Will AI kill the Marketer? (Not if you flirt with her!)
Will AI kill the Marketer? (Not if you flirt with her!)
Or How Artificial Intelligence Gives You an “Unfair Advantage”
“With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.”
Strong words.
Very strong, in fact… teetering close to the edge of panic!
I smiled.
Surely no one in his right mind would say that?
I scrolled down to see which poor technophobe (probably some cantankerous, deluded old guy) was mouthing such insane gibberish …
… and I stopped dead in my tracks.
The person going ballistic about AI was none other than Elon Musk… inventor, visionary, and widely hailed as “the next Steve Jobs!”
The guy had just shot out a Tesla into deep space, for chrissake!
Rest assured, Elon Musk—CEO of Tesla and SpaceX—is no luddite.
This was intriguing. What else did he have to say about the impact of AI?
Surely not ALL of us?
I mean, marketers (as a sub-species) are pretty much irreplaceable, right?
The eclectic mix of creativity, tech-savvy, content and design chops that good marketing needs today would be IMPOSSIBLE for the robot brain to replicate …
… right?
I looked toward Seth Godin, the Marketing Maestro, for reassurance.
He would know a thing or two about the sacrosanctity of marketmanship.
He would definitely take our side in this “war” with machines …
… wouldn’t he?
Is digital marketing — as the profession we know it — going to die?
Seth Godin, the doyen of marketers, calmly held forth:
Consensus:
The marketers’ demise (at the hands of AI) is inevitable.
Turns out Elon Musk wasn't done rubbing salt into the wound.
He tweeted out this “reassuring” message:
OK, that does it.
I HAD to figure out what was going on …
Shorn of the “devil”/“not evil” drama, what I’d managed to pick up was:
There’s this looming threat of AI that will radically change Life, the Universe and Everything as we know it (+ put marketers out to pasture) and most of us are blissfully unaware of the shifting sands under our feet!
I had to take matters in my own hands!
Moments later, I swung into action.
Or to be more precise, I rubbed a couple of brain cells together to generate a spark of ‘genius’ logical analysis (or so I thought):
This so called “artificial intelligence” is essentially code written by humans.
Thus, intelligent robots are nothing but glorified number crunching machines.
Henceforth, AI can do spreadsheets in the blink of an eye, but would fail miserably at creating art.
To wit, I concluded, AI can’t (and never will) do anything “fun”: compose a song, paint a picture, crack a joke, write a poem, or play with words. Period.
Needless to say, I was dead wrong.
Turns out, it can.
It already has!
See for yourself…
O — M—G !!!
A robot coup is underway, and we’ve barely noticed!
Dan Brown’s dire predictions in Origin now started making more sense:
“We will become the next page in the flip-book of evolution. … New technologies like cybernetics, synthetic intelligence, cryonics, molecular engineering, and virtual reality will forever change what it means to be human.”
Remember the movie Lucy, where a regular Scarlett Johansson transforms into a living supercomputer slash killing machine?
The way AI is evolving, you may’ve just glimpsed the near-future, my friend!
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on just a minute!”
Yes, dear reader, I understand exactly how you’re feeling.
I can almost see the gears turning (pun intended) inside your head.
“Killing machine? Is this where the killing marketers starts to make sense?
And Scarlett Johansson? Is this where the flirting part comes in?”
No sh*t, Sherlock! Aren’t you quite the genius? 😋
OK, I’ll come back to both the carnage and the romance (promise!)…
… but first let’s step away from the silver screen for a moment and see how AI is unfolding in the real world, and its impact on marketers.
I’d already executed a rapid turnaround, from denial to acceptance … to complete capitulation.
AI is taking over, whether you like it or not.
The question is:
For marketers, what’s next?
It’s here that things become a bit fuzzy.
AI is inventing new languages, solving codes humans couldn’t crack for hundreds of years, and beating world champions in deviously complex strategy games (many, many years BEFORE they were remotely expected to)!
To Conclude:
AI has gone totally off script. 😲
It’s now learning on it’s own, instead of being guided by humans.
No one really knows what to expect next.
With Artificial Intelligence in focus, the mega corps like Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google are already at war.
In the marketing world, there’s a flurry of activity on the AI front as well:
Some of all that R&D is leaking into our experience, and we’re beginning to see rudimentary glimpses of robot brains in action.
Meet Molly, the AI web designer.
She’s smart. You “just add content, it designs itself.”
She has “already designed hundreds of thousands of web pages,” “searched through more design decisions than stars in our galaxy,” and “24/7 she’s experimenting, figuring out what works & what doesn’t.”
This is Molly, by the way. (Or so her makers claim…)
On a less glamorous (and slightly disconcerting) note, we also have AI writing content “on a massive scale that sound like a person crafted each one.”
Take a look. I’m sure you’ll agree.
It’s literally a content generating machine, churning out words faster than Isaac Asimov belted out his bestsellers!
Interestingly, Asimov wrote a LOT about robots.
Coincidence… or did he have a strong, helping hand? 🤔
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the friendly neighbourhood entrepreneur/marketer (=You) had access to such stupendous AI capabilities, to execute (pun intended) more powerful marketing maneuvers, make a killing (not literally) and have the golden touch to make businesses future-proof (before the AI apocalypse)?
Turns out, you can.
And yes, AI can help you write perfect content too (for free). 😲
I’ll show you how.
Shortly.
Don’t miss it.
Which brings us back to the carnage and the romance (as promised).
Say Hello to Sophia.
Sophia appeared on The Tonight Show, gave Jimmy Fallon a drubbing in a game of rock, paper, scissors, “threatened” to take over his show, and casually mentioned her plans of world domination.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Sophia is a robot.
A robot who’s been traveling the world, giving a spate of television interviews, starring in films… you know, just being another run-of-the-mill celebrity.
Except when she talks about destroying the world.
Granted, she’s kidding (or so I hope).
On a good day, Sophia cautions against reading too much Elon Musk or watching too many Hollywood movies.
Best of all, she shared the formula of getting along with AI…
That’s it! 🤗
Think about it…
Modern AI—in the infinite wisdom of human consciousness—has been overwhelmingly given a female identity, be it Lucy, Molly or Sophia.
And how do you get along with the “digital feminine”?
Be chivalrous, be flirtatious, be enamoured… but most of all, be nice.
And that’s exactly the formula marketers need to use to thrive in the modern age.
Play nice with AI.
Incorporate it into your marketing systems.
Use its power to pull ahead.
Imagine this.
You’ve your own army of marketing robots! (Digital ones… relax, tiger.)
They don’t sleep, don’t rest, don’t make a mistake (oh, well… mostly).
If you could harness the tremendous power of AI, how much more effective would your marketing become?
Hint: Very.
Is it possible? … For You? … TODAY?
Indeed it is.
While comprehensive AI-based marketing solutions may still be in the works (in the secret labs of big corporations), you can put together your own advanced marketing system, powered by AI!
There are already a number of tools available today, infused with varying degrees of AI capabilities.
Individually, they are quite powerful.
Bring them together… and you can create a digital marketing machine that’ll get your prospects intrigued, customers hungry for more, and leave your competitors in the dust!
How?
Funnily, it’s just like the dating process.
Look, your flirtations with AI can only go so far, considering the “species incompatibility” thingy.
But if you work with her, she can become a formidable ally in courting your target audience, prospects and customers.
Let’s begin.
Step 1: Find Your Match
Step 2: Get Their Number
Step 3: Know Each Other
Step 4: Be More Intimate
(details follow…)
Step 1: Find Your Match
Be where your customers are.
Almost everyone is on Facebook, right?
Over 2 billion people. Had it been a country, Facebook would have been the world’s largest, by far!
