The Ultimate Guide to Using AI in Digital Marketing [Strategies & Examples]

Seems like everywhere we turn, the hot topic is AI in digital marketing. And for good reason – AI marketing tools are leading the way for big developments in our industry and beyond.

Let’s talk about the latest developments, specific tools that will make your life easier, and how you can reap the benefits of AI in digital marketing.

What You’ll Learn

• What is AI in Digital Marketing?
• 10 Strategies to Incorporate AI into Your Digital Marketing
• Examples of AI in Digital Marketing
• FAQs About AI in Digital Marketing

What is AI in Digital Marketing?

AI in digital marketing is the use of technology to improve content creation, campaign analysis, and consumer engagement. It’s an industry-changing revolution.

It’s not just changing the digital marketing industry either.

Almost all industries are being touched by the changes AI is making. In fact, the AI market is expected to grow at an annual rate of 15.8% a year, reaching $305.9 billion by the end of 2024.

Pros and Cons of AI in Digital Marketing

Embracing technology to improve your skills is a smart idea for any digital marketer but keep in mind that there are pros and cons to every new development.

Some pros of AI in marketing include:

• Enhanced Efficiency – AI tools can better automate previously tedious tasks like email marketing segmentation and offering ideas for content creation and strategy.
• Improved ROI and Analytics – AI tools can collect and analyze data faster than any human. With this wealth of information, digital marketers can make better-informed decisions on where they focus their spending and how to target their campaigns.
• Improved Personalization – Leaning into that data, AI marketing tools also make it easier for digital marketers to understand their audiences. With this information, marketers can create more customized campaigns that encourage engagement from their consumers.

On the flip side, there are also cons to embracing AI in digital marketing. Some of those cons include:

• Privacy Concerns – Some experts have voiced concerns about the increased use of AI, citing concerns over data collection, consent, and violation of consumer privacy.
• Loss of the Human Touch – AI is great but only a human can truly understand the nuances behind other humans. Empathy is what sparks engagement and AI hasn’t mastered that skill, yet.
• Inaccurate Information – Since AI pulls its information from the internet at large, the information isn’t always reliable for content creation. It could also be outdated, depending on where the information is coming from.

AI Can’t Replace Humans

Pay attention to the second con on the list.

AI tools for marketing are great at a lot of things but replicating human emotions, empathy, and nuance are not some of them. AI can certainly enhance human creativity but it will not replace it completely.

10 Strategies to Incorporate AI into Your Digital Marketing

In order to reap the benefits of AI in marketing, you have to know how to incorporate it into your strategies. Here are ten ways that digital marketers are finding success with AI.

1. Content Creation

While AI can’t replace writers entirely, it’s already revolutionizing the world of content creation.

From whipping up snappy marketing copy to curating the perfect idea for a blog post, AI is saving marketers time and resources, all while keeping audiences captivated.

It is important to remember, however, that if you’re using AI for content creation, you need to fact-check any copy created before publishing. We recommend relying on AI to generate headline ideas, build outlines, or generate new topics, never to write an entire article or blog post.

Some tools to use for content creation include:

SEMRush’s AI Writing Assistant

This AI tool claims to help you create high-quality content, generate new ideas, and save time on your creative strategy. After a free 7-day trial, users can access SEMRush’s AI Writing Assistant for $25 a month.

Jasper.ai

Jasper offers a variety of AI tools for marketing, one of which is content creation. You can write in specific brand voices, tie campaigns together, and more. 

After a 7-day free trial, creators can use this tool for $49 a month with no contracts. You can also upgrade to the Jasper Pro account for more options at a cost of $69 a month. Additional discounts are offered for enterprise use and yearly subscription payments.

2. Image Creation

AI can also enhance your digital marketing strategy with high-quality image creation. Using the prompts you provide, these tools can produce images and illustrations to help with marketing campaigns and design tasks.

DreamStudio

DreamStudio can generate or edit photographs, art, or illustrations. They are also working on the ability to add, replace, or change different elements within an image. 

Within the dashboard, you can keep track of everything you’ve created, try new models, explore style presets, and more.

DreamStudio offers a free trial. After your trial is up, you can buy credits to continue using the platform. One hundred credits will run you about $1.18.

Adobe Firefly

A member of the popular Adobe family, Firefly creates images through text prompts. If you plan on using AI to create a lot of marketing images, you should look into Firefly. All of their images are copyright-free and safe to use for commercial purposes.

Every user gets 25 credits to use each month for free. Plans start at $4.99 a month for additional credits. You can also purchase the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for $59.99 a month which includes FireFly and 20+ other Adobe apps.

3. Customer Segmentation

Ever wish you had a magical sorting hat that could instantly group your customers into different segments?

AI-powered segmentation tools can automatically categorize customers based on their behaviors, demographics, and interests, allowing you to create tailored campaigns that resonate with each segment.

Optimizely

Optimizely is an AI marketing tool that can help improve your customer segmentation. As one of its many products, the segmentation tool allows you to create multiple categories to really nail down your customer personalization.

Due to its robust capabilities, Optimizely is a bit on the expensive side, with plans ranging between $36,000 and over $200,000 a year.

