如何在人工智能營銷時代取得成功

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Lessdo,morethink:

Howtosucceedin

theAI-powered

marketingera

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Customwhitepaper

Lessdo,morethink:Howto

succeedintheAI-powered

marketingera

InsightsfromPriceline,Redfin,Vimeo,GitLab,Strava,CandIterableonAIinmarketing

Itwasn’tlongagothattheconversation

aroundartificialintelligencefocusedonallthethingsthatAIcoulddotoreplacemarketers.

Now,thatargumentisbeingflippedon

itshead.Today’smarketersincreasingly

recognizeAI’sabilitytodothingsforthem,notasareplacementofthem,andaremuchless

likelytoviewAIasathreattotheircareers.

ThemajorityofmarketersnowbelieveAIwillincreasefuturejobopportunitiesandallow

themtoperformtheircurrentrolesbetter.

ThisfundamentalshiftinattitudestowardAIisreflectedinacomprehensivenewsur-

veyfromWakefieldResearch,sponsored

byIterable,arapidlygrowing

AI-powered

customercommunicationsplatformusedbytopbrandsaroundtheworld.Whilecautionremains,AIisnowwidelyacknowledgedasanessentialdriverofmarketingefficiency

andbrandperformance,accordingtothe

onlinesurveyof1,200marketersconductedinSeptember2023.

“It’scrucialformarketerstofocusonhow

AIcanhelpeffectivelyaddresstheirbusiness

challenges,”saidZipporahAllen,chiefbusinessofficeratIterablecustomerStrava,aleading

digitalcommunityforactivepeoplewithmorethan120millionathletes.“Thekeyquestions

shouldrevolvearoundhowAIenablesadeeperconnectionwithcustomers,empowersthecre-ationofadistinct,differentiatedandengagingbrandexperience—andhelpsbringthebrand’smissiontolife.AtStrava,thistranslatesinto

thoroughconsiderationofanynewtechnology,andhowitcanhelpfurthertheathleteexperi-enceandfosterauthenticconnections.”

Atransformativetechrevolution

Percentofmarketerswho…

ArealreadyusingAIintheirjobs.

91%

SeeAIascreatingjobopportunities.

69%

SeeAIasatransformativetechrevolution,

notjustatool.

67%

BelieveAIshouldincreasebusinessmetricsandreflectbetterontheirjobperformance.

49%

AredrawntoAIbecauseitwillhelp

themworkmoreefficiently.

47%

BelieveAIwillincreasetheirskillsand

maketheirworkmoreaccurate.

45%

SeeAIasbecominganintegralpartoftheir

overallskillsetasamarketer.

37%

source:WakefieldResearch

2TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

“Thisreportfindsthatmarketersincreas-

inglyviewAInotasathreatbutasan

enhancer,”saidAshleyKramer,chiefmarketingandstrategyofficeratIterablecustomerGitLab,theAI-poweredDevSecOpsplatform.“Wesee

thesamewithsoftwaredevelopers.AIcandrivetremendousefficienciesthroughoutallorgani-zations,frommarketingtosoftwaredevelop-

ment,aslongassmartguardrailsareinplace.

CompaniesthatuseAItoautomateinefficient

taskswillfreeuptalenttofocusonmorecre-

ativeendeavors,leadingtoimprovedproductiv-ity,innovationandacompetitiveadvantage.”

BringingAItothemassesandacceleratingmarketeradoption

Beyondincreasingconsumers’awarenessofAI,ChatGPThasplayedapivotalroleinshaping

ourperceptionofAI,promptingpeopletoreal-izethatthefutureofworkwillbeacollabora-tionbetweenhumansandtechnology,creatingvalueinwayswe’rejustbeginningtounder-

stand.Formarketers,theimpactofChatGPT’s

“Thisreportfindsthat

marketersincreasinglyviewAInotasathreatbutasanenhancer.

Weseethesamewithsoftwaredevelopers.”

