From Science Fiction To Marketing Reality: Exploring The Impact Of AI

AI is everywhere, but when is it useful? What do you need to know about it?

How are marketers and SEO professionals actually using generative AI today to work more efficiently and execute better campaigns?

With search engines announcing new AI integrations and thousands of new AI tools coming online daily, sorting the fabulous from the flops can take a lot of work.

On June 1, I moderated a webinar with Search Engine Journal’s very own Matt Southern, Senior News Writer, and Jennifer McDonald, Client Success Manager.

Southern and McDonald discussed the latest AI news and top tools, answering questions about marketing and SEO-related AI inquiries and sharing their best tips for integrating these new technologies.

Here’s a summary of the webinar. To access the entire presentation, complete the form.

AI vs. Generative AI

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to a broad field of computer science aimed at creating systems capable of performing tasks that usually require human intelligence.

Generative AI, on the other hand, is a subfield of AI. It learns from data and uses that learning to create new content or predictions. Think GPT-4 developed by OpenAI, which can generate human-like text that is contextually relevant and highly sophisticated.

Generative AI has come a long way, from logic theorists in 1956 to Google’s latest Search Generative Experience (SGE) in 2023.

[See the AI timeline of developments] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →

How Generative AI Is Changing Digital Marketing

AI is improving digital marketing in the following areas:

• Productivity: Faster output of narrow tasks saves mental energy
• Connection: Stronger understanding of personas, demographics, & language.
• Ideation: Pushes leaping-off point farther down the field.
• Funnels: Deeper, more powerful campaigns.
• Beginner Content: SMBs & solopreneurs can now create content up to industry standards.

[Dive deeper into each area] Instantly access the on-demand webinar →

Digital Marketing Areas Generative AI Is Useful In

Generative AI holds immense potential and can be utilized in nearly every aspect of marketing.

This cutting-edge technology has a vast array of applications allowing it to transform standard marketing methodologies significantly.

[Discover more uses of advanced/trained language model] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →

When Is Generative AI Harmful In Digital Marketing?

While generative AI has significant potential in digital marketing, its misuse can lead to unforeseen ramifications.

Let’s explore some instances across different categories where misuse of generative AI has had unintended consequences:

1. Data Privacy & Proprietary Information Protection: For instance, a confidential data leak occurred at Samsung due to the inappropriate use of AI.
2. Content Accuracy: A notable case involved a lawyer who faced a court hearing because a generative AI erroneously cited six non-existent legal issues.
3. “Total-AI” Content: Although Google doesn’t explicitly penalize AI-generated content, it does favor Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) content. Generative AI has yet to achieve this level of content creation.

Tips For Testing & Adopting New AI Tools

Businesses can strategically embrace and integrate AI into their operations. Here are some ways to ensure a smooth transition:

1. Crawl, Then Walk, Then Run

Start with simple tasks and learn how your business can augment AI output with human-centric connections.

2. Use The Cyborg Approach

Heart, emotions & experiences of a human, speed of a machine/CPU.

3. Efficacy Comparison

• At the end of each project or task, input your OG idea into AI.
• See how close it is to your final human result.
• Select areas you can take off your plate to use AI for.

4. Take Trials

Use trials of multiple tools; don’t settle on a single tool.

5. Make AI Your Best Friend

Spend 5 minutes daily using AI for non-work questions and tasks to build your database of potential search uses.

6. Start An AI Committee

Task individuals to ideate around ethics, use cases, business research, and education.

7. Think Of AI As Your Co-pilot/Personal Assistant

What would you ask them to do for you? Can AI kickstart that task for you?

Integrating AI can bring transformative changes to a business, fostering efficiency, profitability, and growth.

[Peek into SEJ’s current AI tool sets] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →

AI Predictions

Now let’s explore the future landscape shaped by the integration of AI, forecasting the potential impact on small businesses, data management, content generation, and search engine results:

• Small businesses & solopreneurs will see faster success.
• First-party data will have a more accessible & robust home, allowing for a resurgence of hyper-targeted marketing.
• Better audience connection through predictive problem-solving.
• “Total-AI” content will be naturally demoted due to its duplication nature; personal experience and human touch will be the key differentiator.
• Hyper-niche content will get a chance to shine in search results.
• AI will bring a level of personalization to SERPs as we’ve never seen before

[Uncover the reality of AI in marketing] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →

Questions

1. What are your thoughts on the evolution of SEO in the context of AI advancements, particularly considering the emergence of SGE?
2. Could the disparity between SGE’s chosen sources and top organic search results prompt a new SEO strategy that prioritizes optimizing content for AI-generated results instead of traditional organic rankings?
3. What are the recent developments or trends in advertising within formats like SGE and Bard?
4. How prepared are SEO professionals and website owners for the arrival of AI? Is there a consensus on the right direction to go? Or is it more of a mixed and experimental approach?
5. Do you see significant opportunities for AI implementation in sales and client management?
6. Will search engines penalize AI-generated content?
7. How does AI enhance email marketing, and what is a quick tip for utilizing AI in your email marketing strategy?
8. How are you currently leveraging AI tools to enhance specific areas? If you had to select just one AI tool, which one would you choose?

[Find out the answers] Instantly accesses the on-demand webinar →

[Slides] From Science Fiction To Marketing Reality: Exploring The Impact Of AI

Here’s the presentation:

Image Credits:

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal