Ultimate Guide to Using AI in Digital Marketing (2025)

What is AI in Digital Marketing

Artificial intelligence uses machine learning (ML), deep learning, natural language processing (NLP) and large-language models (LLM) to analyse large quantities of data, transforming it into actionable insights, actions and content.

In plain terms, digital marketers use AI to automate, assist and streamline numerous parts of the traditional digital marketing process, making it more efficient and effective.

It’s a tool that’s constantly evolving, learning off new information and developing its algorithm based on responses and interactions.

However, that is exactly what AI is – a tool. It’s not a miracle solution that will transform your business overnight.

Clark Boyd, Founder of Novela & Marketing and Management Professor, said it best: “AI is a tool, it’s a technology. It’s as useful as the person putting it to work“.

For AI to be effective in your business, you need qualified and experienced individuals from within the sector using the technology. Their experience plays a crucial role in separating the low-quality content from the golden gems AI can sometimes produce.

8 Different Ways Digital Marketers Use AI

So, how do experienced digital marketers use AI?

Data from HubSpot highlights that the top use cases for AI in digital marketing are:

• Data analysis and reporting (40%)
• Market research and article summary (39%)
• Content creation (38%)

The adoption of artificial intelligence from digital marketers is primarily driven by improved efficiency in ad-hoc and admin work, relieving workers from tedious tasks that would have otherwise eaten into several hours of the working day.

True, some marketers use the tool for content creation and more labour-intensive tasks, but that doesn’t always mean the end product is entirely artificially generated.

A great marketer uses what an AI tool provides as a foundation and builds on it.

However, the ease of AI has led to a common misconception that the technology is here to take away all digital marketing roles, and that simply isn’t entirely true.

We understand the concerns about AI (as we will explore later in this post), but it’s not without its flaws. Artificial intelligence regularly makes mistakes and that’s not acceptable for businesses operating in competitive markets.

Any business wanting to use AI but maintain its integrity as a professional and well-respected company needs humans to operate the AI tools and refine their output.

Without the human touch, every digital marketing strategy would be a carbon copy of each other, with no opportunity for a business’s unique ideas to rise to the top.

Here is some food for thought from Kerry Harrison, AI educator and copywriter on a DMI podcast: “There’s still a huge need for human writers for human creativity, for human thought and strategy and to come to these models with our own objectives and our own ideas.”

With that said, let’s explore eight ways you can use artificial intelligence tools to streamline and refine your digital marketing strategies.

Audience Research

Data on your audience is invaluable. After all, these are the people you are creating content for and ultimately want to convert.

Certain AI tools, such as Crystal, can analyse vast amounts of data, collating insights on your audience’s interests, behaviour patterns and buying habits. With this information, you can tailor and create more targeted marketing campaigns with better chances for success.

Using this data, digital marketers can hyper-focus their campaigns on what their audience is interested in, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates.

Content Creation

Content creation is probably the most common use case of AI within the public, helping students and office workers alike write paragraphs of text in seconds. But is it a useful tool for digital marketing?

Well, yes and no.

Artificial intelligence can significantly streamline the writing process of any email marketing campaign or long-form blog post, helping marketers achieve more in their working day.

But just because you can write content with AI, that doesn’t mean the content is actually good.

Anybody with experience using generative AI tools can tell auto-generated content from a mile away. And frankly, it’s a bad look.

Filling your website with pages upon pages of auto-generated content suggests to users (and search engines) that you’re either not an expert in the field, inexperienced and not giving it your all.

That’s not to say you can’t use AI to write great content – you definitely can. The difference between high and low-quality AI content is the human touch.

Only your specialist views and insight can elevate a repetitive and sluggish AI-generated piece of text into a thought-provoking statement that generates sales and engagement for your business.

Instead of relying on AI to fulfil all your content creation tasks, consider it a helpful tool that can help you get to your goal faster.

Content Optimisation

In our experience, we have found that AI can be a useful tool when optimising your web content.

AI bots can help you break down your content, giving actionable insights on how to improve the text and rise in SERP rankings.

One of the most effective ways of optimising your content with AI is by comparing the text from a competitor’s website with your own.

By getting an AI tool to break down the reasons why a specific web page might be ranking higher than your own, marketers can actively edit and optimise their content, helping them to achieve higher rankings for their SEO strategies.

Alternatively, AI can be a great tool for writers needing to swiftly change the tone of their work, giving marketers prime examples of what their content should look and sound like.

Data Analytics and Reporting

Digital marketing is data-driven. How else would we know what’s working and what isn’t?

Luckily, AI can do the heavy lifting for us.

Using machine learning algorithms, AI tools can analyse vast amounts of data in a fraction of the time it takes humans to complete. The output? Insights that might have taken hours – if not days – for marketers to find themselves.