So I hope your business is on Facebook too, where your customers are. (If not, please drop everything and set up your page here. Thank me later.)
Facebook’s backend is a massive AI operation. And when you run ads on the platform, you’re able to harness the power of this tremendous marketing machinery.
You gain almost Godlike powers (omnipresent, omniscient, and all that…)
Facebook knows practically everything (well, a LOT) about you and your target audience.
What you look like, what you do, who your friends are, stuff you like, things you love to do, your online habits, your purchase habits, you name it… Facebook most likely has its finger on the pulse.
No wonder they can “magically” identify who your ideal clients might be… new people who are very likely to be interested in your business because they’re similar to your existing customers.
To use this, you’ll have to create a Lookalike Audience.
Another gem of AI magic used by Facebook is a tiny “spy code” called Facebook Pixel.
Drop this invisible little fellow on your website and you’ll have an all seeing eye, locking on to everyone who visits, figuring out people’s interests based on which pages they go to, or where they linger, or how often they come back (and you can show them personalised ads based on these behaviors).
You can also see which subset of your audience tends to convert well, and ask Facebook to look for more people like that. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
As I said, Facebook’s AI can give you superpowers. Set up your Pixel, and all you have left to do is anoint yourself monarch of all that you survey. (Sweet!)
Moving on…
Step 2: Get Their Number
Or even better, their email address.
So now once you’ve “intelligently” identified more people who would be inclined to do business with you, and have wooed them with personalized ads based on their behavior… what do you do once they show up? (Wherever you are online, like your website.)
Get their contact info pronto, of course!
You don't want to pay Facebook again to reach the same people who’ve already expressed interest in your products or services, do you?
Once you have their contact details, you can reach out to them anytime you have an offer, or want to share some exciting news, or simply say “Hello!”
But hey, people are wary about sharing their contact info online, right?
Exactly.
To do this effectively, you need something that is scientifically proven, time tested, and “intelligently” designed to go around human psychological barriers.
Also known as the #1 Landing Page Builder, Leadpages.
Leadpages specialises in doing exactly what the name suggests, creating pages specifically crafted to capture leads (and generate sales) for your business
1. on the web,
2. in emails,
3. via text messaging,
4. and on social media.
It’s also the only platform that smoothly integrates with the “AI champ” Facebook, so you can actually create Facebook Ads inside Leadpages, without having to dive into the complexities of the Facebook Power Editor (phew!).
Its in-built intelligence bubbles up the best performing templates for you to choose from, does real-world tests to figure out which of your designs performs best, and if you want to get right down to selling, it has you covered, with payments built-in.
Leadpages has built up so much intellectual capital on the art and science of capturing leads, they actually have a full-fledged, free Digital University—ConvertedU—that helps you convert strangers to fans (and customers).
Give it a whirl. Try Leadpages for free…
Lead generation will never be the same again!
Step 3: Know Each Other
Figure out how you complement one another
So now you’ve attracted your ideal audience and also got their contact info.
Things are getting hot! Now what?
Now you get to know each other better.
Open lines of communication.
Establish trust.
Get Drip.
If you are in the business of selling (who isn’t?) it’s your ideal partner for AI-infused email marketing.
You can’t build a relationship with ocassional email blasts, or tone-deaf copy.
You need intelligent marketing automation.
You talk differently with a person who barely knows you, compared to a raving fan. The interaction with a first-time buyer is totally unlike the way you’d deal with a regular customer.
Your online persona should reflect your real-world behavior.
With Drip, it can.
For those who can stand a bit of jargon, this is Drip in a nutshell:
Personalised Email Sequences 💌
+ Intuitive Visual Workflows 🔀
= Delightful Customer Experiences 😘
And when you have delighted customers, your business is on a rock-solid footing!
Personally, I’ve tried out a number of (translation: waaay too many) email marketing systems, and when I discovered Drip, it was love at first sight! (Don’t tell my wife.)
