Posted by Rapid acceleration and mass market availability have transformed AI technology from a hypothetical into the defining tech trend of the early 2020s. This trend is continuing to increase within the world of marketing. A recent survey conducted by Authority Hacker revealed that 75.7% of marketers are now using AI tools for work.
Perhaps no industry has been fundamentally transformed by the availability of AI as quickly as marketing. With tools such as ChatGPT becoming publicly available, the marketing world has become increasingly aware of how technology can be leveraged for social media marketing, project management, data analysis, content writing, and more.
But how is AI reshaping social media marketing? As social media becomes an increasingly ubiquitous medium of conversation, shopping, entertainment, and more, AI stands as a pivotal tool for not just developing content but assessing the present and future of social media marketing.
1. Data analysis, tagging, and sorting
Understanding consumer behavior is the cornerstone of every great social media marketing campaign.
Traditionally, this was once a complex and time-consuming process of customer outreach, collecting feedback, and analyzing data manually. However, with the creation of AI tools, this process has been significantly streamlined.
AI employs machine learning techniques to first extract information from large datasets collected online and then segment them into relevant, readable, and insightful formats. This can be used to highlight key correlations, exploitable consumer habits, and potential market gaps, helping to refine a social media marketer’s approach and content direction. As proficiency with AI grows and the programs become more educated on datasets, comprehensive tagging and the sorting of these datasets can be used to inform future social media marketing campaigns.
When coupled with comprehensive task and project management tools, transforming this raw, AI-collected data becomes an even smoother experience, giving teams more time to consider what this information is actually telling them about their social media marketing campaigns, content, and user satisfaction. This could provide a more data-driven reading into how your followers feel, instead of checking a hostile comments section.
2. Streamlining content development
In terms of daily interaction, AI has had perhaps no greater impact than on the content we consume.
When reading an article on the internet, we sometimes may ask ourselves “Did a computer write this?” and indeed it might have. From email templates to long-form pieces, AI is already being utilized in the process of content idea development, writing, and editing. Recent survey data from Authority Hacker even found that 85.1% of marketers are now using AI for article writing.
In terms of social media, this has taken shape not just in the articles being shared, but in the posts we read, in attention-grabbing captions, and in imagery. Meanwhile, in eCommerce, AI has been used to write product descriptions, to provide an indication of how the tools are being used to complete more repetitive tasks and to aid menial tasks. This frees up time for creative social marketers to focus on data analysis and campaign experimentation.
However, AI doesn’t just generate content, it fleshes out human-developed ideas. AI can be used to write the transcribe of a video clip, refine advertising copy for changing circumstances (think low stocks or audience interests changing), and to ensure Instagram captions stay on brand. The benefits of AI lie not in handing over every stage of the creative process but in using it as a conceptual launching point for social media marketers.
3. Redefining the customer experience
Social media marketing is more than an exercise in attracting new leads. It’s a process of brand building and audience interaction. So, it’s no surprise to see AI becoming a crucial tool in improving the social media customer experience.
Whereas some customers still enjoy picking up the phone and having a conversation, most of us are accustomed to the idea of public conversations across social channels or raising concerns with an automated service.
Ecommerce Chatbots, in particular, have been reshaped by the introduction of widely available AI. While they were previously seen as a frustrating step in the journey to speak to a real person, machine learning has now allowed these new AI chatbots to reply instantly and learn from previous interactions with customers, develop problem-solving solutions for common queries, saving time and investment on customer service teams.
Likewise, AI has been utilized to offer customers a more holistic experience across social media. Much like augmented reality offers customers a new insight into how the products they might be shopping for would feel in front of them, AI has been adopted to emulate this across social media, offering deeper insights and imagery tailored to specific customer needs.
4. Predicting future trends
Excelling in social media marketing is all about being ahead of the curve.
AI tools are a brilliant way to predict future trends and how to react to them. While it might not be able to identify the next pop culture star, AI can highlight the data behind rising personalities, phrases, trends, and customer habits, all of which help inform the direction you should take your social media marketing. After all, there’s nothing worse than a brand posting a dated meme.
Where AI excels in terms of predicting trends is analyzing what’s taking off on different platforms. Is there a TikTok dance you might be able to utilize? What about a fashion trend that’s garnering a lot of buzz that major retailers haven’t latched onto? AI will point to the data confirming these trends and their viability.
As we’ve seen on platforms such as TikTok, trends can often come out of left field and tend to define the marketing landscape rather than be shaped by them, so it might be a good idea to not rely entirely on AI being able to dictate where you should go next when it comes to incorporating trends into your social media marketing campaign.
5. Influencer identification
Influencers are an increasingly important part of how social media marketers hit their targets and reach new audiences.
Finding the right influencer can be tough. Not every brand has the budget or relevancy to target huge reality stars with millions of followers, and the world of micro-influencers can be a difficult one to navigate. While influencer sourcing tools can help you find potential collaborators, they work best when paired with the insights offered by AI.
AI can be used to analyze influencer reach, segment their audience, and establish the most relevant options. By feeding in your data, target, and content ideas, AI can find suitable options. AI skill sets make finding influencers not only easier but more accurate.
Implementing AI in your influencer search means that you can dive beyond the most surface-level metrics. You could look into engagement patterns and content relevance to spot not just relevant influencers, but their current standing amongst both followers and wider user bases. Influencer authenticity isn’t just a matter of how true they are to their brand, but what their true numbers tell you.
Some may say it’s too late to not be using AI in your social media marketing. These tools are already impacting the way professionals utilize platforms and users interact with them, and new developments will only continue to reshape this. As they continue to rise in prominence it’s important to consider AI implementation, training, and refining within your social media marketing.