Over the years marketers have come to rely on many different types of technology to perform a wide range of tasks, from collecting customer data to communicating with customers, from creating and distributing content to identifying and nurturing leads, tracking campaign success, and much more.
Now, with the introduction of generative artificial intelligence technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, IBM’s WatsonX, and Salesforce’s Einstein GPT, the use of technology is exploding even more rapidly in the marketing realm, having a ripple effect. (more…)
You’re sitting at your desk, talking to a colleague about a trip to Spain you’re planning. The next thing you know, you’re seeing ads for Spain pop up in Google search and on Facebook. It’s not magic. It’s the power of voice search. Marketers can use your interactions with voice assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa, along with other factors—your search history, shopping activity, visited websites, etc.—to create a comprehensive profile that they can use for ad targeting. Not all voice assistants do this, and the process is actually more complex than it may seem, but it’s illustrative of the shift from text to voice in consumers’ search habits. Voice search is on the rise. 
Before I started Strategic Communications in 2008, I worked for some large organizations in the education, energy, and healthcare industries. These were the early days of internet and social media adoption and it was, at least initially, wildly uncharted space. When the American Medical Association issued guidance for physician use of social media, I was all for it. In my former role, even absent these guidelines, I would have worked hard to keep our providers from independently using social media to communicate with patients.
Despite sentiment to the contrary, even in a text message heavy world, email marketing still gets traction, especially for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. 
Generative AI (ChatGPT is one popular example) holds a lot of promise for researchers and content creators of all kinds, but it may also pose some risks that have not yet been fully explored, such as the risk of copyright infringement. As an AI tool crawls the internet and digital sources for information to respond to users’ queries, the information that’s pulled often belongs to other content creators. What risks does that have for those relying on this information—sometimes verbatim—especially when it might be inaccurate? Here we take a look at written content generated by AI and the implications content creators need to be aware of. 
Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing that leverages endorsements and product mentions from people who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts among a particular demographic. This marketing strategy works effectively due to the high amount of trust these influencers have built up with their following. Their recommendations and opinions offer “social proof” that can be powerful enticements for purchasing products and services of varying kinds.
Chris is in the market for a new car. Chris, like most consumers, is broadly aware of the many types of cars on the market and can see them on the road, on car lots, in advertisements, and online. While deciding which car to buy, Chris not only draws on his own awareness that has been created through these channels, he is also likely to become much more proactive in seeking information—asking family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues for their advice; perusing review sites; following hashtags on social media channels; gathering information through Google searches; and, eventually, visiting car manufacturer or dealer websites to help narrow the choices. Then Chris is likely to visit a local car dealership to take a test drive and talk pricing. 
Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Virtual reality. Augmented reality. Mixed reality. ChatGPT. These are just a few of the many new technologies that are confronting marketers and literally all professions today.
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