When we think about using artificial intelligence for marketing activities, we quickly come to the question of what AI (artificial intelligence) can already do on its own and what humans are still needed for. Or to put it another way, will all marketing assistants lose their jobs as soon as their boss uses AI-driven tools and helpers for marketing?
First of all, I can reassure all marketing employees: If we look at where artificial intelligence is already being used in marketing today and what is actually possible with the latest tools, we quickly realize that humans cannot be completely replaced any time soon.
When analyzing the tools used, we can distinguish between two types:
1. artificial intelligence to support the marketing team
AI-supported tools offer us opportunities for measures that would not even be possible without artificial intelligence. These types of tools can therefore not be seen as “competition” to people, but rather as a complement to human employees. They help us to do our work even better and to adapt our marketing more precisely and efficiently to the respective target group.
One example is evergage. With evergage, you can find out in real time when a user is about to leave the website. In addition, the tool finds out what the user is interested in and can offer them suitable content to prevent them from leaving the website. It would be far too cumbersome for individual marketing managers to find this out from every website visitor in real time and to react appropriately. The AI-controlled tool therefore enables completely new marketing measures.
But on reflection, it quickly becomes clear that evergage would not work at all without the support of people. Employees are always needed to set up, test and check the tool. When setting up the tool, important rules are first defined that determine when the tool should perform which action. This can mean, for example, that a website visitor who is interested in cars from a defined price range on a car manufacturer’s website is shown a special condition for installment payments shortly before leaving the website.
2. artificial intelligence tools that replace humans
In the second type of AI-based tools, AI is used to perform individual tasks that would otherwise be carried out by humans using an algorithm or intelligent software. In other words, individual tasks that originally required marketing assistants are now performed by artificial intelligence, leaving humans to deal with more important tasks.
This can be seen, for example, in the SocialzierHub tool. The tool uses an algorithm to help increase reach and the number of followers in social media. The right content is automatically published on the right platform at the right time so that the defined target group reads it at the right moment and ideally interacts with the content. Until now, posts still had to be designed and triggered by people, but now this can be done by intelligent software.
Although, as in the example above, the software must be operated by a human, the measures performed by this software can also be carried out by marketing assistants in the traditional way.
Another example is AI-based chatbots, so-called intelligent assistants. The fields of application for chatbots in business are very broad. In the field of marketing, bots often take on the task of lead generation or lead identification or cross-selling and up-selling. Thanks to the intelligent software, customers can contact the company around the clock. At the same time, the company can also contact the user at any time. In the past, people had to sit at a live chat and answer users’ questions, some of which were very simple, and then motivate them to convert. Today, simple questions can easily be answered by bots and in many cases chatbots can even motivate users to convert. This means, for example, registering for a newsletter, leaving contact details or even purchasing a product.
Although all these activities can be performed by humans, they require a lot of resources. Furthermore, people are often bored if they have to give users the same answers over and over again. Chatbots are never bored!
Who does the better quality work?
Now we ask ourselves the question of quality. A human being or software? The software always acts on the basis of an algorithm, i.e. fixed rules. These are regularly improved and optimized using machine learning to make them more and more similar to human decisions. But research has not yet reached the point where the software can integrate personal feelings and emotions. Machines don’t get tired either, but always deliver the same quality without breaks for sleep. This fact leads me to say that if the marketing activities can be defined by “simple” rule-based events, artificial assistants are usually the better choice. They offer consistent and long-lasting quality. However, when it comes to personal relationships or when activities are linked to individual people, such as a personal recommendation from a customer advisor, people still deliver the better quality.
What can marketing teams expect in the future?
It will certainly be some time before humans can be completely replaced by intelligent software and a company’s marketing activities can only be carried out using AI (Artificial Intelligence). And until then, humans cannot be replaced, but can even provide support and act as a good role model when it comes to developing new intelligent marketing tools.
The first AI in Marketing Conference will be held in Zurich on March 27 for anyone interested in learning more about this topic. www.ai-zuerich.ch
