Kathy is the Chief Product Officer at Adapt , a measurement and analytics company that helps marketers optimize their apps across platforms .
The past year has seen tremendous change in every industry, but as we approach 2024, global companies are considering how to best leverage the technology that has taken the world by storm: artificial intelligence. Marketing is in the same boat as other things. At a time when marketing teams must carefully manage their time and effort to deliver value for money, managing the dynamic interaction between AI and marketing is not just a strategic advantage, but a critical business imperative.
Advances in artificial intelligence and its subfields, machine learning (ML) and generative artificial intelligence have led the industry to explore how this technology can be used to increase efficiency, save valuable time and improve return on investment ( ROI). At Adapt, we've seen firsthand the impact of machine learning on predictive analytics and campaign measurement, and across the industry, generative AI has been used in creative visuals for textual content and marketing. General Purpose: Reduce time spent on fundamentals and focus on strategic initiatives.
Less is more
Under constant economic pressure, companies are constantly looking for ways to save time and increase efficiency. In our conversations with clients, we often find that marketers need more time to focus on strategy, creative ideas, and tactics to better engage their audience.
This means they have to spend less time on everyday tasks like campaign management and data collection. This is why most marketing teams have implemented some form of AI to speed up these processes, either through readily available tools like ChatGPT or indirectly through integration with partners or existing software.
In addition to increasing efficiency by automating day-to-day operations, AI technology has enabled marketing teams and their technology partners to optimize campaign results. Measurement and analytics tools have always played an important role in marketing, providing valuable insights into performance, user behavior and ROI. These tools provide the foundation for data-driven decision making, allowing marketers to refine their strategies and identify the best audiences for campaign success. What has become clear to our team and our customers over the past year is the incredible improvements that AI, especially ML, can bring to these devices.
Traditional campaign measurement methods have been overhauled with ML i.e. Gradual and Media Mix Modeling or MMM. Leverage allows marketers to see the true value of their marketing efforts by showing the difference between converted and unconverted marketing efforts. MMM, on the other hand, measures a wide range of marketing activities using aggregated data to understand their impact on ROI.
In addition to improvements to these traditional methods, the latest machine learning technology extracts insights from aggregated campaign data to predict usage patterns and make campaign optimization recommendations. Measuring the past requires collecting data from multiple sources and comparing the results to make future decisions. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, marketers can now predict a user's lifetime value after three, seven, 14, and 30 days after a campaign begins. These predictive analytics, combined with leverage and MMM, give marketers a better understanding of how to spend their budget to achieve higher ROAS on advertising spend.
The benefits are immediately apparent. For example, when analyzing the performance of out-of-home (OOH) campaigns, which are simply ads found outside of the consumer's home, marketers wait six months to measure them. Now, machine learning-based metrics deliver results within weeks, allowing marketers to quickly see the impact of their OOH ads on app usage, predict success, and act accordingly.
I'm looking forward to!
As we expect increased investment in AI, commercial adoption of this technology will be critical to remaining competitive in a changing environment. Today, artificial intelligence allows marketers to get more accurate data, helping them make smarter and more informed decisions.
But in 2024 and beyond, we believe the next step will be to answer an important question: How can this new technology leverage all this data and help users make informed decisions and self-directed next steps? Through continuous data analysis, advanced learning models can provide marketers with meaningful recommendations. With less time and more accuracy, it helps growing marketers understand how to optimize their spend to reach audiences and achieve results.
Move forward
One thing is clear. There will be no return to traditional approaches to marketing and campaign performance measurement. If 2023 is a year of change, then 2024 and beyond have the most promising potential. How can you make the most of this opportunity?
The responsible and thoughtful use of artificial intelligence to achieve the best results can only be achieved through effective collaboration and communication. This applies to many aspects of AI: development, regulation, education and more. However, from a marketing perspective, this means constant communication with your technology partners.
In recent years we have seen many collaborations, especially in the area of mobile marketing. Through communication with our customers and partners, we always learn something new from each other, be it trends, questions or solutions.
Furthermore, artificial intelligence is a rapidly developing field. Marketers need to stay up to date on new trends, technologies and best practices to leverage new technologies like artificial intelligence to innovate and stay competitive. By staying current and connecting with experienced partners, marketers should feel ready to access and adopt new AI strategies. No one gets it right the first time, but the successful teams are the ones that continue to experiment, test, and adapt their AI campaigns.
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