State of generative AI and its impact on effective marketing

Authored by Moneka Khurana, Country Head, MMA.

As marketers, we are constantly challenged to thrive within an evolving environment. An important subject gaining momentum and sparking much debate today is Generative AI. As Gen AI tools grow in prominence - we see great speculation around its use and impact. Decision-making is often driven by myths and perceptions that then influence the adoption and after that the effectiveness that can be derived from the use of new-age technology.

Hence, to understand and engage in myth-busting, we collaborated with industry experts and thought leaders globally to conduct a groundbreaking study on generative AI’s impact on marketing. Our initial findings after collaboration with industry experts revealed that one out of five organizations have a solid business case for AI. The research also highlighted a gap in AI risk awareness and preparedness - where nearly half of the marketers surveyed were found to be not fully aware of the risks of AI.

Let’s understand some of these myths and their impact on the effectiveness of marketing.

• Generative AI Will Take Your Job and Kill Your Family: Contrary to popular belief, generative AI is not here to replace marketers, but to empower them.
• Generative AI Will Bring the Biggest Disruption in History: While generative AI has the potential to be disruptive, it may not be the largest disruption in history.
• We Are Already Too Late with Generative AI: Many marketers worry about their pace of adoption when it comes to generative AI.
• Everything Is Changing So Fast, So We Don’t Know Where to Focus: The marketing landscape is indeed evolving rapidly, but there are specific areas where generative AI is expected to have the most significant impact. Content production, customer support, and creative optimisation are identified as key use cases for generative AI.
• Generative AI Will Bring a Ton of Insourcing: Marketers recognise the importance of collaboration and the expertise that external partners bring to the table. It’s not about insourcing everything, but finding the right balance between internal capabilities and external support.

The state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in marketing has been transformative. As we delve deeper into the digital age, Gen AI has become an indispensable tool for businesses. Hence, crucial for us to also understand the application of Generative AI in marketing.

Personalisation

Personalisation is crucial to building a connection with your consumer and is one of the cornerstones of successful marketing campaigns. Gen AI assists in creating personalised content, subject lines, creative advertisements, e-mailers, and more. Studying the use of AI personalisation - and based on a series of studies, has learned that AI personalisation increases conversion by more than 50%, while also neutralising the negative impact of signal loss from cookie deprecation.

Through AI Personalisation, marketers can not only deploy a greater variety of more customized messages, but ensure that these messages are served to the right audiences, and ultimately improve lift and sales.

Content & Creative

Generative AI, particularly language models like GPT-3 have re-defined content creation in marketing. Marketers can leverage these models to generate a wide range of textual content, including blog posts, articles, social media updates, and product descriptions. This streamlines the content production processes, saves time, and ensures content quality. AI-driven content optimisation further enhances SEO and readability by offering suggestions for improvements in existing content.

Reports suggest, 5% of marketers use Generative AI to write entire pieces of content for them. About one-third (35%) lean on generative AI to get ideas or inspiration, another third use it to get an outline down, and 25% use it to write a few paragraphs that they then expand on.

CX and Customer Support

Businesses can create personalised, context-aware communication. Chatbots powered with virtual assistants can offer instant and round-the-clock support, addressing customer inquiries and issues. Also, AI-driven product recommendations based on individual preferences can enhance customer experience by making it convenient and enjoyable.

Market Research & Data Analysis

In the realm of market research, generative AI plays a crucial role in analysing vast datasets to derive insights. These insights are invaluable for understanding customer behaviour, identifying trends, and making data-driven marketing decisions. AI can create reports and summaries from complex data, making it more accessible and actionable.

Recommendations

Generative AI plays a pivotal role in recommendations by analysing vast datasets to offer highly personalised suggestions. These recommendations apply to various domains, from product and content suggestions in e-commerce and entertainment to travel and restaurant recommendations. AI ensures that recommendations evolve, enhancing customer satisfaction, increasing engagement, and driving conversion rates.

A/B Testing

Generative AI aids in streamlining A/B testing processes by suggesting variables to test and interpreting the results. It can provide insights into which combinations are most effective, helping marketers optimise campaigns and user experiences for maximum impact.

Adopting Gen AI for Maximum Impact in Marketing

The State of Generative AI study zooms in on the global landscape. It states that a significant 75% of companies anticipate a major upheaval due to GenAI - with many sensing this transformation already underway and gaining momentum. In addition, the majority prefer treading cautiously while aiming to capitalise on industry insights as ‘fast followers’ - and this stance is underscored by the fact that two-thirds of companies are still exploring, while many grapple with concerns of potentially lagging.

In addition, 62% of business leaders say their company has already invested in AI and automation tools for their employees to leverage. From these, 71% report positive ROI, and 72% say AI and automation make their employees more productive. We also see marketers reporting the tech to be effective, with 54% claiming to be ‘very effective,’ as per a HubSpot study.

In conclusion, it’s crucial for us as modern marketers to optimise marketing activities by providing insights into customer behaviour, and preferences, and identifying trends and patterns while automating certain processes. Studying the impact of Gen AI is an ongoing process, one which requires a sufficient amount of training and resources to ensure that AI is being used effectively. The impact of Gen AI specifically is visible and its impact continues to be studied over time - harnessing its potential is key to staying competitive and achieving sustainable marketing success.