The Skills Marketers Need to Thrive in the Era of AI
Artificial intelligence has been a trending topic for quite some time, which comes as no surprise as the use of it is on the rise in every industry. According to a report by Salesforce, 51% of marketing leaders state that they currently use AI in some scope, with 27% planning to start using it in the next two years. As it continues to grow, it will progressively impact how our society functions and transform the way we work as marketers.
As with any transformative technology, AI has marketing professionals on their toes; leaving them to wonder where the fate of their jobs lies in the era of AI. So, should you anticipate a massive disruption of AI threatening the security of your job?
Marketers, have no fear. AI isn’t going to replace you or any of your colleagues just yet. Even though AI is incredibly advanced, it is not sophisticated enough to master the combination of human IQ and emotional quotient.
We haven’t experienced the full potential of AI yet, But as it comes to fruition, it will need the support of humans and compel marketers to build up their expertise. While it may replace a few routine marketing functions, it will create new roles and transform the role of the modern marketing expert into something quite exciting.
Here’s how to embrace the future of marketing with AI and ramp up your skills to evolve alongside it.
Embrace and Accept AI with Open Arms
To develop skills suited to support AI, you must first accept and understand the current and potential use cases of it.
AI is particularly helpful for automating repetitive tasks and sorting massive amounts of data. From analyzing which type of content resonates with a specific persona to curating the content all on its own, AI is incredibly proficient at providing deep insights into consumers and optimizing workflows. By automating redundant work, AI gives you the opportunity to craft more sophisticated strategies and prioritize tasks that make a meaningful impact.
The best way to survive the AI shift is to embrace its strengths and how it complements your capabilities. By understanding the limitations and possibilities of AI, you can better understand how it will impact (and enhance) your work.
Become Fluent in Analytics and Data
AI makes marketing tasks significantly more efficient and enhances data-driven decision-making. Marketers are now better able to identify their target consumer and understand the consumer’s needs and wants.
AI is well-equipped to manage and sort Big Data. It identifies insights and predicts patterns as well as highlights valuable relationships that may have been missed by humans.
However, the data that AI delivers needs to be translated by a human for proper results. Marketers must understand analytics and interpret the outputs to drive meaningful connections and actions. Making these connections allows them to understand the consumer, their behavior and motivation to better serve them and meet their needs.
You Can’t Put a Price on Human Emotional Intelligence
The continuous integration of AI into the customer-centric world impacts how consumers interact with and purchase from brands. This type of technology continuously drives customer demands and expectations higher, forcing marketers to deliver better experiences than ever before.
AI provides social insights that allow you to deliver messages across various channels based on customer behavior. However, it falls short in the emotional capacity needed to genuinely connect with consumers. It lacks the competence to understand context along the customer journey. Different factors like location and culture significantly impact the journey and experience, most of which are only possible for humans to inherently understand.
Human empathy and emotional intelligence (EQ) allow us to better understand the consumer and tailor content for a highly personalized journey and experience.
A combination of sophisticated analytical skills and EQ empowers you to leverage AI in targeting your core customer in ways that weren’t possible just a few years ago.
Unparalleled Creativity Cannot Be Simulated
Consumers expect more from a brand than just a great product or service. They want to connect with the company and expect an incredible and seamless buying experience. This is what creates loyalty and repeat business.
The customer should always be at the heart of marketing. From the design of the product to the messaging to the customer service, everything should revolve around the customer.
Nothing can connect to the emotions and feelings of a human better than another human. AI allows humans time to focus on creative work and other tasks machines don’t have the ability to do. If you have a unique, creative mindset to complement sharp technical skills, your competence is unmatched by any transformative technology.
Lifelong Learning Is a Must to Survive
AI and other disruptive technologies will decrease the amount of effort and time spent on day-to-day tasks, but it can never replace the human touch successful marketing requires. Marketers who continuously learn, expand their skills and evolve quickly alongside technology will always be able to survive.
We predict AI will always need human input to maximize its value. Picking up technical skills is particularly valuable to get ahead. Doing so will help you speak the language of AI and deliver even more value as a marketer.
We also predict that AI will continue evolving very quickly, and its impact on marketing will be profound. The ability to constantly evolve and grow will help you adapt to developments — which are inevitable in the digital landscape.
The best marketers will use innovative technologies to enhance their skills and the results they drive for their employers.
About the Author | Alice Oh
Alice Oh is a digital marketing specialist at MarketPro, Inc. She writes about the constant transformation and trends that occur in the digital marketing space. Alice is intrigued by the rapid integration of technology in the marketing space and is always eager to learn about the latest developments.
