Artificial intelligence and related technologies are becoming a transformative force in many industries. digital marketing AI is no exception. With frequent updates and new advancements introduced almost every month, businesses are challenged to adapt to emerging changes and use them to their advantage. A recent example was OpenAI’s May 2024 presentation, which showcased new ways for customers to interact with chatbots and AI services, prompting other companies to rush to design and implement practical applications of these new opportunities to gain an edge over their competitors.
In such an environment, it becomes crucial to understand exactly how AI-powered tools work and how they benefit your industry. Andrii Holubenko, Digital Media Director at Optimum Media OMD Group Ukraine, shared his views on upcoming trends, which will impact the market in 2024 and beyond.
Affecting the entire sector
With over a decade of experience in digital marketing, Andrii Holubenko has seen the industry evolve and change. Projecting current trends into the future, he notes that AI-Assisted The AI approach is becoming increasingly important. “For many years, the dominant approach has been human-first,” he says. “While various technological solutions save time and streamline routine tasks, they are only a complement to human decision-making.” However, this is changing: the current state of AI technology integration in industry is often described as AI-assisted. AI-based tools are now capable of performing more tasks, including vaguely defined tasks, although still under human supervision.
However, companies must start preparing for the next step, the AI-first approach. Timelines vary, with some experts saying this step is already close while others expect this technological level to be reached within the next 20 years. “While time estimates may vary,” adds Andrii Holubenko, “there is no doubt about the changes that are coming.” With the AI-first approach, the application of AI and machine learning technologies will not be limited to lower-level tasks, such as generating advertising content. Autonomous AI agents could become capable of determining strategies, predicting customer behavior, targeting and launching advertising campaigns based on vast amounts of data.
Between the company and the customer
As digital marketing seeks to capture customer attention and retain them, technology is changing the way customers interact with brands, becoming a critical part of that interaction. “Hyper-personalization is a striking example of this,” notes Andrii Holubenko. “It allows you to create content with a very narrow audience segment in mind or even target it to an individual customer and their history of interactions with the brand.” Natural language processing technologies, such as large language models, can breathe new life into old forms of marketing, such as email advertising. In addition, they are also creating new forms and methods of interaction, such as chatbot conversations, which will soon be widely available in human-like voice form and will no longer be limited to text conversations.
Other technological advances can also transform the customer experience. Augmented and mixed reality allow to familiarize the audience with products through visualization tools or create new types of advertising content. Another growing area is the use of computer-generated images in marketing campaigns. “Currently, customers often perceive the use of AI-generated content as controversial,” comments Andrii Holubenko. “However, when the right way to use it is found, it can increase the effectiveness of the marketing campaign and take it to a new level.” It is especially important to take into account the differences and characteristics of a local market, as proven by the many successful digital campaigns, where Andrii led the launch of international brands and products on the Ukrainian market.
Practical applications
While the trends described above may seem futuristic or speculative, these are technologies that can be used right now. “The growing influence of AI-based tools will affect all market segments and all stages of interaction between the company and the customer,” Andrii Holubenko emphasizes. “Building a connection between the customer and the brand, guiding the customer to the purchase decision, building and maintaining a loyal customer base – in each of these areas, many tasks can be performed more efficiently with the help of modern technologies.”
Programmatic advertising is an example of the fact that it is not just about predicting and talking about the future. Andrii Holubenko has extensive practical experience in this field, having participated in the development and launch of Fusify.io – an advertising platform that creates new opportunities for precise targeting and, as a result, more efficient campaign spending. He also developed a new method for calculating audience intersection, which allows companies to better understand their target audience.
Many companies are currently working on integrating emerging technologies into their processes. Many of them were presented at the Cases&Faces Award in June 2024, in which Andrii Holubenko participated as a jury member. “It is always impressive to observe how various companies, large and small, find ways to use new technological opportunities in creative ways. I am sure that at the event we will see many solutions that seemed difficult to imagine even a year ago.”
Spencer Hulse is the Editorial Director of Grit Daily, overseeing other editors and writers, day-to-day operations, and covering breaking news.