AI can track user behaviour on your website, highlighting areas where users drop off and helping you identify how to keep them more engaged (and ultimately make more conversions).

With all this data compiled in one place, digital marketers can save time creating detailed reports and focus their energy on making strategic business decisions backed by solid data.

Customer Service Chatbots

In recent years, artificial intelligence has become increasingly popular for customer service tasks.

Chatbots have been around for a while now, but thanks to AI technology, they can provide a more seamless and personalised experience for customers.

AI-powered chatbots can handle simple customer queries, freeing up time for human agents to focus on more complex issues. They use natural language processing to understand and adapt to the tone of each individual interaction, giving the impression of speaking with a real person.

This not only improves the overall customer experience but also helps businesses save on resources, streamline their customer service processes and be perceived as a larger company with a dedicated customer service team.

Image Creation and Editing

Visual content is an essential aspect of digital marketing, and AI can be a valuable tool for creating and editing images.

There are many AI-powered tools available that can help create high-quality visual content in just a few clicks. These tools use machine learning algorithms to generate unique images based on your specifications, saving you time and resources compared to traditional methods.

Many leading image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop, now incorporate AI technology to enhance photos with just a few adjustments. This can help create more visually appealing content for your website and social media platforms.

However, AI imagery isn’t always perfect. It’s pretty commonplace to see images of people with seven fingers or misplaced limbs if you rely solely on AI-generated images. So, it’s always essential to double-check and have a human eye for quality control.

SEO Strategies

Every great digital marketing strategy revolves around search engine optimisation (SEO) in some way or another, and AI can play a significant role in improving your website’s search engine rankings.

With AI-powered tools, you can analyse your website’s SEO performance and make necessary changes to improve it. These tools can also help you identify new keywords to target, track keyword rankings, and monitor backlinks to your site – especially with the rise of AI search engines.

Furthermore, AI can assist in identifying potential content gaps on your website that need to be filled for better SEO performance. By using machine learning algorithms to analyse user search patterns and behaviour, AI tools can provide valuable insights on how to optimise your website to attract more organic traffic.

However, AI shouldn’t be solely relied upon for SEO. Our recent study into the effectiveness of AI in SEO found that human-written content generates up to 6.2x more traffic than AI content and leads to a 115% increase in online visibility. This highlights the necessity for the human touch in digital marketing strategies, even when incorporating AI.

PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns can be a time-consuming and costly task, but AI technology can help make the process more efficient.

AI-powered tools can analyse PPC data and provide insights into which keywords are generating the most conversions. This information can then be used to optimise future campaigns for better ROI.

By automating tasks such as keyword research and bid management, marketers can save time and focus on developing successful PPC strategies that align with their overall marketing goals.

However, it’s essential to have a human oversee PPC campaigns as AI may not always understand the context of certain keywords or target audiences accurately. A balance between AI automation and human oversight is crucial for ensuring successful PPC campaigns.

Email Marketing

Email marketing campaigns can sometimes be tedious work. However, with the assistance of AI, marketers can automate and personalise their campaigns to increase open and click-through rates.

AI-powered tools can analyse customer data and behaviour patterns to help create more targeted email marketing campaigns, resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates.

These tools can also suggest optimal send times for emails based on previous performance, making sure your message reaches your audience when they are most likely to engage with it. This not only saves time but also increases the effectiveness of your email strategy.

AI Digital Marketing Tools

Chances are when you think about AI, you’re probably thinking about generative AI, such as ChatGPT. But the world of AI is far more advanced than just language generation.

These are just a few examples of AI digital marketing tools available on the market today. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more innovative AI-powered tools to emerge in the digital marketing world.

