How to Use AI for Digital Marketing

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the landscape of digital marketing, promising transformative effects. As AI-driven algorithms become more sophisticated, marketers gain unprecedented capabilities to understand consumer behavior, deliver personalized experiences, and optimize campaigns with precision. This technology bridges the gap between online and offline sales data, unlocking valuable insights and improving ad effectiveness.

In this episode of Modern Marketing Messages, our host, Taylor Karg, is joined by Pairzon Chief Revenue Officer Lewis Rothkopf to discuss AI's pivotal role in modern marketing. 


For captions, click "CC" within the video player. To read the transcript of this episode, click the transcript link within the description of the video on YouTube.


Introducing Lewis Rothkopf, Chief Revenue Officer at Pairzon

Lewis has a diverse background within the digital marketing and media industries. He has about 24 years of experience, starting from the early days of ad networks and ad services. Over the years, his career has evolved, with experience on the media side and a significant focus on ad tech. Currently, Lewis is working in MarTech trying to address industry challenges he previously encountered on the advertising and supply side. Lewis is enthusiastic about working at a company that combines his ad tech and media history to accomplish innovative goals.

Pairzon, an AI-Powered Customer Data Platform

Pairzon is a relatively new entrant in the market, originating in Israel and Europe and now expanding to North America. The company focuses on two main aspects of AI in marketing. Firstly, it uses AI to predict which consumers are most likely to convert, whether online or offline. Secondly, it assesses the impact of online advertising on in-store sales, addressing the challenge of understanding the effectiveness of digital marketing on offline purchases.

The internet was not initially designed for advertising, making it challenging to track consumer behavior and measure the impact of online ads on offline sales. Pairzon leverages transaction logs and first-party data from marketers, allowing them to analyze consumer behavior in detail and make more informed decisions about targeting and ad placement. This approach respects privacy and compliance with regulations while improving ad effectiveness and return on ad spend.

The Importance of AI in Digital Marketing

AI in digital marketing is a complex topic; Lewis defines AI in the context of marketing as the use of machine learning algorithms and smart algorithms to help marketers increase product sales while reducing the cost associated with selling those products. The goal is to improve the return on ad spend, increase the size of customer purchases, and reduce sales costs.

Lewis highlights the importance of data in marketing and explains that AI can efficiently analyze large volumes of data, making associations and connections that would be challenging for humans to do manually, especially when dealing with valuable first-party data. He emphasizes the need for competent and comprehensive AI systems to work through data quickly and thoroughly, surpassing the capabilities of human analysts using spreadsheets. Overall, AI plays a crucial role in enhancing marketing strategies and decision-making by leveraging data more effectively and efficiently.

The Biggest Challenges Facing Digital Marketers

Lewis highlights that many businesses struggle with measuring the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, often relying on outdated metrics like cost per click and click-through rate. These metrics don't provide a clear understanding of marketing impact on sales. He emphasizes the importance of deterministic data, particularly first-party data, for more accurate measurement and decision-making.

Lewis also discusses how AI can help marketers understand customer behaviors and segment their audience effectively. Using methodologies like recency, frequency and monetary value (RFM), AI allows marketers to identify high-value customers and allocate resources more efficiently. Additionally, AI enables real-time audience targeting, preventing the targeting of users who have already made a purchase, reducing ad waste, and improving the overall efficiency of marketing campaigns.

AI Challenges for Digital Marketers

While AI can offer numerous benefits, it's not a hands-free solution like a self-driving car. Businesses must harness AI correctly and find a balance between human decision-making and AI assistance. He highlights the importance of maintaining a human touch in content creation and marketing strategy. 

How Can AI Help in Digital Marketing?

Personalization in Digital Marketing Campaigns

AI definitely plays a role in enhancing personalization in digital marketing campaigns. Lewis acknowledges the importance of balancing personalization without being overly intrusive or "creepy." The challenge is to make advertising relevant to individuals while respecting sensitive categories. AI can help by identifying correlations and insights that human operators may miss, ultimately making campaigns smarter and more effective. Lewis highlights how this approach can bridge the gap between online and in-store sales data, providing retailers with valuable insights into the impact of online advertising on offline sales.

Campaign Optimization

AI has the ability to help marketers rescue campaigns and make informed decisions. Lewis emphasizes the importance of data-driven marketing, highlighting the precision and quantitative nature of the field. AI enables marketers to analyze vast amounts of data, making it possible to understand consumer behavior at a granular level. By leveraging first-party data, businesses can make more responsible use of consumer information and adhere to evolving regulations. This approach allows for personalized marketing that respects consumer preferences, such as loyalty program tier-based targeting. Ultimately, AI empowers marketers to optimize campaigns based on real-world data, ensuring better results.

Data & Analytics

AI-driven marketing data platforms can empower non-analytical professionals, like marketers, to make sense of complex data. Lewis acknowledges that marketing can be imprecise when relying solely on manual analysis and emphasizes the role of AI in providing precise insights. These platforms are designed to be user-friendly, allowing CMOs, VPs of marketing, and marketing analysts to access and interpret data easily. By utilizing AI-driven tools, marketers can gain valuable insights, such as correlations between weather and consumer behavior, that might be challenging to discern manually. This combination of human insights and AI-driven analysis results in more effective campaigns.

