Can AI Truly Replace Human Marketers?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a trending subject matter that won't detrend in a short while, especially when viewed from the background of threatening human jobs.

So, why is AI such an attention grabber?

Although the answer to this question seems pretty obvious, however, AI is attracting so much buzz because its sphere of play is beginning to extend into human specialities hitherto thought of as no-go areas for AI.

In recent years and, perhaps, up to an immeasurable time, artificial intelligence (AI) has been and will be such a hot topic.

Interestingly, the AI debate is reaching a fever pitch in this year (2023) with recent massive layoffs amongst giant tech firms like Meta, Amazon, Google, Twitter, etc. coinciding with their high-profile investments in AI teams and programs. 

Many experts across industries now predict that AI will eventually replace human workers as they become more advanced.

We have seen AI deployed in robotics and process automation capable of crisscrossing spaces reserved exclusively for human players. 

This seeming all-pervasive 'encroachment' into areas considered an exclusive preserve of humans is the reason some marketing experts are sweating over the possibility of AI encroaching also in their space.

However, according to the Chief Executive Officer of multiple award-winning pan-African marketing agency, Nelson Reids, Ikechukwu Maduka, "AI won’t replace humans in the marketing industry, at least not yet."

“The most successful campaigns are often built on the backs of hours, weeks, and sometimes months of grunt work spent collecting and analyzing large amounts of data to identify patterns and insights upon which the creative campaigns are then built.

"This becomes one of the key areas where AI can assist: helping marketing teams become more efficient by processing these large amounts of data quickly and highlighting the patterns and insights that may have been difficult for humans to discern.

"This will help marketers make more informed decisions about how to create and execute their campaigns.”

He further explains that in identifying individual consumer preferences and tailoring messages and offers to them, AI can help personalise marketing efforts which will lead to higher conversion rates and better customer engagement.

Ultimately, AI will help marketers produce emotional, culturally-relevant data-driven marketing. 

“Marketing campaigns and the creative concepts that fuel them often rely on the ability to connect with the target audience on an emotional level, and while AI can assist with sentiment analysis, it cannot replace the human ability to understand and tap into emotions or the cultural trends and nuances of the geographical target.

"This is one critical reason why AI is not expected to replace human talent in marketing.

"It can however give humans the ability to identify patterns and trends in consumer behaviour that will be instrumental and useful for targeting specific segments of the market and creating more effective campaigns", he added.

Irate customers and their social media platforms are like candles placed beside a drum of gunpowder, waiting to ignite and blow brand confidence to smithereens.

This is one area where Ikechukwu explains that AI-powered tools can help marketing teams do better customer service by providing instant and accurate responses to frequently asked questions and freeing up time for human representatives to focus on more complex issues.

“The quicker customer complaints are solved, the happier the customers and the more likely for brand trust to be retained", he noted.

Conclusion

Despite the inroads currently recorded by AI, marketing teams appear more formidable with AI as a powerful complement for delivering the utmost value for every client dollar.

More so, the advent of the ChatGPT app can help the content marketing initiatives of creative and imaginative marketers.

Whereas it may be true that AI, as a highly disruptive technology, may be waiting for massive disruptive deployment into several industries, however, the present positioning does not justify fears for total take-over of Batman’s job, at least not yet.