In April 2015 I launched an internal initiative at my marketing agency PR 20/20 designed to answer one seemingly straightforward question, can we automate content creation through artificial intelligence? More specifically, can we use machines to write blog posts?
Like most organizations, we were struggling to create content at scale, while maintaining quality. I had just returned from SXSW in Austin where I heard the managing editor of the Associated Press and the CEO of Automated Insights discuss how the AP had used Automated Insights technology to shift earnings reports to 100 percent machine written.
I had also spent the better part of three years theorizing and building software that would use AI to automate marketing strategy.
So I knew theoretically what was possible, but I had no idea if the technology truly existed to transform our agency, the marketing industry and the business world at large.
Despite advances in marketing automation—and the billions of dollars pouring into marketing technology companies—much of the technology marketers rely on today to plan, execute and evaluate marketing campaigns is elementary. But artificial intelligence possesses the power to change everything.
As the number of connected consumers and devices expands, the amount of data produced exponentially increases. Meanwhile, marketers’ ability to filter through the noise and turn data into actionable intelligence remains limited by biases, beliefs, education, experiences, knowledge and brainpower.
In other words, we have a finite ability to process information, build strategies, create content at scale, and achieve performance potential. While traditional marketing technology is built on algorithms in which humans code sets of instructions that tell machines what to do, with AI the machine creates its own algorithms, determines new paths and unlocks unlimited potential to advance marketing, business and mankind.
Marketers who can harness the power of AI will be able to do more with less, run personalized campaigns of unprecedented complexity, and transform business as usual through new methods of machine-intelligent marketing. The opportunities are endless for marketers and entrepreneurs with the will and vision to transform the industry.
Consider how much time and money your marketing team spends reviewing analytics, creating performance reports, drafting social media updates, determining blog post topics, copywriting, building strategy, and allocating resources.
Now imagine if machines performed the majority of those activities and a marketer’s primary role was to enhance rather than create.
The future may be closer than you think.
In fact, many tasks commonly performed by marketers are already being augmented by AI. Today, AI enables marketers to:
This is why artificial intelligence is forecasted to have trillions of dollars in annual impact in the marketing industry alone.
The marketers who take action have the opportunity to create a significant and sustained competitive advantage for their businesses, yet many marketers struggle to understand what AI is and how to apply it to their marketing programs.
That's where Marketing AI Institute comes in.
Marketing AI Institute helps marketers build a competitive advantage with AI by providing expert content, online education, interactive tools, strategic consulting and live events.
Since 2016, we've published more than 600 articles to help marketers understand, pilot and scale AI. We track and analyze hundreds of AI-powered vendors with $15+ billion in combined funding. And we partner with top AI-first companies to bring the industry exclusive insight straight from the cutting-edge of AI adoption and implementation.
This work has turned our team into industry-leading experts on the potential opportunities and practical considerations presented by AI in marketing. We share this expertise through actionable content, online education and in-depth resources to help you take your company and career to the next level with AI.
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