What Marketers Need To Know About Artificial Intelligence in 2018

What do you really need to know about artificial intelligence in 2018?

Marketing AI Institute founder Paul Roetzer (@paulroetzer) answers the question in a new Content Marketing Institute video. In the video, Roetzer unpacks what marketers should pay attention to in AI over the coming year. We've highlighted the top takeaways below, so you can start 2018 off right.

1. Don’t get overwhelmed.

AI can be overwhelming to marketers. There are tons of tools and lots of complexity to how these tools work. It's true: AI is complicated. But Roetzer emphasizes you don't need to be an expert to get started.

“There are lots of simple ways to start to get comfortable with it,” he says. You don't need to understand all the definitions or complexities. "You just have to know that, in the near term, which I think of as the next three to five years, it can dramatically enhance your capabilities as a content marketer."

Marketers just need to look for the right tools, then experiment with as many as possible. In fact, you can get started fast with the links below:

• How to Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Content Marketing
• 14 Artificial Intelligence Tools to Scale, Improve, and Personalize Your Content Marketing
• Why Content Marketers Should Embrace Artificial Intelligence

2. AI is everywhere in your life already.

You might think you don’t have a use for AI or that it’s an overhyped technology. But you’re probably using it already, dozens, if not hundreds, of times per day. And AI is becoming so baked into everyday life that we don’t even notice it. One really practical example of this, says Roetzer, is Gmail.

“If you get an email and you look at the bottom, Gmail suggests responses now. That’s artificial intelligence. It’s everywhere in your life you just don’t realize it’s happening.”

AI isn't used in a niche selection of business or by a small segment of people. It's all around us. And it's transforming how we live, work, and play. It's used in everything from email clients to Netflix to new content marketing tools. Marketers need to get ready for the AI-enabled future.

3. It’s just the beginning.

The AI-enabled future is quickly approaching. But you haven't missed the boat. It's still early days in AI, says Roetzer. Many tools on the market right now just scratch the surface of what's possible. He says AI development will take place over a longer timeline than "most people would believe."

This gives marketers time to get comfortable with AI. It gives them the runway to experiment with the technology. And it means there's still plenty of time to implement it in their organizations.

To do so, says Roetzer, marketers should look for quick wins, where AI can make their work a little more efficient. One example is using AI for subject line testing.

When you A/B test a subject line right now, a human typically picks the subject lines to test. They would then analyze which worked and which didn't. "There are tools to automate the entire process, including writing the email subject lines," says Roetzer. One tool that does this is Phrasee. "It'll recommend which subject lines to use based on the probability of conversion rate."

Quick wins like this can help marketers completely automate a process or take some of the burden off human teams. Do this enough, says Roetzer, and you'll unlock your performance potential.

"AI is actually going to give you superpowers if you use the right technology."

Last but not least, be sure to check out the full video of Paul’s insights below:

Make Your Content More Intelligent

Want to learn more about how to make your content more intelligent through smarter strategy and AI? Content Marketing Institute’s Intelligent Content Conference 2018 is the premier event for content marketers who want to make content work for their business. Learn more about the event below.