Lytics

Lytics bills itself as the “first privacy-centric CDP solution,” meaning that you can take advantage of its customer data collection abilities without worrying about compromising your customer’s privacy.

Offering a wide range of plans, its low-level “Developer” plan is free. If you want to increase your plan, your next option is the “Growth” plan at $500 a month.

4. Customer Personalization

Generic email and SMS blasts may be gone soon, thanks to the rise of hyper-personalization. AI enables marketers to deliver tailor-made content that caters to individual preferences and behaviors beyond human capability.

Consumers love personalization too. 80% of consumers say they’re more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences.

SmartWriter

SmartWriter is a B2B AI marketing tool must-have. It helps you create personalized emails automatically. It automates hours of research, making it easier than ever to add a personal touch to your professional outreach.

After a 7-day free trial, their basic plan starts at $59 a month, with discounts if you pay a yearly rate.

Dynamic Yield

Dynamic Yield, developed by MasterCard, helps you personalize everything from your users’ web experience to email marketing and paid media. It also integrates with a variety of other tools such as SalesForce, MailChimp, and Facebook, so it’s sure to fit in with any marketer’s tech stack.

5. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) may seem like a dark art to some, but AI makes it that much easier.

Turning to AI marketing tools to help with your SEO strategy just makes sense. These tools can help streamline your keyword research and analyze your audiences’ behavior to help you better craft website content that they want to see. 

Frase

AI-enabled services like Frase will analyze vast amounts of data to help you identify the most relevant keywords, topics, and user intents for your audience. Then, you can craft your content around these suggestions. 

This will put you miles ahead of competitors just winging it. We live in a data-powered world, and AI’s ability to comb through millions of data points and make connections no human can make is nothing short of a paradigm shift.

Frase is the perfect solution for bloggers, content creators, and digital marketers. After a free trial, monthly subscriptions start at $15 per month, with discounts for annual payments.

Keyword Insights

If you want to generate keyword ideas or need help optimizing existing content, try Keyword Insights. It can also help you create content briefs, outlines, and suggest SEO workflows.

Used primarily by content marketers, SEO managers, and freelancers, this AI tool offers a 4-day $1 trial. After that, the basic subscription starts at $58 a month, with professional and premium memberships carrying a heftier price tag. You can also pay annually or buy credits to use as you go.

6. Pay-Per-Click Campaigns

Imagine an all-knowing, all-seeing AI that could craft the perfect ad campaign, ensuring your message reaches the right audience at the right time.

No, this isn’t a figment of a futuristic sci-fi novel—it’s the reality of AI-driven programmatic advertising. AI optimizes ad targeting, bidding, and placement in real-time, revolutionizing the way businesses target their audiences.

Pay-per-click, or PPC, campaigns are one area of digital marketing where AI really shines. Its ability to assist with ad bidding and placement is truly unrivaled.

The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk is a platform that focuses on ad targeting, ensuring that businesses can zero in on their ideal customers with laser-like precision.

Through AI algorithms, businesses can identify the most relevant audience segments for each ad campaign, improving engagement, conversions, and return on investment (ROI).

For pricing on The Trade Desk, you have to contact them for a demonstration and customized quote.

Google Ads Smart Bidding

For help with optimizing bids contextually for each auction, turn to Google Ads Smart Bidding platform. Using real-time data, AI-driven programmatic advertising platforms can dynamically adjust ad bids and placements to maximize performance. As a result, businesses can secure the most valuable ad placements without lifting a finger.

Probably the best part about Smart Bidding is that it’s completely free and digital marketers can chat with a Google Ads expert at no additional cost.

7. Email Marketing

Email marketing may be an age-old staple in the digital marketer’s toolkit, but AI is breathing new life into this tried-and-true channel.

Imagine AI’s an orchestra of the perfect email campaign—including all the “instruments” you need for crafting captivating subject lines, fine-tuning content, and choosing the perfect send times and frequency to maximize engagement and conversions.

Because that’s exactly what it is. You’re the composer leveraging AI to bring together a harmonious symphony (in this case, an epic email). 

When it comes to email, some of the benefits of AI in digital marketing include triggered workflows, a/b testing, dynamic content, and more.

Phrasee

Crafting the perfect subject line is both an art and a science, and AI is here to help you strike the right chord. AI-powered tools like Phrasee can analyze your audience’s preferences and generate subject lines guaranteed to make your emails stand out in a crowded inbox. 

Phrasee doesn’t advertise its pricing online. You can schedule an appointment with their sales department to receive a custom quote but just be aware, it can be pricey.

Zeta Messaging

Using natural language generation and advanced algorithms, AI tools like Zeta Global can create personalized email content tailored to each recipient’s preferences and behaviors.

The result? Emails that resonate with your audience and drive engagement and conversions like never before.

According to G2, Zeta can cost between $150,000 and $300,000 per year. You can set up a demonstration with the Zeta sales team to receive a customized quote.

Iterable

Determining the optimal send time and frequency for your emails can feel like finding a needle in a haystack. But AI can change all that.