It’s ultra simple to use, basically takes you by the hand and guides you as you set up your first autoresponder sequence (if you are an email marketing virgin), and intelligently manages the sequence of emails based on how each individual on your list interacts (or doesn’t) with your emails.
Give it a test run, for free... and see how you get along.
(Don’t get too cosy, or I might feel a tad jealous.) 😛
Oh, who am I kidding?
You’ll get along famously.
Just do it.
Step 4: Be More Intimate
Take your relationship to the next level
Now you’ve been “dating” for a while, it’s time to get serious.
Thanks to AI & friends, you’ve found your ideal audience, exchanged numbers, established trust and rapport… what next?
Maybe invite them over (to take a look at your website),
or pop the question (show them your products or services).
Either way, you do have a decent digital storefront, don’t you?
A ramshackle website won’t get you any brownie points.
And you’ll lose credibility. (almost instantaneously)
Hey…. you do have a website, right?
Look, if you’ve not thought about it, or been plain lazy…
Get real.
And if what has been putting you off is the sheer complexity…
of registering a domain name,
hosting your site,
designing,
coding,
developing,
making it mobile-responsive,
with search engine optimization,
taking care of security and support,
adding analytics and marketing add-ons,
and what about a blogging system?
(I’ll stop at this point. I’m sure you get the picture.)
… then, you’re in luck. 🍀
Seriously.
Get a Squarespace site.
It has all of the above—and more—seamlessly integrated.
And it’s so easy to use, even a baby can do it.
OK, maybe not literally a baby, but someone who’s new to setting up a powerful digital marketing system.
You do understand, I’m sure.
The AI wars are already underway, even along the tranquil shores of Lake Websitemaker.
And while there are others who are “trying”, Squarespace is basically the Apple of drag-and drop website builders. (+ apple of my eye)
The crème de la crème. Best in class. A cut above the rest.
You get my drift…
Suffice to say, I’m so tremendously happy with how Squarespace has simpified my life, I’ve embarked on a lifetime partnership!
In a time of abruptly shifting sands, Squarespace is the rock where I have chosen to build my castles.
I rest my case.
Now you don’t have ANY excuse to NOT have a smart online presence.
AND if you’re saddled with some old, legacy contraption… do yourself a favor and simplify your life.
At the risk of repeating myself,
GET a Squarespace website.
Now that the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed (with robotic precision), it’s time to bring this crazy journey—of flirting with AI and dating bots—to an end.
If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll remember there’s one more thing that we need to wrap up.
Yes, I’d promised to explain how AI can help you write perfect content, for free. Here goes…
(Bonus) Step 5: Tie the Knot
To be, or ‘knot’ to be?
Good content is essentially a harmonious marriage of flair and finesse.
Since you’ve been so perfectly nice to AI, she’ll make sure you can deliver on both the style and substance.
Your first tool: Grammarly
Billed as the “World’s Most Accurate Online Grammar Checker”. Use it to eliminate your grammar and spelling mistakes, and improve your writing chops.
From now on, whether you’re typing a Facebook post, or writing on a Word document, Grammarly will be watching… with a polite suggestion or two.
Get it before these guys come to their senses, and start charging for excellence. 😜
And finally, the Hemingway Editor.
… and that’s just the beginning.
You can’t write confusing gobbledygook any more, even if you try!
Perfect English. +
Clear and concise writing.
What more can you ask for?
I don’t know what the future holds… but from what we’ve seen so far I can’t see AI as anything but an ally.
A very effective, powerful, intelligent friend, who is a great help for small businesses.
AI is the great leveller!
Creepy? Maybe, or maybe not.
All I can recall now, with a tinge of nostalgia, are the words of Asimov’s Bicentennial Man — an android who endeavors to become human, for love…
Need help with any of these tools and strategies?
Drop by at MarketingMaharaja.com or send me a note here.
