The marketing world has been significantly transformed by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). With AI's ability to streamline processes, enhance personalisation, and boost content quality, savvy marketers are leveraging its power to stay ahead of the curve.
I use AI every day for various content marketing activities and I save at least double the time if not more thanks to Gen AI these days and especially ChatGPT that I am a huge fan of not just for content creation but also for research, ideas generation and advice.
I recently came across a research by HubSpot called the "AI Trends for Marketers" and wanted to share its key learnings. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of how AI is reshaping marketing strategies and operations as well gives practical tips to help marketers leverage AI effectively.
Key AI Trends for Marketers
1. AI's Role in Content Creation and Scaling
AI is revolutionising content creation by generating high volumes of content quickly, providing a robust starting point for marketers to refine and personalise. This capability is crucial for scaling marketing efforts without a proportional increase in resources.
In fact, 83% of marketers report that AI helps them create significantly more content than they could without it.
In practical terms, AI assists in creating content outlines, generating initial drafts, and making minor edits, saving an average of three hours per piece of content.
2. Personalisation and Localisation
Personalising and localising content are time-consuming tasks that AI can streamline. By tailoring content to specific audiences or regions, AI ensures that messages resonate more effectively.
For example, AI adjusts spelling variations (e.g., American English to British English), updates local currencies, and incorporates regional cultural references.3. Enhancing SEO and Keyword Research
SEO planning and keyword research are repetitive tasks that AI can automate, making the process more efficient and freeing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity.
82% of marketers say generative AI has already impacted the way they plan to create content, and 69% say it's important to their overall content strategy.
Many marketers are learning prompt engineering to ask AI the right questions, starting with small queries, and always fact-check AI-generated SEO data, to bigger prompts like entire strategies.
4. Improving Content Quality
AI tools not only aid in creating content but also enhance its quality. By providing a draft that marketers can refine, AI ensures that the final output is polished and effective.
63% of marketers using generative AI for content creation say it performs better than content created without AI, and 89% say it improves the quality of their content.5 Practical Tips of Using AI in Marketing
1. Balancing AI and Human Creativity
While AI is powerful, it cannot replace human creativity and judgment. The best results come from a collaboration where AI handles repetitive tasks and humans add creativity and strategic insights.
- Tip: Use AI for tasks like content generation, SEO, and data analysis, but rely on human skills for creativity, originality, and critical thinking.
2. Effective Use of AI in SEO
AI can significantly streamline SEO tasks, but it's essential to use it correctly. Start small, ask specific questions, and always verify the data AI provides.
- Tip: Use AI to automate keyword research, internal link building, and SERP comparisons. This not only saves time but also improves SEO strategy effectiveness.
3. Overcoming AI Bias and Inaccuracies
AI tools can sometimes produce biased or inaccurate information. It's crucial to be aware of these limitations and take steps to mitigate them.
- Tip: Fact-check all AI-generated information and ensure your AI tools are trained on diverse datasets to minimize bias.
4. Repurposing Content
AI can help repurpose long-form content into various formats suitable for different channels. This ensures broader distribution and maximizes the impact of your content.
- Tip: Use AI to summarise reports into key points, create social media posts, and generate promotional emails tailored for different platforms.
5. Editing AI-Generated Content
While AI can produce content, it often requires human editing to ensure quality and alignment with brand voice.
- Tip: Focus on adding richness and depth to AI-generated content by infusing it with your brand's personality, using anecdotes, colloquial expressions, and data to enhance its value.
6. Exploring AI Tools
As the marketing landscape evolves, integrating the best AI tools is essential for staying competitive. AI tools offer functionalities like advanced analytics, content creation, and real-time customer engagement. By leveraging these tools, you can streamline processes, gain deeper insights, and enhance personalisation. Embracing AI tools can elevate your marketing strategies, making them a crucial asset for any modern marketer.
Without a doubt, AI is reshaping the marketing landscape by enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in content creation, personalisation, SEO, and data analysis, saving marketers and business people a ton of time.
By balancing AI with human creativity, fact-checking outputs, and mitigating biases, marketers can harness AI to elevate their strategies and achieve much better and much faster results. I don't think we can doubt this anymore and so if you are not using AI for your marketing efforts, you really are missing out.
How do you use AI in your marketing activities?
