Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a key part of every marketer’s toolkit. Find out more in this guide to AI in digital marketing.
Not long ago, AI was associated with buggy bots and robotic interactions. Today's AI-powered solutions are way more sophisticated and less error-prone. You can now rely on them for a variety of marketing tasks.
It’s no secret that AI in digital marketing is here to stay. The best part? You don’t need to be an AI expert to reap its benefits.
Let’s explore the different ways you can use AI in digital marketing.
What is AI in digital marketing?
AI in digital marketing refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline your marketing efforts. This includes data analysis, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP).
When implemented correctly, AI can elevate your digital marketing strategy. AI is also fast becoming an industry standard. At least 73% of US marketers use generative AI in digital marketing tasks.
AI vs. automation
AI is often confused with marketing automation. However, artificial intelligence and automation aren’t the same.
Marketing automation refers to standard tools like email sequences and social media scheduling. These rely on pre-programmed rules and are usually not powered by AI.
True AI, on the other hand, can learn and adapt on its own. It analyzes historical data and makes independent decisions, going beyond simple rule-based actions.
For instance, automatically sending a generic follow-up after a demo call is simple automation. But if a solution analyzes the tone of the call and tailors the message accordingly — that's AI in action.
How to use AI in digital marketing
So far, there are two major applications of AI in digital marketing.
- AI-powered content creation. From brainstorming and video production to email marketing and customer conversation management, generative AI can create relevant content of any complexity. For instance, using the right ChatGPT prompts for email marketing can help you streamline the entire content creation process, making it faster and more efficient.
- AI-powered data analytics. AI analyzes vast data sets to uncover valuable insights, such as campaign performance forecasts, consumer behaviors, and customer sentiment. It can take action based on these insights (i.e. optimize campaigns in real-time) or provide data-driven recommendations for informed decision-making.
Read on for specific examples and use cases of AI in digital marketing.
Top AI in digital marketing use cases
AI in digital marketing is transforming how marketers approach repetitive or data-intensive tasks. Here are the key areas where it can streamline your workflows.
AI email writing
Do you spend your time crafting content for your email marketing campaigns, lead nurturing sequences, and follow-up emails? AI can now handle this task for you.
More and more email marketing platforms integrate AI-powered writing tools. This lets you generate subject lines, email text, and compelling CTAs in seconds. Best of all, today's AI tools produce content that's engaging and doesn't feel robotic.
If you choose to design your email campaigns in Brevo, the platform’s AI assistant can generate content for any part of the email, including:
- Subject lines
- Titles
- Paragraphs
- CTA buttons
AI email generator in Brevo
Start by giving the AI a simple prompt (i.e. a few sentences about your email's topic). Then, specify the tone (friendly, professional, etc.). The assistant will generate suggestions, and you can request refinements until you're happy with the result.
Related: Discover the 7 best AI email writers
Content creation and repurposing
Beyond email writing, AI tools can help you generate content for any format. These are examples of content you can create with an AI copilot.
- Blog posts
- Social media content
- Ebooks
- Webinar scripts
- Demo videos
- Voiceovers
- Images
While general-purpose tools like ChatGPT can handle most of these tasks, you may also want to consider dedicated AI marketing solutions specifically designed for content marketing.
Many companies are understandably hesitant to adopt AI-powered content creation at scale. However, there’s one thing that leading content teams agree on: AI is invaluable for repurposing existing content.
A well-researched, human-written blog article provides a strong foundation that AI can transform into a variety of formats, from social media posts to webinars.
Here are a few more ideas of how AI can help you repurpose content.
- Transform workshop session transcripts into multiple articles
- Create social media shorts from long-form video recordings
- Develop ebooks from several articles
- Create ad copy, PR materials, social media posts, etc.
Repurposing content with AI Social Content Generator
Keyword research and content optimization
AI also allows marketing teams to spend less time on SEO research and analysis. A lot of SEO tools offer built-in AI tools that speed up the process significantly.
AI analyzes keyword data and competitor reports for you, presenting you with recommendations that you can act on immediately.
For instance, Semrush Copilot uses metrics from major Semrush tools to deliver actionable insights and suggest the next steps. While it may not replace in-depth research, it’s a great starting point.
By highlighting the areas of your content that offer the most opportunity for improvement, the AI copilot shows you where to focus your attention.
Personalized SEO recommendations by Semrush Copilot
Customer communication management
Chatbots have been around for quite some time now. But in many instances, they haven't enhanced the user experience due to frequent glitches and inaccurate data.
Today, there are more and more successful cases of AI chatbots. This example by G2 is one of them.
G2 is a review website where you can find information about almost any software. The bot uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand users’ questions and provides answers based on web page content.
Nonetheless, setting up a dependable chatbot for customer communication still takes a lot of training. Many companies lean towards rule-based systems (which aren’t AI-powered, just automated).
However, there are other proven, low-risk ways to save time using AI technology. For example, you can use AI to:
- Expand messages
- Adjust the tone
- Summarize chats
Brevo’s Conversations platform checks off all the points on the list. With one click, you can call the AI assistant to aid you over live chats and email. AI can also summarize your chat for a seamless handover, refine your messaging, or adjust your tone to suit various contexts.
