeing how things are performing, you’re making a lot of decisions based on guessing, so this insight is crucial for success.

With AI, it has the ability to analyse large sets of data and derive actionable insights. In turn, this allows you to understand and engage with your customers by identifying patterns of behaviour and how they interact with your brand.

Predictive analytics for example which is powered by AI, allows companies to forecast trends and predict customer behaviour, enabling more informed decision-making moving forward. This foresight is invaluable for planning marketing campaigns, product launches, and customer service strategies ensuring they’re focussed on the most important people: your customers.

Additionally, AI enables personalisation at scale, allowing businesses to deliver highly tailored experiences to vast audiences. By analysing data on customer preferences, purchase history, and online behaviour, AI can segment audiences and create personalised content which increases the likelihood of engagement.

Strategies for Implementing Generative AI in Marketing

Whilst generative AI is welcomed by the marketing community with lots of businesses using these tools to their advantage, there are some key considerations to take into account.

This ensures you’re using the tool ethically and fairly whilst still producing valuable, engaging content for your audience. Choosing the right tools is also key as you need to select the ones that are most useful for your business. Keep reading to find out more.

Choosing the right tools

The right AI tools are key for achieving your content and wider business goals as

Some popular tools include:

• GPT-4 – This was developed by OpenAI, and is renowned for being able to produce high-quality text, making it ideal for creating blog posts, social media campaigns, and more.
• Midjourney – This is ideal for creating visual content as it offers powerful capabilities to create unique images and art.
• DALL-E – Also developed by OpenAI, this AI tool excels in generating creative and detailed visual content from textual descriptions, perfect for illustrations and concept art.
• Canva’s AI Features – Assists in designing graphics and layouts for presentations, social media, and marketing materials, streamlining the creative process with professional-quality outputs.
• Google Smart Campaigns – This leverages machine learning to automate aspects of ad management, including targeting, bidding, and ad creation.

When choosing the right AI tools, it’s important to evaluate the specific needs of your project – whether you need text, visuals, or audio.

Once you have this identified, assess the ease of integration with your existing systems and workflows, the cost-effectiveness, and the level of support and customisation the tool offers.

Integrating AI into your workflow

Integrating AI into your workflow requires careful planning and strategic alignment with your content goals.
To get started, you need to incorporate AI capabilities into your content strategy and calendar which involves identifying areas where AI can improve efficiency.

This might include:

• Drafting content – Using AI to generate drafts for blog posts, articles, or social media updates, which you can then refine.
• Idea generation – Leveraging AI tools to brainstorm and suggest new topics, headlines, or creative ideas based on trending data and user interests.
• Creating visuals – Using AI to create graphics, images, or videos that align with your brand’s visual style and messaging.
• Automating manual tasks – Implementing AI to manage repetitive tasks such as scheduling blogs, managing ad campaigns, or responding to customer enquiries.
• Personalising content – Using AI to tailor content and recommendations based on individual user preferences and behaviours, improving engagement and relevance.

As we’ve noted earlier, it’s important to strike a balance between AI-generated content and human creativity. While AI can handle repetitive tasks, human intervention is key to ensure the content aligns with your brand voice and values otherwise it will come across as too generic and you could be penalised by Google.

As a result, creating a review process where a member of your team steps in to refine and approve AI-generated content leads to the best output.

Measuring success

Knowing if generative AI is working for your business is key to making more informed, strategic decisions. Perhaps the content you’re creating isn’t connecting as well with your target audience meaning you’ll need to refine it more to ensure it’s speaking the right message and using the right tone.

This information can be obtained by tracking key engagement metrics which differ depending what platform you’re using.

For example when it comes to your social posts, consider things such as likes, shares, and comments as these can provide insights into how well your content resonates with your audience via this channel.

Conversion rates and click-through rates are also important in terms of your website, as these allow you to understand the impact of your content on your marketing goals. Learning from these metrics is the priority as you need to be using these insights to create even better performing content in the future.

By regularly updating your content strategy based on the data, you can leverage AI for the most impact, ensuring that your content remains relevant and meaningful.

Ethical considerations

Whilst generative AI is a highly popular tool, there are ethical considerations that must be addressed to maintain trust and integrity.

That’s why it’s essential to regularly review and audit any content produced by AI to make sure you’re not publishing duplicate content that could be found somewhere else online. Whilst the tools are there to help increase the efficiency of content production, they shouldn’t be the sole means of your content production.

By completely removing any human input, you run the risk of publishing spammy content that other websites are also using, decreasing the likelihood of your content ranking in search engines. In turn, this decreases your online visibility and the likelihood of people clicking through to your website as Google algorithms prioritise unique and high-quality content.

Additionally, AI-generated content can lack the same level of authenticity that human-created content provides which is why it needs to be a combination of tech and human input.

Generative AI FAQs

What is the difference between OpenAI and generative AI?

OpenAI is a company that develops artificial intelligence technologies, such as GPT-4. In contrast, generative AI is a type of AI technology focused on creating new content, such as text, images, audio or music.

How is AI changing marketing?

AI helps with content creation, customer segmentation, and more personalised ad targeting. By delivering more relevant content and at a quicker pace, AI saves marketers time and resources. Additionally, it provides deeper insights into consumer behaviour and preferences leading to more informed decision-making.

Generative AI In Marketing: Benefits and Strategies Explained

There are numerous benefits to using generative AI in your marketing whether you need some help thinking of ideas, speeding up the pace of your content creation, or you want to understand your audience better.

These tools are certainly here to stay, as the marketing landscape continues to go more digital. But generative AI is not something that marketers need to fear, but rather embrace. As a standalone tool, generative AI is less effective as human input is still required to ensure your output is genuine and representative of your brand.

Therefore, knowing how to integrate these tools into your existing workflow and your team is essential to staying ahead in the industry. What’s more, due to the advantages these tools offer, they can improve the efficiency of your existing team allowing them to focus on more business critical tasks whilst trusting the tech to handle some routine tasks.

Aside from generative AI, the world of marketing continues to evolve and it can be a challenge to navigate. If you need help with any of your marketing, whether it’s content creation or SEO, get in touch with our team. We’ve worked with clients across various sectors helping them create strategic, impactful campaigns that generate results. Speak to us today to find out more.