AshleyKramer,chiefmarketingandstrategyofficer,GitLab

successhasgonebeyondthenorm,bringing

aboutmoreprofoundopportunityandrealiza-tion.First,ithasnormalizedusingallformsofAI,notjustthegenerativeversion,asawaytomakeworkeasier,moreinterestingandfun.Inotherwords,itreducestheneedfor“do”timeandincreases“think”time,givingmarketersideastartersandopeningupmorebandwidthforcreativity.

TheseforceshavecontributedtoafurtherandmorerapidaccelerationofAIadoptionin

Aseachangeinsentiment

AIisnowseenascriticaltodrivingefficiency,performanceandoverallsuccess.Still,marketershaveconcernsaboutthefuture.

Jobmaker,nottaker:

Nearly9in10marketersexpressedcon-cernthat“IwillhavetolearnhowtouseAItomaintainmyvalueasamarketer.”

willcreateopportunities

fornewpositions

Needforspeed:

Whenaskedwhatdrawsmarketersto

useAIattheirjobs...

47%

increasingpersonal

skillsets

fosteringmore

accuratework

source:WakefieldIterablesurvey,September2023

31%

sayitwillreplace

workersandtakejobs

69%

ofmarketersbelieveAI

42%

very

concerned

theabilityto

workefficiently

Stillworktodo:

somewhatconcerned

extremelyconcerned

43%

45%

20%

28%

3TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

thelastseveralmonths,accordingtoAdrianaGilMiner,CMOofIterable.

“We’restillintheinitialphaseofadop-

tion,whichisessentiallyaracetoseewhocanharnessthesetechnologiesthefastesttoget

moreproductivityandmanagethecomplexityofscale,”GilMinersaid.“Thenextphaseswillgoalongwaytowarddeterminingtheulti-

matewinnersinthespace.Thefirsthastodowithtestingandexperimentation,wherethepotentialforindividualmarketerstoreapthebenefitsofenhancedproductivitywillbecomeapparent.Inafinalphase,AI’sroleinaccentu-atingthedistinctivevoicesofbrandswilltakecenterstage.”

“I’mfascinatedbythelearningaspectof

AIandtheideaofAIbeingabletounderstand,forecastandaugmenthumanbehavior,”said

LynnGirotto,CMOofVimeo,theinnovative

videoexperienceplatform.“Thatpromiseof

AIbringsmebacktomyrootsasamarketer.

WhenIconsiderwhywetrackandprocess

vastamountsofdataasamarketer,it’sessen-tiallyourattempttodecodehumanbehavior.

Presently,therearelimitationstohowmuchofthebehavioraldatawecangraspandprocess.AIisagatewaytoadeeperunderstandingof

theunderlyingforcessteeringhumanbehavior.Itpresentsanopportunitytogofartherand

understandwhatmakesusdistinctlyhuman.”

Beyondthehype:HowAIisactually

changingmarketing

MarketershavebeenusingAIforpredictive

analyticsandpersonalizedcommunicationsformanyyears.Machinelearning-basedAImodelscanchurnoutcustomerinsightsandhelpmar-keterspredictaudiencesandbuildsegmentsfordigitalcampaigns.

Becausetoday’smarketersarebeingasked

todeliverROIgainswithfewerresources,theyarelookingforopportunitiestoexpandAI

usageacrosstheentirescopeofcampaignswithapplicationsthatcanincreasespeed,efficiencyandperformance.Manyofthoseusecasesfall

intoautomationandoptimization.

Hereisabreakdownofeachcategory,

includingsomerecentexamplesofhow

marketersareemployingthetacticsintheirAI-poweredcampaigns:

Didyouknow?

29%

useAIexclusivelyprofessionally

62%

ofmarketerscurrently

useAIbothfortheirjob

andoutsidetheirjob

source:WakefieldResearch

“I’mfascinatedbythe

learningaspectofAI

andtheideaofAIbeingabletounderstand,

forecastandaugmenthumanbehavior.”

