6 things you need to do before using an AI-powered marketing tool
Ready to try AI-powered marketing tools, but not sure how to get started? You’re not alone. From Performance Max campaign types to ChatGPT, AI is BIG news right now. Whatever option you’re keen to try, there are a few common steps you can take before you get started to give yourself the best chance of success.
Even if you don’t have a particular tool in mind yet, it’s worth knowing these tips so you’re primed and ready when a tool catches your eye.
Before you get started with an AI-powered marketing tool, it’s essential that you:
Have a plan
Know what to expect from the tool
Have a process for sense checking or reviewing performance
Consider brand safety
Plan for testing time
Don't give in to FOMO
Have a plan
I know you're keen to get going, but don't rush in without a plan, as tempting as it might be to get stuck in. AI-powered tools are only helpful when you know how they fit into your digital marketing strategy and can get you closer to achieving your goals - even if that's simply freeing up time to let you work on higher-value tasks.
If you don’t have a plan, it will make everything more time-consuming from picking the right tool in the first place to analysing the results and deciding if the tool is helping or hindering your business. Not to mention that your and your team’s time is valuable, so if you foray into the world of AI, be sure to make it count.
If you’re not sure where to begin, try starting by pulling out your existing digital marketing strategy to remind yourself of the overarching business and platform goals. Then make a list of your team’s tasks, map them to your goals and rank them low to high-value in relation to getting you closer to achieving your goals. Next, compile a list of blockers that are getting in the way of your team achieving their goals or performing at their best. Now you have a framework to measure an AI tool’s worth and purpose against. When a tool catches your eye, simply refer back to it to check which goal, task and blocker it can help. For example, automatically personalising emails or helping you decide if Meta’s Advantage+ option is worth testing to see if it improves results.
Know what to expect (as far as you can)
Not every tool will live up to the hype, some may work better than expected and others will require a certain type of input to perform at their best. It's unlikely that you'll ever know all the ins and outs of how any AI-powered tool works, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to glean as much information as you can about it before you get started.
Equipping yourself with as much information as possible can help you understand the tool’s advantages, shortcomings, expected level of accuracy, expected output and how to set it up to give you the best chance of harnessing its full potential.
Don’t go in blind with just the PR spin to guide your efforts. Scour the internet to find independent reviews, check out guides and read opinions from other professionals. In particular, look for people who have used it within your industry as you may be able to adapt their learning when you try the tool out for yourself.
AI-powered tools are only helpful when you know how they fit into your digital marketing strategy.
Have a process for sense checking or reviewing performance
It doesn’t matter how sophisticated the AI-powered tool is, it won’t be perfect and it still needs a person to review the output to check that it’s generating the intended result, isn’t causing a risk to brand safety, is on-brand, makes sense and in the case of copywriting tools in particular, is factually accurate.
Before you start, have a robust plan for sense-checking the output or reviewing performance to ensure it's generating the right results and performing the tasks you’ve set it up to do to your desired standards. As someone who has used auto-generated caption tools on many occasions, I can vouch for needing to check (and usually amend) the results before it goes live.
This applies to any AI-powered tool or functionality. Want ChatGPT to generate headlines for you? Check they a) make sense, b) are relevant to your business, and c) are of interest to your audience. Keen to try Google Ads’ Performance Max campaign type? What metrics will you use to determine success and the impact it has on your other campaigns (e.g. is brand traffic down because it has pinched your brand terms)?
Consider brand safety
This is especially important if you're using an AI chatbot or advertising tool, but it applies to other AI-powered tools as well. What steps do you need to take to ensure there isn’t a risk to brand safety, or if there is one, that you’re happy to accept it and know how to minimise the risk? Do as much research and testing as you need to make sure you feel confident before you fully launch the tool.
In the field of digital marketing, there are AI options for everything from generating ad headlines and creating visual assets to fully handling customer service. If something goes wrong or the results are off-brand, people will look to you for answers. Make sure you’ve done your due diligence and risk assessment so you can minimise the risks to brand safety as much as possible.
It can help to loop in internal stakeholders from other departments (hello, PR and legal) during the early research stage as they may also have questions and considerations that need to be factored into your decision on whether the tool is a good fit for your business or not.
Plan for testing time
Like most, you probably have a never-ending to-do list, so it can help to make sure ahead of time that you have time to devote to testing different inputs, creative options, etc. until you find what gets you the results you want. You may find that you need to delegate this to a team member or ring-fence time in your diary when you won’t be distracted.
For example, the input you use for a text-to-image tool might need fine-tuning to get to the image you have in mind for your campaign. Or, you might want to try different account-based negatives or combinations in Asset Groups to make Google Ads’ Performance Max campaign generate sales.
It's OK if you don't get the results you want the first time. Expect to devote time to testing different ways to work with the system, and keep in mind that you may need to let the tool run for a while so it can learn before you see its full impact.
Don't give in to FOMO
My final point is, don’t be fooled into thinking you must use AI in your digital marketing strategy. There's a lot of buzz surrounding AI at the minute, but don't feel pressure to use it now if the options available aren't a good fit or it isn’t the best use of your budget (if there’s a cost to use the tool).
But, there’s a caveat to this point. The use of AI is growing - in a recent survey, more than 80% of industry experts said they integrate some form of AI technology into their digital marketing activities (Statista). So, make sure you don’t fall behind. Try to at least follow the news, watch for trends and be aware of what's happening in the AI space in case a tool that is right for your business comes along.
If you want to give your digital marketing strategy a refresh to make sure it’s up-to-date or you’re in need of one, get in touch to find out how I can help.