Artificial intelligence comes into use in various areas of online marketing. Its overall potential, however, has yet to be completely tapped into. Read here how marketing with AI works.
These areas of online marketing are already using AI
Around three-fourths of decision-makers in German companies with 20 or more staff are of the opinion that artificial intelligence is the most important future technology, according to a Bitkom survey. The emphasis is on future – after all, AI is only being used in 6 per cent of companies in 2020. Yet various departments could profit from the automation of intelligent behaviour and machine learning, particularly Marketing.
One of the areas in which AI applications are already well-established is search engine optimisation. The OSG Performance Suite, for instance, contributes to making sure updates and ranking measures of search engine algorithms do not have any negative effects on visibility. The basis for this is machine learning. Using data from an own website and those of competitors, a comprehensive databank is automatically built up which can analyse millions of signals using algorithms. In other words, this intelligent marketing tool learns which aspects have already contributed to ranking success and which measures can be ascertained from this for the user.
When it comes to customer communication, AI is also already well established. Here is where special chatbots are used which exceed the standard chatbots in first and second-level support in terms of their abilities. They are able to forward complex customer requests to customer support, to listen to them during work and to learn from the contact with the customer. For this reason, AI chatbots achieve bit by bit the required skills for more sophisticated third-level support.
Future areas of application for artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence has huge potential for use in marketing, which is only being tapped into on a basic level or not at all. The eco Association of the Internet Industry gives examples of customer-potential analysis through the use of neuronal nets, of further development of intelligent chatbots through the use of natural language processing, or of automated target group and sales analysis through the use of deep learning.
A survey by United Internet Media and the Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart among 101 marketing experts from the retail, services and production industries shows that AI will mainly help in digital marketing in the following areas in future:
- Personalisation of marketing (89 per cent)
- Optimisation of targeting (82 per cent)
- Improvement of the customer experience (75 per cent)
- Generation and optimisation of advertising content (66 per cent)
Survey: many marketers are wasting potential
For the survey Digital Marketing Trends 2020 from the eco Association, online marketers from a total of 923 companies were questioned in February 2020. A focus of this survey was on the use of artificial intelligence in online marketing. The key result: many see the chances in using AI, but its application in real life is still a long way off. For instance, only 22 per cent of those companies questioned want to improve their marketing with the help of AI this year. Which is about the same level as last year.
Especially in the B2B segment (14 per cent), very few decision-makers are interested in AI solutions. These companies first want to build up a solid foundation of data, according to the survey, before they turn to subsequent topics such as artificial intelligence.