LynnGirotto,CMO,Vimeo

?Strengtheningcustomerrelationshipsandimprovingbrandperformance

BuildinganautomatedSMS,emailormobile

appcampaignistime-consumingwork.Thereisanarrayofrepetitivemarketingtasksthatcanberemovedfromtheuser,includingselect-

ingtheaudience,creatingfiltersfordifferenttargetsandresponseactions,populatingthecampaignwithimagesand

writingcopy

.MostmarketerswouldbegladtohaveAItakemanyoftheseoperationaltasksofftheirplate.

“Marketersaretellingus:Idonotwant

tosetupcampaignsanymore.Idonotwant

tocrunchdataortakeahalf-daytosetupa

three-stagewelcomeprogram,”saidGilMiner.“They’resaying,Automateallofthatforme,

andsurfacetheinsightsandrecommenda-

tionstogivemetheoptionofmakinghumandecisions.”

4TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

Askthemarketer:

WhichtypeofAIwouldmakeyourjobseasier?

Optimization(e.g.,automatically

recommendingimprovements)

57%

Automation(e.g.,machinesautomatically

dotaskswithoutintervention)

53%

Predictive(e.g.,segmentmostlikelytoconvert)

50%

Generative(e.g.,contentcreation)

49%

source:WakefieldResearch

Whencombinedwithpredictiveanalytics,

AI-drivenautomationfeaturescanhelpmarket-ersstrengthencustomerrelationships,improvebrandperformanceandmeettheirKPIsin

today’sfast-movingmarketplace.Forexample,Redfin,thetechnology-poweredrealestate

brokerage,usedIterable’s

PredictiveGoals

as

partofanemailcampaigntoconvertmillionsofinactiveuserstoactiveonesatatimeofgreat

volatilityinthehousingmarket.Thefeature

tooktheguessworkandmanuallaboroutof

identifyingthehighestconvertingusers,lead-ingtoa15%liftinconvertingbuyerstoanactivestateanda72%liftinconvertingsellerstoan

activestate.AseniorleaderatRedfinreferredtoPredictiveGoalsasa“

gamechanger

,”under-liningthatithasmaximizedefficienciesand

acceleratedtimetovalue.

?Expandingcreativityandproductivity

GenerativeAIrepresentsasubsetoftheauto-mationcategoryfocusedoncontentcreation.Manyautomationtoolsandfeaturesarenowbeingbuiltwiththesenaturallanguagepro-cessingmodelstocreate,forexample,textforSMScampaignsandemailsubjectlines.

“Personalizationinmarketinghasevolved

fromhavingtherightdataandtechnologyto

craftingtherightmessageattherightplaceand

time,”saidGirotto.“I’mabigbelieverthatAI,especiallygenerativeAI,willbringusclosertorealizingthisvisionofdeeperpersonalization.”

GenerativeAItools,likeIterable’s

Copy

Assist

,aidmarketersinunlockingwriter’s

blockandprovideinspirationtoexpandtheir

creativity.Thisbecomesespeciallyvaluable

whentestingandlearning.Testingandlearningatscaleenablesmarketerstostaycompetitive,drivebetterresultsandachievelong-termmar-ketingsuccess.

Emailmarketersoftentestdifferentsend

times,subjectlines,images,etc.,toseewhat

resonatesbestwiththeiraudience.Whatused

tobeamanualprocessofdraftingthesevariouscopyoptionstotestagainstcannowbedone

fasterwhenleveraginggenerativeAI,allowingmarketerstotest,iterateandoptimizeatscale.

Forexample,iftheyneedtotestthree

subjectlineoptions,inthepasttheyneededtodraftallthree;whereastoday,theycanleveragegenerativeAItotakeonesubjectlineideaand

createthesecondandthirdoptions.

Thereisacleardistinctionbetweengivingmarketersideasthatsparkcreativityorpro-

videasourceofinspirationwhenthecreativeprocessgetsboggeddown,andautomatingtheentireprocess.

“We’renotautomatingcopywriting,”notedGilMiner.“We’regoingbeyondefficiencyandsurfacingtargetedandcontextualizedrec-

ommendationsthataregroundedininsights

gleanedfromrichdata.Theultimateselectionsremaininthecapablehandsofhumanbeings.”

