How real marketing experts are using generative AI

Aug 13th, 2024

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, staying ahead of the curve is not just an advantage – it’s a necessity. For marketers, this means using the latest technology to streamline processes, enhance creativity, and deliver results that resonate with audiences. The biggest game-changer of this technology is generative AI tools like ChatGPT & Google’s Gemini, offering unprecedented opportunities to optimise and innovate across all marketing channels. From organic social media and email marketing to paid social, PPC, and SEO, AI-driven tools are transforming the way marketing experts operate. This blog delves into how marketers in the UK are harnessing the power of generative AI to elevate their strategies, deliver exceptional client outcomes, and stay ahead in a competitive market.

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can create new content – text, images, and even videos, based on the data they’ve been trained on. ChatGPT, one of the most well-known tools in this space, is a language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text. Its applications in marketing are nearly unlimited, ranging from content creation to customer service automation.

The adoption of generative AI tools is not just a trend; it’s a shift towards more efficient, data-driven, and scalable marketing strategies, with companies increasingly turning to AI to gain a competitive edge. For marketers, this means integrating AI tools into their workflows to enhance creativity, improve accuracy, and achieve better results.

Organic social media remains a key component of any comprehensive marketing strategy. However, creating consistent, engaging, and on-brand content can be a time-consuming challenge. This is where generative AI tools like Gemini come into play. These tools can assist in brainstorming content ideas, writing captions, and even generating entire posts that align with brand voice and messaging.

For example, marketers can use Gemini to generate a week’s worth of social media posts in a matter of minutes, allowing them to focus more on strategy and less on content creation. However, marketers need to use this as an inspiration, and not just copy and paste. Whilst AI is good for generating the bones, posts that aren’t edited can stick out and look very off-brand.

The AI can also suggest trending topics, hashtags, and engagement strategies based on the latest data, helping brands stay relevant in the ever-changing social media landscape.

Moreover, AI can analyse past posts to identify what resonates most with the audience, enabling marketers to refine their content strategies consistently. By automating these aspects of content creation and analysis, marketers can maintain a consistent social media presence without the typical resource drain.

“Generative AI tools are ideal for speeding up processes when it comes to finding the perfect emojis to complete your Social Media post! When drafting a social media post, I write [EMJ] in the areas where I’d like to include emojis – I then get ChatGPT to replace these with appropriate emojis using the following prompt: Replace [EMJ] with appropriate emojis or, if I want to find all the emojis related to a specific topic I ask ChatGPT to generate them for me, and pick my preferred ones from the generated list”.

Sian Badich, Senior Marketing Executive

Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for nurturing leads and driving conversions. However, crafting personalised, compelling emails at scale is a daunting task. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can significantly streamline this process by generating customised email content based on user behaviour, preferences, and past interactions.

Marketers can leverage AI to create email templates that cater to different segments of their audience, ensuring that each recipient receives content that is relevant and engaging. For instance, AI can generate different versions of a promotional email, each tailored to a specific demographic, purchase history, or stage in the customer journey.

Beyond content creation, AI can also optimise email send times, subject lines, and call-to-action phrases by analysing historical data and predicting what will perform best. This level of personalisation and optimisation can lead to higher open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately, conversions

Paid social media campaigns are crucial for reaching wider audiences and driving specific marketing objectives, such as lead generation or sales. However, the competitive nature of paid social requires constant monitoring and optimisation to ensure a good return on investment (ROI). Generative AI tools can take on much of this workload, making it easier for marketers to manage and optimise their campaigns.

AI can be used to generate ad copy that is tailored to different audience segments, ensuring that each ad resonates with the intended demographic. For example, ChatGPT can create multiple variations of ad copy for A/B testing, helping marketers identify which messages perform best with different audiences. This not only saves time but also improves the effectiveness of the campaigns.

Additionally, AI-driven tools can analyse real-time data from ongoing campaigns and suggest adjustments to targeting, bidding strategies, and ad placements. This dynamic approach ensures that campaigns remain cost-effective and aligned with business goals, even as market conditions change.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is another area where generative AI is making a significant impact. PPC campaigns require a deep understanding of keywords, audience behaviour, and competitive landscapes. AI tools can assist in keyword research by analysing large datasets to identify the most effective keywords for targeting. This ensures that campaigns are built on a foundation of data-driven insights, increasing the likelihood of success.

Furthermore, generative AI can create compelling ad copy that aligns with the identified keywords and audience intent. ChatGPT can generate variations of ad copy that are tested and refined based on real-time performance data. This continuous optimisation cycle leads to more effective ads, higher click-through rates, and better ROI.

AI can also help with bid management, automatically adjusting bids based on the likelihood of conversion and the competition for specific keywords. This ensures that marketing budgets are used efficiently, maximising the impact of PPC campaigns.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a long-term strategy that requires ongoing content creation, keyword optimisation, and technical tweaks to improve website visibility on search engines. Generative AI can streamline many aspects of SEO, from content generation to keyword analysis.

AI tools like ChatGPT can generate SEO-friendly content that is optimised for specific keywords and search intents. This includes blog posts, landing pages, and even meta descriptions that help improve search engine rankings. By automating the content creation process, marketers can produce high-quality, SEO-optimised content at scale, without compromising on quality.

In addition, AI can analyse search engine trends and competitors’ strategies to identify new opportunities for optimisation. This includes finding content gaps that can be filled with targeted content, as well as identifying high-potential keywords that competitors may have overlooked. By leveraging AI, marketers can stay ahead of SEO trends and continuously refine their strategies to achieve better search engine rankings.

While generative AI tools like ChatGPT offer incredible capabilities, it’s important to view them as collaborative partners rather than replacements for human creativity and expertise. AI can handle repetitive and data-intensive tasks, freeing up marketers to focus on strategic thinking, creative ideation, and relationship building.

In the UK, where businesses are increasingly looking for ways to innovate and stand out, the integration of AI into marketing strategies can provide a significant competitive advantage. Marketers who embrace AI as part of their toolkit can deliver more personalised, effective, and efficient campaigns, ultimately driving better results for their clients.

Sarah Boyd, Content Marketing Manager adds;

“AI has become an integral part of our roles however it is important to ensure we retain our competitive edge in the market which is our inhouse expertise. For the Content Marketing team, we use AI as an aid to help whether that be to give us a kick start on an ideation or to double check a source of data which has proven to save time ensuring we can spend more of it creating strong campaigns for clients.”

The future of marketing is undoubtedly intertwined with the continued development and adoption of AI technologies. For UK marketers, this presents an exciting opportunity to enhance their capabilities, deliver more value to clients, and stay ahead in a fast-paced industry.

By leveraging generative AI tools like ChatGPT across all areas of marketing—organic social, email, paid social, PPC, and SEO—marketers can optimise their processes, improve the effectiveness of their campaigns, and achieve better outcomes. As AI continues to evolve, those who embrace its potential will be well-positioned to lead the way in the next generation of marketing.

The message is clear: AI is not just a tool for the future—it’s a vital asset for today’s marketers. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a potential client looking for innovative marketing solutions, now is the time to explore how generative AI can transform your approach and drive success

Nicola Glancey, Content Marketing Executive at Click Consult, explains;

“AI is a tool that is not going away. Although there are many concerns about using and implementing AI we need to learn how we can ethically utilise it without allowing it to negatively impact the quality of work. Using AI to check you are using a tone that is consistent with a brand is just one of the ways you can take advantage. As many industries are now taking the leap, it is about learning the best ways we can use AI the right way, to both improve our work and give ourselves an edge.”

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