Handling customer conversations with Brevo AI assistant
AI-powered data analysis and forecasting
The power of AI lies in its ability to analyze vast amounts of customer data. From decoding customer behavior to predicting future market trends, AI helps marketers make smarter, more data-driven decisions.
One of the most powerful applications of AI in marketing analytics is providing campaign insights. Some marketing analytics platforms integrate AI assistants that analyze your data and deliver insights through a chat interface.
AI models also enable predictive analytics by finding hidden relationships within large datasets that traditional analysis might miss. It can consider factors like seasonality, competitor actions, and even social sentiment to make more nuanced predictions.
For example, sales forecasting tools use AI to estimate revenue by month, foresee customer churn, or even predict conversion rates for different products or services.
Although AI-powered analytics may not fully replace dashboards and spreadsheets just yet, it provides a simpler, faster way to find answers to pressing questions. It's a valuable add-on to your data analytics toolkit, saving you time for deeper analysis.
Further reading: The Full Guide to Sales Automation
Best practices for AI in digital marketing
Implementing AI without careful planning can hurt your marketing team's performance. Follow these best practices to get the most out of AI and machine learning algorithms without causing disruptions.
1. Define clear use cases
It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of a new AI tool. But remember: your goal is better results, not a bigger tech stack.
Start by focusing on a few specific tasks where AI can deliver immediate value. This can be AI-driven email writing, augmented customer conversations, etc. Once you've selected your use cases, invest time in crafting effective prompts and clearly defining your brand voice.
Preparing resources to guide your AI tools is the best way to ensure consistent results and save valuable time.
2. Establish internal guidelines
If you have a team, it’s critical to set clear expectations for how and when to use AI tools. Communicate which tasks should be handled with the use of AI, and which require a human touch (especially when it comes to sensitive data).
For instance, you may provide a checklist for employees to use when editing AI-generated outputs. This checklist should include criteria for evaluating brand voice and quality standards.
Establish guidelines and policies to encourage your team members to use AI responsibly while enjoying its benefits.
3. Maintain human oversight
While AI has evolved into a more reliable technology over the last few years, there’s still room for improvement. For now, you need to double-check AI-generated content before it goes live.
Opt for AI assistants that let you review and edit the results, rather than relying on fully automated workflows.
And remember, AI makes you more efficient — but it doesn’t eliminate the need for human judgment.
Further reading: How to Leverage Customer Intelligence with AI for Relevant Marketing
5 Best AI marketing tools
Ready to give your marketing an AI boost? Here are 5 must-have AI tools that will save you time and enhance your workflows.
1. Brevo
Brevo’s AI email writing assistant
Brevo is an all-in-one CRM platform offering AI capabilities. If you need a single platform to streamline marketing efforts, sales, and customer support while enjoying AI-powered content creation, Brevo is right for you.
Key AI features:
- Email writing assistant
- Subject line generator
- AI-powered chat management
- Send time optimization
Brevo is more than an email marketing platform. It provides tools for multichannel campaign management, marketing automation workflows, deal pipelines, customer segmentation, and top-notch support — all from one platform.
Pricing: Brevo's AI assistant is included in both free and paid plans. Enjoy up to 300 emails a day and unlimited contacts with the forever-free plan. Paid plans start at just $25/month.
2. Surfer AI
Surfer AI is a data-driven platform specializing in content optimization. It analyzes search engine results pages (SERPs) to help you tailor your content for better rankings.
Key AI features:
- SERP analysis
- Keyword research
- Content audit
- Outline generation
- Content writing and optimization
It’s a helpful tool when you need to create long-form content at scale and instantly optimize it for search engines.
Pricing: Surfer AI starts at $63/month. You can also purchase article credits — one article comes at $19.
3. ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs is an AI-powered platform specializing in advanced voice synthesis and voice cloning. With it, you can create highly realistic audio content for your marketing videos in any language.
Key AI features:
- Text to speech
- Voice cloning
- Dubbing
- Instant translation
Pricing: ElevenLabs offers a forever-free plan that includes around 10 minutes of audio per month. Paid plans start at as little as $1/month.
4. OpusClip
OpusClip is an AI-powered video editing tool focused on repurposing long-form content. It transforms webinars, recordings, and podcasts into engaging short-form videos optimized for social media platforms.
Key AI features:
- Copilot
- AI clipping
- AI captions
- AI B-roll generator
- AI virality score
- Smart visual & sound effects
In the content-driven world, OpusClip is an irreplaceable tool for social media marketing.
Pricing: OpusClip offers a free plan with 60 processing minutes per month. Paid plans start at $9/month for 150 processing minutes and advanced editing features.
5. Improvado
Improvado is a marketing analytics platform that turns scattered data into actionable insight. It uses AI for in-depth reporting and forecasting.
Key AI features:
- AI Agent
- Instant performance insights
- AI-powered alerts
Improvado’s outstanding feature is the AI Agent, a chatbot that serves as your personal marketing analyst, delivering instant answers to your data questions.
Pricing: Provided upon request.
Get started using AI in digital marketing
Using AI in digital marketing is like having a few extra team members but without the overhead. And AI-powered tools like Brevo help you work smarter, not harder.
Our AI assistant can help you generate campaigns in no time, from subject lines to email content. It can even empower your support team to deliver fast, helpful replies for a seamless customer experience.
Sign up for free and get started with Brevo’s AI marketing tools today.