?Automatingoptimizationatscale

AI-poweredoptimizationoccursbothinsideandoutsideofautomation.AIisnowastan-dardpracticeinautomationplatformsasa

meanstooptimizesendtimesandfrequencyforemailcampaignsandin-apporwebpushnotifications.

Channeloptimization,meanwhile,seekstocreateconsistentmessagingbetweenautoma-tionandothermarketingstrategieslikeactiva-tiononsocialchannelsanddirectmail.Thisis

oftenreferredtoasaholisticchannelstrategy.Anditisfuelingagrowingtrendofmartech

consolidation,withcompanieslikeIterablepro-vidingacentralizedcommunicationplatform

5TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

Costofdoingbusiness

WhenaskediftheirteamsaremissingoutonthebesttoolsiftheydonotuseAItechnology,thevastmajorityofmarketerswere...

Somewhat

worried

30%

Very

worried

32%

Extremelyworried

22%

source:WakefieldResearch

andfillingavoidformarketerswhowould

otherwiserelyonindividualpointsolutionstoexecuteeachtypeofcampaignfromdifferentplatforms(seebelow).

Marketerscanleverageacombination

ofAI-drivenoptimizationtacticswithgreat

success.Forexample,Cworkedwith

IterabletobuildanindividualizedapproachtohowandwhattheysendtocustomersbyusingChannelOptimization,anIterableAIfeature

thattakestheguessworkoutofwhichchan-nelauserismostlikelytoengagewith.Asa

resultofthisautomation,themarketingteam

gainedback25%ofitstime,accordingtoEllen

Rockdale,seniormarketingoperationsmanagerfortheCRMandLifecycleteamatC.

“We’reexcitedaboutalloftheIterableAIcapabilitiescomingoutsowecancontinuetoimproveourcampaigns,makingthemeven

moreimpactful,”shesaid.

Next-genAI:optionalityandexplainability

Thenextstageofevolutionforautomationis

oneinwhichmarketerscantakeevenmorecuesfromAI.ThisisthefoundationandfutureofallAImarketing,anditisbeingbuiltrightnow.

Inthisparadigm,theAInotonlyautomatesthedeploymentofacampaign,butitalsoauto-maticallygeneratesthecampaignitself.The

AIdecideswhichaudiencestotargetandhow,usingtoolslikeIterable’s

NextBestAction

toautomaticallyrecommendsegments,tocreatecampaignsandprepopulatemessagingcopy

withaseriesofclicks.

Thekeytomakingthisworkistoestablishtrustbyinfusingtransparencyintothemodel’s

Explainabilityinaction:

WhenmarketersuseAIto

reviewPredictiveGoals,they

receivedetailedinformation

onthecriteria,eventsand

propertiesthatshapedeach

predictionandrecommendation.

6TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

decision-makingprocess,andbyproviding

marketerswiththeoptionofoverridingthesystem’srecommendations.Iterablereferstothistwo-sidedapproachasoptionalityand

explainability.

Asanexample,let’ssayafitnesschain

wantstodrivemembershipbygettingpeople

toswitchfromitsfreemobileapptothepaid

version.AnAImodelmightrecommendtarget-ingpeoplewhohavesignedupforthreefitnessclassesasoneofthepredictiveattributeswithahighstatisticalcorrelationtothecampaign’sdesiredoutcome.Beforemarketershitthesendbutton,theirscreenswillcallupadashboard

withdetailedinformationthatrevealshowthemodelarrivedatitsconclusions.

“Forinstance,youwillbeabletoseethat

thepeoplemostlikelytomovetothepaidapp

watchedthreevideosandloggedinfivetimesin30days,”saidGilMiner.“Thisbuildstranspar-encyandtrust.Itvalidatestheaudienceand

thequalityoftheprediction,andfurther,it

givesmarketersinsightsonhowtodrivetheirbusinesswithideasforotherstrategies.”

Atyourservice

Whenaskedhowtheydefinereturnoninvest-mentinAI(choosingallthatapply),marketersspreadtheiranswersfairlyevenlyacross...

