Attracting the attention of a mass audience was easier in the days when your product was an exclusive offering and when competition was relatively low. But in today’s world, the product being advertised is often just another drop in a sea of available offerings, and so the art of attracting the attention of your target audience and retaining it becomes a real challenge. It really is a Herculean task to get your message across to potential consumers and encourage them to buy the advertised product. And modern technology makes this task much easier.
Using AI in advertising
AI is now being used en masse to attract new customers. This is done through tools such as clustering and pattern matching, customizing the message with AI-powered hyper-personalization, and determining the most appropriate time and medium to communicate through pattern identification. A great example is Dixons Carphone’s strategy to increase demand for its products during Black Friday.
At a time when all the copywriters who worked on the promotion campaign were using standard slogans and expressions, the AI managed to break the pattern and come up with something new and original. This is what made the Dixons Carphone ad campaign a success.
Interestingly, the first time AI was used in an ad was in 2018 by Lexus. The AI used data from 15 years of worldwide award-winning advertising and developed a 60-second film showing a car story that brings to life and explores interesting questions about humanity and creativity and the relationship of those aspects to the AI.
How is artificial intelligence changing advertising?
AI is already revolutionizing the creation and perception of advertising. Below are some of the most popular tools for using AI in marketing.
Personalization
In the case of advertising, personalization is the acquisition of information about customers in order to increase their interest in their advertising. This data can relate to demographics, purchase intent, interests, and behaviors.
For example, younger target audiences are attracted to specific visual-oriented ads, but older target audiences prefer more detailed and thoughtful ads that focus more on products and services.
All of this helps advertisers focus on preparing just one version of an ad, which can be customized with artificial intelligence algorithms and then offered to the right target audiences.
Another lucrative personalized AI solution is conversational marketing. This approach helps advertisers maintain a personal connection with their consumers.
AI and ad creation
Interestingly, AI is now also being used to create ad copy. For example, Facebook and Instagram use AI-powered tools that help users of these platforms both create ads and offer them personalized ads.
In addition, many emerging platforms and startups are also expanding their capabilities by using AI tools to create better ads.
We also have several platforms working on fully automated advertising systems that can target markets, discover audiences, generate content, run bids and place ads.
AI is also beneficial for monitoring ad spending, tracking sales and consumer behavior. Social media platforms are also using this technology to evaluate the advertising placed on their network.
AI and effective audience segmentation
Using AI allows advertisers to identify patterns in audience behavior. This is achieved by using data such as, information about its online behavior and its preferences, browser search history and so on. All of this is used to make the right decision about what content a particular segment of potential customers prefer to see.
AI-enabled ads convert better
By analyzing data on past performance and trends, AI is able to generate insights that ensure fruitful decision-making and that your money is not wasted on poor-quality ads.
McDonald’s turned to IBM Watson Advertising to bring attention to its limited-edition McCafe specialty coffee promotion. To achieve this goal, McDonald’s used compelling and impressive backgrounds and memorable images in its ads.
McDonald’s used IBM Watson Advertising data and statistics from its stores to evaluate the results of the advertising campaign. Here they are below:
~ 5,000,000 ad impressions;
168% more effective price per visit compared to category benchmarks;
0.71% CTR for mobile branded backgrounds + 25% over the benchmark;
79% of open users visited McDonald’s restaurants within 3 days.
“Have you noticed how AI is revolutionizing the creation and perception of advertising? It can create ad copy and even customize it based on audience behavior patterns.”
Have you noticed how AI is revolutionizing the creation and perception of advertising? It can create ad copy and even customize it based on audience behavior patterns.