Pairzon’s Use Cases

Lewis discusses use cases of Pairzon’s marketing data platform across various verticals, including apparel, hospitality, and grocery/convenience stores. While not providing specific customer names, he emphasizes the platform's applicability to both online and in-store retail presence. In hospitality, it helps track ads to bookings, whether online or at the front desk. Meanwhile, in grocery stores, where margins are tight, it aids marketers in optimizing data to boost product sales and customer engagement. The platform's versatility makes it valuable across diverse industries.

The Future of AI & Digital Marketing

Lewis envisions a future for AI in digital marketing where its role will expand but not replace human creativity and expertise. He emphasizes the importance of using AI to make marketing more precise and efficient by putting the right content in front of the right audience. While some marketers may resist AI, those who embrace it as a tool to enhance their decision-making process are likely to gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

Emerging AI Trends & Their Impact on Digital Marketing

There is a growing demand for marketing platforms that provide deeper insights and more actionable data for digital marketing strategies. He mentions the importance of moving beyond traditional metrics like click-through rates and using methodologies such as media modeling to bridge the gap between online and offline sales behaviors. Lewis expects more companies to focus on improving these aspects to enhance their marketing efforts in the future.

Responsible Use of AI in Marketing

It’s advisable for marketers to ensure that the AI they use in their strategies makes sense and is well-suited to its purpose. Lewis emphasizes the importance of relevant recommendations and understanding the decisions made based on AI insights. Additionally, he highlights the advantage of AI in providing quick, quantifiable answers compared to traditional manual analysis. Marketers should be prepared to stand by and defend the decisions made using AI-driven data.

When to Consider AI for Your Marketing Strategy

Lewis emphasizes the importance of businesses leveraging AI in their marketing strategies right now, as competitors are already using it to make better decisions. Waiting could put a company at a disadvantage, and Lewis encourages businesses to take a measured approach, considering AI recommendations but not automatically implementing them without scrutiny. He underscores that the goal of AI is to assist in making smarter decisions, not to replace human decision-making.

Pairzon’s Future Roadmap

In terms of Pairzon’s future roadmap, the company plans on expanding into traditional verticals and helping marketers in historically underserved areas of online advertising. Its aim is to develop an omnichannel platform and focus on out-of-home advertising. Lewis highlights the importance of client-led development efforts, allowing Pairs to remain agile and responsive to clients' needs, which is a key advantage compared to monolithic enterprise-side vendors. The company's client-centric approach and commitment to serving mid-market retailers make them well-suited for continued growth and innovation in the digital marketing industry.

What Marketers Should Know About AI

For marketers beginning to experiment with AI, Lewis advises caution and making smart, data-driven decisions. He emphasizes that AI is a tool to aid decision-making, not replace it entirely. Start with low-level yet impactful decisions, such as preventing redundant advertising to customers who've already purchased a product. Gradually advance to more sophisticated strategies like segmentation and media mix modeling, all while continuously learning and improving.

Quote from Lewis Rothkopf, CRO at Pairzon


How to Demonstrate the Value of AI

To convince higher-ups to invest in AI tools for marketing, Lewis recommends starting with a pilot project to showcase tangible improvements. He emphasizes that results speak louder than words. Marketers can use their existing data to compare the performance of AI-generated audiences with their current strategies. Additionally, staying updated on AI trends can be done through marketing trade publications and thought leadership sources. Lastly, sharing successful pilot outcomes on platforms like LinkedIn can help demonstrate the value of AI tools to decision-makers.

It’s important to not be afraid to try AI-powered marketing tools. He suggests that the investment in a pilot project is minimal, requiring only access to your data. By taking the initiative to experiment with AI, marketers can gain valuable insights and potentially achieve better performance. Lewis warns that failing to embrace AI can put you at a disadvantage relative to competitors who are leveraging these tools.

Leverage AI in Digital Marketing

The future of digital marketing is intrinsically tied to the rise of AI. As Lewis has emphasized, AI offers marketers the tools they need to make smarter, data-driven decisions, ultimately leading to enhanced campaign effectiveness and better ROI. However, it's essential for marketers to adopt AI thoughtfully, starting with small but impactful pilot projects and staying informed about emerging AI trends. By doing so, they can unlock the full potential of AI, drive innovation in their strategies, and maintain a competitive edge in the dynamic world of digital marketing. The time to embrace AI is now, and the benefits it brings are boundless.

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Brought to you by Americaneagle.com, a digital marketing and web design company, Modern Marketing Messages discusses the latest and greatest in both online and offline marketing tactics, strategies, and trends. We take a deep dive into anything and everything marketing, speaking to the best and brightest minds in technology and marketing. Episodes will cover different areas of focus, from advanced SEO to paid search, personalization to influencer marketing, and everything in between.

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About the Author

Taylor Karg

Taylor
Karg

Taylor Karg is Americaneagle.com’s Marketing Content Writer. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Over the years, she’s gained experience writing for B2B brands across a variety of industries. Taylor prides herself on her ability to tell a story – and having fun while doing it. When not interviewing or writing, Taylor can be found eating tacos and watching the latest Netflix, Hulu or HBO series.