Social media plays a significant role in today’s marketing landscape. And with 73% of marketers admitting social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business, this tool isn’t showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
One component that has had a considerable impact on making social media marketing as transformational as it is today is Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is a disruptive technology that has made its way into nearly every aspect of business operations and continues to advance the way marketing processes are managed. AI has the power to analyze different trends and perform data analytics far more efficiently than humans can, thereby helping marketers delineate their target audiences for more effective marketing tactics.
The Impact of AI on Social Media Marketing
AI has become a significant component of modern-day social media platforms, unlocking new benefits and features that vastly improve users’ digital experiences. With the ability to analyze unlimited social media posts, determining hashtags, patterns, and trending topics in real-time, the use of AI on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can create curated content for each user. Companies like Amazon and Google have used this form of marketing for years, allowing them to create curated advertisements and email campaigns that help to convert new business.
Another impressive impact of AI on social media is the rise of digital influencers. These digital personalities are gaining traction and have a following of their own. With greater insight into what an audience wants and how they react to different content and marketing tactics, marketers can quickly determine what consumers prefer and adapt their approach. This development has led to new marketing automation that auto-generates social media content across various channels more effectively.
The Use Of Prescriptive Analytics In Business Today
Over the years, the continuous development of AI and machine learning technologies has completely changed the way analytics are used. With the rise of prescriptive analytics, companies now have access to information that provides deep insights into how they can optimize processes, services, and marketing campaigns. Affecting a company’s marketing, pricing, and selling strategies, prescriptive analytics draws from AI and machine learning to guide consumers with minimal human interaction.
Prescriptive analytics also measure purchasing trends and preferences from customers, giving salespeople the information they need to know exactly what they should offer to a customer, how it should be presented, and at what cost. This leads to better sales efficiency, reductions in transaction costs, and better productivity of the organization as a whole. Companies like Netflix, however, use prescriptive analytics specifically to keep their customers satisfied and willing to maintain their subscriptions. They do this by building predictive models based on preferred movie genres, time spent watching programs, and rating preferences.
How AI is Aiding Digital Transformation
For modern-day businesses, the move toward a complete digital transformation has become more than just an option but a necessity for many industries. Described as the integration of digital technology into all aspects of the business, digital transformation strategies change the way organizations build and deliver value to their customers long-term. AI technology, along with its supporting components, has proven to be an invaluable tool in assisting with this effort.
When used together, artificial intelligence and digital transformation can help organizations scale their operations while providing valuable data insights. Using dynamic analytics, businesses can complete their processes faster, and with higher levels of accuracy, unlock opportunities for new business growth and better sustainability.
Ethical Considerations For Using Ai In Marketing
While there is no questioning the amount of efficiency to marketing processes that AI can deliver, there are certainly ethical considerations that come into view when deciding on an appropriate deployment of AI technology. Perhaps the biggest concern about using AI in marketing is how desensitized consumers have become to willingly providing more information than they should to private companies. Facebook, for example, has come under severe scrutiny in the past few years for making too much of its users’ information accessible when serving ads from third parties and allowing public access to unsecured social media accounts. Whether it be from open privacy settings on social media profiles, or blindly accepting privacy statements on new websites they visiting, many businesses now have unlimited access to their consumers’ lives.
It’s become no secret to many people that the ads served online are highly personalized and targeted specifically to the user. This has given rise to the notion that users don’t have any privacy at all when using online services or merely browsing the internet. As AI technology continues to develop in years to come, organizations will need to maintain a cautious approach to how and when they deploy potentially invasive tactics when reaching their audience.
AI-driven technology continues to shape how modern businesses reach their audience. With digital transformations and key marketing insights playing such a major role in the growth and sustainability of organizations, AI will continue to be a catalyst for better automation and efficiency to help make this possible.
