Albert Einstein once said, “Know where to find information and how to use it. That is the secret to success.” The Internet, a fundamental resource for connectivity, is crucial to everyone. In Jeff Kosseff’s book, The 26 Words That Created the Internet, the Internet is defined by the phrase, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by any other information provider.”
In the process of communication, coordination and collaboration in marketing, to convince people, AI-based applications are used excusably. Internet-based applications, especially generative AI, are boosting digital marketing actions, but there is a quest for ethical dilemma, bias and manipulation. Digital marketing refers to the use of digital resources to facilitate connectivity in marketing activities by regenerating delimited content into multiple copies as needed, the function of representing data in binaries, on digital advertising platforms and applications. Multi-channel adoption to deliver promotional content to consumers on websites, social media platforms, search engines, emails and mobile applications is a practical task. Digital content encompasses various formats including display ads, video ads, search engine marketing, social media ads, and native advertising, with the goal of effectively reaching target audiences, promoting product or service solutions, and driving engagement or conversions by leveraging data-driven strategies and digital tools.
Existing generative AI applications exist as both freemium and premium products. Users are not able to distinguish and choose the right product at the right time and for the right purpose. The content generated by large language models largely depends on the type of prompt used when generating the response. The content generated by such systems may require validation and confirmation at some level.
The accuracy of the content queried fundamentally depends on the volume, variety, and versatility of the data. It is therefore essential to avoid “dirty data” while training the model. The presence of such erroneous data decreases the confidence of digital marketers, which creates a dilemma in adopting these applications. This uncertainty will persist until AI-based applications reach a more mature stage.
Therefore, research is a must to find a solution to the use of generative AI applications to make digital marketing phenomenal. The extensive marketing methods have given rise to the need for a proper policy to bind the stakeholders in a regulatory framework.
The market is not always the same, and hence it is difficult for industries to adapt to the choices and preferences of customers and adapt to their preferences. Developing and managing attractive and engaging content is an even bigger challenge for them. Moreover, security and privacy against data and information theft is a major concern for customers.
Attacks and intrusions on systems providing digital services are a recurring problem caused by spies, spammers, and intruders. This highlights the need for robust security systems and effective implementation of anti-malware software using appropriate methodologies, as well as establishing a comprehensive cyber policy to protect customer data. Fermium applications are the platform and gateway for data theft. Therefore, digital marketers must be clear before interacting with AI bots while exchanging valuable information.
Ethical and legal consequences can take various forms. To avoid these consequences, companies should use original content for marketing purposes, familiarize themselves with licensing agreements before publishing the content, and consider the intellectual property right of the digital content. Terms and conditions should be clear between companies and clients, including deliverables and deadlines, payment method, confidentiality of information exchanged, user authenticity, content integrity, dispute resolution, and legal liabilities. Cybersecurity law is the defensive measure of all digital marketing companies, which should be demanding and marketers should regularly conduct cybersecurity due diligence. In addition, digital marketing companies should ensure confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, maintenance, privacy, data security, cybersecurity, validity, etc., as well as the preferred payment gateways of companies and the inclusion of financial institutions, maintaining compliance with taxes and labor laws are essential.
Digital marketing is a thoughtful apprehension, which contributes to the value of digital governance, with ease of use and a high degree of interoperability among potential buyers, familiar with affordable digital devices. Businesses can track and monitor the physical and digital presence of potential customers, with a high degree of interactivity, making marketing communication better and convenient to build the preeminent customer relationship through proximity marketing. AI-driven marketing efforts help to personalize and increase the number and maximize customer satisfaction. Without proper digital marketing strategies to follow and not follow, businesses are at risk of losing their focus. In order to control fragility, businesses must have clear digital marketing objectives and goals to increase brand awareness, website clicks, and overall conversion rate to build customer loyalty.
There are few industries that do not benefit from digital marketing tools and practices. Netflix and YouTube have revolutionized the media and entertainment industries by providing personalized services in real-time. Search engines are a monetization base for advertisers who build brands. Pathao, Ola, and Uber are taking the transportation economy to the next level. In addition to this, AI applications are dominating by moderating and mediating the digital marketing process. According to Oguz A. Acar in “A Practical Guide for Marketers Who Want to Use GenAI,” the key areas where generative AI has the greatest potential are personalization, creativity, connectivity, and cost of cognition and highlighted that consultants working with AI completed 12.2% more tasks and completed them 25.1% faster.
The popularity of AI-powered digital marketing is due to its global reach and local visibility. Unlike traditional marketing, there are no geographical restrictions for international marketing campaigns. Moreover, local search engine optimization techniques and locally targeted audiences help businesses attract more customers. Cost-effective execution of strategies through search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and content marketing are channels for brand building, advertising, and are too easy to get started. Some of the common platforms for content marketing include blogs, social media posts, websites, podcasts, infographics, webinars, etc. The advantage of digital marketing is that engagement can be measured, which ultimately provides insights to create more effective content to increase brand awareness and drive sales.
For startups, digital marketing can be a boon. They can opt for the brand building process starting with their official websites and blogs. Using social media marketing to increase brand awareness can be particularly effective. A well-designed content marketing strategy can contribute to business value from all angles. Businesses can start with email marketing from the beginning, followed by advertising on Google and Facebook, supported by machine learning algorithms for marketing automation.
With GenAI, the backbone of digital marketing, going hand in hand with traditional media, it is high time for the government to initiate digital governance and provide an enabling environment for businesses willing to support digital marketing activities through social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. OTT platform providing on-demand TV and movie content over the internet to facilitate the requirements of the individual consumer is a potential avenue for digital marketing activities. On the government side, encouraging such businesses and enabling them to follow the digital framework would help them add value to digital marketing. Once it comes under the legal framework, grievances become easy to address formally.
Digital marketing integrates online or web-based digital technologies such as smartphones, computers and other digital devices for the promotion of its products and services.
There are many sectors where digital media can bring benefits regarding Nepali products and services. Apart from the tourism industry, export of tea/coffee, handicrafts, garments and digital financial services can generate foreign exchange earnings through digital promotion. Since the Nepalese government has declared the period 2023-2033 as the decade of tourism in Nepal, focusing on digital media could bring greater value addition.
Avoiding the use of generative artificial intelligence applications in digital marketing is not necessarily a mistake and there is always room for improvement with the use of GenAI in digital marketing.