AI-driven email marketing platforms like Iterable can analyze your audience’s engagement patterns to identify the ideal send times and frequency, ensuring your emails hit the sweet spot every time.

Iterable is another platform that is hush-hush on their pricing but you can schedule a demonstration to learn more about the platform and receive a customized quote. According to Capterra, the platform generally runs about $500 per month.

HubSpot

Another option for an email marketing tool that embraces AI in digital marketing is HubSpot. This platform will help you capture leads, organize and analyze data on your audience, and capitalize on your visitors.

A more affordable option, HubSpot offers some tools for free. Others can be accessed through a subscription that starts at $15 per month.

8. Customer Service and Support

In a world of 24/7 access, it’s important that your customer service and support be up and running at times convenient to your consumers.

That’s where AI comes in. Instead of overworking your team by keeping them online around the clock, embrace AI solutions to respond to questions, follow up with inquiries, and provide support for frequent problems.

Help Scout

The AI tool, Help Scout, offers customer support and a shared inbox. According to their website, 92% of their users reported increased loyalty due to their focus on customer support.

Help Scout offers a free trial so you can see if you like it. After that, their standard subscription is $25 per user per month, with additional discounts for annual contracts.

Freshdesk

Another option for AI-powered customer support is Freshdesk, a member of the Freshworks family. Through this platform, you can provide intuitive support through bots, email support, and ticketing.

Freshdesk offers some tools for free for up to 10 different customer support agents. After that, their next package, which includes 24×5 phone support, starts at $18 per month.

9. Chatbots

Chatbots are no longer glorified Q&A machines that can barely manage a response more creative than “Hello, how may I help you?”

ChatGPT has transformed the public perception of virtual assistants. Rather than begrudgingly interacting with a bland chatbot barely rivaling a fax machine in creativity, consumers are eager to leverage the unparalleled personalization that only AI in digital marketing can provide.

AI chatbots are now digital conversationalists rather than emotionless automata. They can engage customers in meaningful, context-rich conversations that feel almost human.

You can find the exact chatbot pricing by using the best chatbot cost calculator.

10. Social Media Support

In addition to customized scheduling, AI is revolutionizing other areas of social media marketing. Artificial intelligence can track brand mentions, analyze sentiment behind conversations, and alert businesses to respond to customer feedback, all without breaking a sweat.

With billions of social media users worldwide, it’s an enormous task for businesses to keep tabs on every mention or conversation about their brand. Why not let AI help you?

SproutSocial

Just like the screenshot says, SproutSocial is a powerful solution for social media management. It can manage your social media, perform social listening tasks, personalize your customer support, assist with sales through social media, and more.

SproutSocial offers a 30-day free trial. After that, their standard package will cost you $199 a month.

Brand24

When it comes to AI-powered social listening and online reputation management, Brand24 is the tool for you! It can help you measure your brand awareness, analyze your competitors’ digital presence, uncover customer insights, protect your reputation, and more.

After a free 14-day trial, the platform’s monthly subscriptions range from $99 a month to $499. If you pay the annual fee, you can get up to 2 months for free.

Examples of AI in Digital Marketing

Now that you know some of the most popular AI tools in digital marketing, let’s talk about examples.

Sephora Chatbots

Popular makeup and haircare retailer, Sephora, has found success using chatbots through Facebook to help clients make reservations for services in their store, as well as find makeup shades that match their needs.

 

Starbucks Voice-Powered Orders

There are many ways that you can order your coffee at Starbucks, including through Google Assistant and the Amazon Alexa platform. Just say “Hey Google, order a…” or “Alexa. Order my Starbucks.” and you can set up a to-go order in no time!

Netflix’s User Content Suggestions

If Netflix has one goal, it’s to keep you watching! That’s why they have worked hard to improve its Recommendations system. Using AI-powered tools, this system will collect data on a user’s viewing habits and choices. Using that data, it will then automatically populate similar suggestions for that user to watch.

Spotify’s AI Playlists

Spotify, the music streaming service, recently announced its new addition – AI playlists. Through prompts and customer data, listeners can have AI build playlist suggestions for them when they aren’t sure what to listen to next.

 

FAQs About AI in Digital Marketing

1. What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence, or AI,  is the practice of using computers and machine learning to solve problems or improve human life in one way or another. AI has been making its way into almost every industry, including digital marketing.

2. How is AI changing marketing?

AI is revolutionizing the way digital marketers approach their craft in more ways than one. Whether it’s by helping find the perfect keywords to improve your SEO strategy, collecting and analyzing user data to help customize your advertising campaigns, or assisting in content creation, AI is making waves in the digital marketing industry.

Perfect Your AI Marketing Strategy With Ignite Visibility

Whether you’re looking to improve your email marketing open rates, reach more people through paid media, or create content your audience wants to consume, Ignite Visibility has you covered.

Hundreds of brands across the country have tapped into our expertise and benefited from our ability to stay up-to-date on all of the latest and greatest changes in the industry, including when it comes to AI in digital marketing.

Ignite Visibility can help you:

• Expand your social media presence
• Build your email marketing list
• Improve your SEO strategy
• And more!

Are you ready to embrace AI in digital marketing? Reach out to our team today!