• ChatGPT: A versatile AI language model that generates human-like text, useful for creating engaging blog posts, emails, or customer support responses. 
• Jasper: An AI writing assistant designed to craft persuasive and creative marketing copy tailored for ads, websites, and social media. 
• Pro Rank Tracker: A rank-tracking tool that provides accurate keyword ranking data, helping marketers optimise SEO strategies. 
• AlliAI: A powerful SEO automation tool that streamlines on-site optimisation processes to improve search engine rankings. 
• SEO.ai: An AI-driven platform that enhances content creation by analysing keywords and trends for higher-performing SEO articles. 
• Writer: A copywriting AI designed for crafting consistent and brand-appropriate messaging across various marketing channels. 
• Midjourney: A generative AI platform that creates visually stunning digital art, ideal for unique and eye-catching marketing designs. 
• Optimove: A customer relationship management platform that leverages AI to deliver personalised, data-driven marketing campaigns. 
• Zapier: An automation tool that connects apps and workflows to streamline repetitive marketing tasks and processes efficiently. 
• Manychat: A chatbot platform specialising in automating conversations on social media, enhancing customer engagement and support. 
• Evolv.ai: An AI tool for continuous online experiments, optimising website and campaign performance using data-driven decisions. 
• Surfer SEO: A content optimisation tool that integrates AI insights to improve rankings by aligning content with keyword strategies. 
• Mailchimp: A well-established email marketing platform enhanced by AI for analytics, automation, and personalised email campaigns. 
• Perplexity: An AI query tool that delivers detailed, search-engine-like answers to help marketers gather insights quickly for strategy development. 
• Drift: A conversational AI tool that supports lead generation by engaging website visitors with personalised chat interactions. 
• Buffer: A social media management tool powered by AI, enabling marketers to schedule, analyse, and optimise content performance effortlessly. 
• Tableau: A data visualisation platform that uses AI analytics to turn complex data sets into actionable marketing insights.
• Crystal: A personality prediction tool that helps marketers tailor their messaging to individuals based on their communication style.

Pros and Cons of AI in Digital Marketing

As with every technology, there are both positives and negatives to incorporating AI into digital marketing strategies. From improved efficiency and ROI to concerns around privacy and job displacement, here are some pros and cons to consider when implementing AI in your marketing efforts:

Pros of AI Digital Marketing

1. Increased efficiency: AI-powered tools streamline repetitive tasks, saving time and resources, which allows digital marketers to focus on more strategic activities.
2. Improved ROI: With data-driven decisions and precise targeting, campaigns become more effective, maximising returns on investment from your marketing budget.
3. Personalise at scale: AI enables the creation of tailored content and experiences for large audiences, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
4. Automation: Automating processes such as email campaigns and ad placements reduces manual effort, ensuring consistent delivery and improved accuracy.
5. Heightened productivity: By reducing time-consuming tasks, AI empowers teams to achieve more within tighter deadlines.
6. Detailed insights: AI analytics interpret vast amounts of data quickly, offering actionable insights that drive more informed decision-making.
7. Predictive analysis: AI forecasts trends and behaviours, enabling businesses to stay ahead of the curve and refine their strategies proactively.
8. Grow your workforce: AI tools can enable digital marketing firms to complete tasks at a fast rate, opening up new opportunities for increased workloads from other clients.
9. Competitive advantage: As AI becomes more integrated into marketing strategies, businesses that adopt early will have a competitive edge over those that don’t.

Cons of AI Digital Marketing

1. Bias: AI systems inherit biases from their training data, leading to skewed outcomes and impacting campaign inclusivity.
2. Lack of human touch: Entirely automated campaigns may lack the emotive and personalised touch that resonates deeply with audiences.
3. Inaccuracy: AI predictions and analyses are only as good as the data provided, and errors can have significant repercussions. Any mistakes or inaccuracies from the AI tool could lead to potentially costly business decisions.
4. Ethics: Leveraging AI in marketing raises ethical concerns, particularly around invasive tactics. Some potential clients may find hyper-targeted ads to be invasive and off-putting.
5. Data sensitivity: AI requires substantial amounts of data, which can risk breaches of privacy if not handled correctly.
6. Transparency: Clients have hired your business for a reason. They want your skills and experience, not a robot’s.
7. Copyright concerns: AI-generated content could potentially infringe on existing intellectual property if not closely monitored. Proper oversight ensures originality and compliance, protecting brand reputation.
8. Evaluating non-quantifiable KPIs: AI struggles to measure aspects such as brand perception or emotional engagement.
9. Concerns on job displacement: The widespread use of AI in marketing may lead to job displacement for human marketers, potentially impacting the workforce in the industry.

Conclusion

Let’s face it, AI can be a great tool for digital marketing. It has the potential to revolutionise the industry, making campaigns more efficient, effective, and personalised.

Artificial intelligence is a tool that can enhance, streamline and augment your marketing efforts and mundane admin tasks, but let’s not act like it’s a magic solution that will solve all our marketing challenges – it isn’t.

Clients have hired your digital marketing firm for a specific reason. They want your specialist skills and acumen, not that of a robot.

Effective marketing campaigns need the human touch to stand out and impact your target audience. Without this, your campaign will likely be stale, unoriginal and ultimately, ineffective.

AI is a technology that’s still in its early stages and comes with its own set of limitations and concerns. To be maximised, AI needs skilled individuals to design, implement and monitor it. As long as digital marketers recognise this and use AI in a way that enhances their skills rather than replaces them, the potential for great success is immense.

Understanding and mastering this tool can give you a competitive edge that sets your firm apart from the rest. Use it wisely, and AI has the potential to supercharge your digital marketing efforts like never before.