The Undeniable Influence of AI in Marketing

Much of my sentiment mirrors that of the industry at large. To ignore the utility of AI tools is somewhat ignorant and short-sighted. However, I believe it is vital for AI to be used for the right things and not just everything - just because AI can do something, doesn't mean it should. Most importantly, AI work needs to be thoroughly proofed and tweaked, so as not to lose the human touch of marketing. Nevertheless, using AI to simplify and automate processes allows more efficient working and more time to focus on the more important aspects of marketing.

AI in Paid Media

Both Google and Meta have introduced "automated" campaign functions that simplify a lot of the complexities of running ads. These tools are fantastic for small businesses that do not yet have the capacity for a dedicated performance marketer or cannot afford agency fees. In other words, these tools are great for companies that otherwise wouldn't be able to run ads.

I still firmly believe that these AI-controlled campaigns and features will only be able to take performance so far. Having tested them all myself, I can confirm that in my anecdotal experience, having dedicated in-house staff, or an agency, will allow for more potential in performance.

While these tools are great for small businesses, they leave a little to be desired for businesses with more complex marketing strategies, especially those businesses that have embraced funnel-based marketing. The main issue you begin to see with campaigns like Google's Performance Max (PMax) or Meta's Advantage+ is that they essentially operate like a black box. What this means is that the platform makes a lot of key decisions for you and seldom provides any data.

For this reason, more manual campaigns and controls are still preferential at present. However, it is always worth testing all new AI features released by both Google and Meta. If not for any other reason than these platforms have been known to give preferential results to those using the features. For example, Google giving higher priority to Performance Max campaigns in PLA listings, over standard shopping campaigns - Though this has been confirmed to have stopped in 2024.