Efficiency

51%

Improvedcustomerrelations

50%

Effectivedataanalysis

47%

Improvedfinancialgain

46%

Accurateforecasting

42%

source:WakefieldResearch

CampaignsintheeraofAI

Thetraditionalpoint-in-timecampaignhas

beenthecenterpieceofmarketingoperations,

butintheworldofalways-ondigitalexperi-

ences,thatmodelislongdead.Today’smarket-ersneedtotransitiontoamodelthatcanread

thesignalsofcustomersandinrealtimedeliveranindividualexperience,craftedspecificallyforthem.However,marketersareundernoillusionthatthisissimpletodo.Deliveringtheage-oldpersonalizationpromiseof“righttime,right

place,rightmessage”hasgottenextremely

complexasthenumberofchannelscontinuetomultiply,consumerpreferenceschangeandaremoreunique,andthedemandforimmediacyisrapidlyincreasing.

“Marketershavestruggledtodeliver

personalizedmessagesforyearsbecauseit

requirestoomuchnumbercrunching,toomanyversionsandtoomuchset-uptime,”saidGil

Miner.“AIisthetechnologythatwillfinally

enablemarketerstobreakfreefromsegmentsandgroupings.Wewillbeabletocreateand

manageindividualexperiencesformillionsofcustomersatthesametimeandtreateveryonelikeaVIP.AIwilldeeplytransformthepracticeofmarketingbyprovidinginsights,expeditingoperationaltasksandoptimizingcampaigns

faster,andatagreaterscalethanwecanpre-dictnow.”

AsuccessfulAImarketingpracticerequiresbrandstogobeyondstandardtargetingand

segmentationtechniquestogetclosertotheircustomersanddelivertruejourney-based

marketing.Thisisnotamatterofaddingcom-plexityorgranularitytoanaudiencecohort.

Foratrulydifferentiatedapproach,everysinglebrandengagementtacticmustladderuptoa

communicationsstrategyofindividualization.

“Brandsmustbeabletoreactmorequicklytotheindividualsignalstheircustomersare

givingthemandrespondwithsomethingthattheyactuallyneedorwant,”saidGilMiner.

“Thatistheessenceoftruecustomer-centeredmarketing.”

AIhasunlimitedpowertoanalyzethose

signalsandoptimizemessagesonaone-to-onelevel.Butitisuptothemarketertobringa

nuancedunderstandingoftheircustomerstowhateverAIcapabilitytheychoosetoemploy.

7TheBusinessofBrandsAdAgeFebruary2024

Lessdo,morethink:HowtosucceedintheAI-poweredmarketingera

Adisconnectbetweendataandengagement

TheActivationGapmakescreatingjoyfulinteractionsimpossible.AIcanhelpbridgethatgap.

ActivationGap

Engagement

>Whodowesendamessageto?

>Whatshouldthatmessagesay?

>Whenshouldwesendthatmessage?

>Whereshouldwesendthatmessageto?

>Whyarewesendingthatmessage?

>Howdoesthatmessageimpacttheirjourney?

Data

source:WakefieldResearch

Inaworldwheremachinescanproduceahundredtimesmorecapacitythanhumans,therisktobrandsisgettinglostinasea

ofsameness.

“Settingyourbrandapartisessentialinanydynamicindustry,”saidTobyKorner,senior

VPofdigitalmarketingatPriceline.“Pricelinerecognizesthatdifferentiationgoesbeyond

standingout;it’saboutbecomingapartof

customers’memories.Withinthetravelindus-try,AIplaysapivotalroleincraftingbespoke

interactionsatvarioustouchpoints,ensur-

ingseamlesstripsandsurpassingcustomer

expectations.Thispersonalizationiskeytoa

uniquelytailoredtravelexperienceforeach

individual’sjourney,fromresearchandbookingtocustomersupportandthetripitself.”

“It’sthisdistinctiveblendofcharacteris-

ticsandvaluesthatwillsetyourbrandapart

fromtherest,”saidGilMiner.“Ipredicta

vibrantresurgenceofcreativityinmarketing,

whereexpression,emotionandjoywillbethe

guiding