Over the next five years, the use of AI in marketing is expected to grow to a whopping $108 billion, up from $10 billion or so at the start of the decade.

While many organizations are experimenting with AI, achieving measurable impact for brand marketing actually requires careful planning, data management, and additional resources. It’s essential to align AI initiatives with marketing goals, select the right AI tools, and regularly evaluate and fine-tune AI strategies to achieve optimal results. Using AI to improve brand marketing involves leveraging the power of AI to analyze data, enhance personalization, automate tasks, and improve customer experiences. Here are some ways marketers can and are utilizing AI in brand marketing and examples of the tools they are using.

Customer segmentation and targeting

AI can analyze large amounts of customer data to identify patterns and create addressable segments, enabling marketers to develop more targeted and personalized campaigns. AI-powered segmentation can help identify customer attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics to continuously refine marketing strategies. Useful AI tools for customer segmentation and targeting include Peak.ai and Optimove, among others.

Personalized content and recommendations

AI can generate tailored content and recommendations based on customer browsing behavior, purchase history, and preferences. By analyzing user data, AI algorithms can deliver customized product suggestions, personalized email campaigns, and engaging website experiences. Tools in this area include Persado and Personalize.ai. Of course, these tools go hand-in-glove with generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Jasper.ai that most will already be exploring if not working with for copywriting.

Sentiment analysis and social listening

AI-powered sentiment analysis tools can analyze customer reviews, feedback, and social conversations to gain insights into brand image and reputation, customer opinions, and sentiment. It helps marketers gauge public perception and make data-driven decisions to improve brand messaging and customer satisfaction. There are a fair number of AI-based tools for social listening and sentiment analysis, including Digimind and Brand24.

Chatbots and virtual assistants

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can interact with customers in real time, providing instant responses to queries, offering product recommendations, and guiding users through the sales funnel. This automation helps improve customer service, saves time, and enhances user experiences. Typically, chatbots are more limited or focused in their use as compared to virtual assistants, who are closer to mimicking what a human assistant might do. Many options for contextual chatbots exist (e.g., Salesforce Einstein, Hubspot Bot Builder, Jasper Chat, etc.). Virtual assistants have been in many of our homes and pockets for some time now and include Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant.

Predictive analytics and forecasting

AI algorithms can analyze historical data to predict future customer behavior, demand, and market trends. By leveraging predictive analytics, marketers can make informed decisions about product launches, marketing campaigns, and resource allocation. Examples of AI tools for predictive analytics and forecasting include IBM Watson Studio, H2O Driverless AI, and RapidMiner.

Social media and ad optimization

AI tools can analyze social media data and advertising metrics to optimize ad targeting, bidding strategies, and content delivery. AI can help identify the best time to post, the most engaging content formats, and the most relevant audiences, leading to more effective social media marketing campaigns. Strong AI tools for social media include Lately and Cortex. AI-based tools for optimizing ads more generally include AdCreative.ai and Albert.

Image and video recognition and creation

AI-powered image and video recognition tools can analyze visuals to extract meaningful insights. Marketers can use this technology to understand consumer preferences, analyze competitor campaigns, and create engaging visual content that resonates with the target audience. Examples range from Dall E 2 to DeepBrain.ai and from Visla to Opus Clip and Synthesia.io.

The above represents a light sampling of the areas in which AI is affecting marketing. It is not meant to be an exhaustive review and other areas like SEO and email marketing are not included here. Many more AI-based tools than those mentioned here exist—and new tools are coming on the market on a regular basis. AI in marketing is still in an early, explosive growth phase, and it will be difficult to find the optimal tools for each use case for some time to come, which makes it an exciting, if mildly exhausting, time in marketing.