In the last two years since the world began adopting powerful tools like ChatGPT, the market for creating personalized digital marketing experiences has changed completely. I mean, completely. After 20 years leading a multinational consulting firm, I realize that the idea that "content is king" is no longer enough to explain the changes in the industry. Content creators and writers need to relearn, requalify, and reimagine the digital future from this moment on.
Believe me, I say this from personal experience. I ordered one of the first cyber warfare units of the U.S. Department of Defense, and the computing power available today for ordinary marketers is greater than what the superpowers had a few years ago.
This advance is clearly reflected in consumption data; according to Adobe Analytics' 2023 annual report, Black Friday shoppers, for example, spent a record $9.8 billion in online sales in the US, a 7.5% increase compared to the previous year. Of this amount, US$5.3 billion was in mobile device purchases. In Brazil, this number is expected to grow to around US$1.4 billion in 2024.
And in times like these, which affect public behavior, knowing how to use new features is essential to attract new customers, generate more sales, and achieve business success.Customer preferences are changing faster than ever, and their expectations of what constitutes an excellent customer experience are an expectation they carry with them in every interaction they have. And with each brand they get involved with.
What is causing this change in the market?
The barriers to utilizing the computational power of hardware, software, data, and AI are disappearing faster than expected. Until recently, only the largest companies could afford the technology and data scientists needed to deliver effective large-scale personalization.
Today, with leverage opportunities in business, especially in retail, during dates like Black Friday, knowing how to use technological resources wisely and strategically is essential, even for those who do not yet consider themselves ready for AI and new tools. In this way, there are four main pains that affect many marketers due to these changes and that need to be overcome to achieve success.
4 AI Myths and Why They're Wrong
So, here are the things that have changed and what they mean for marketers around the world and why these myths are wrong.
- We don't have enough data
- We don't have enough content
- The data we have is a mess
- We will never be able to share our data
- My company does not have enough data
Even with limited datasets, we can use AI to fill in gaps and obtain more accurate estimates about customers. This means that medium-sized and B2B companies can offer personalized experiences based on customer profile data. Specifically, to delve intodeep learning,that uses an advanced machine learning technique and neural networks to model complex patterns and make highly accurate predictions, allowing the identification of patterns within the database. Already thetransfer learning It can also be explored as a technique that reuses insights from datasets generated in a given task to improve performance in another related activity, enabling accurate predictions and providing personalized experiences even when data is scarce.
AI can help you prepare and clean your data, enrich it, and in some cases even fill in gaps if you don’t have enough data.
- My company doesn't have enough content
With so many AI tools available today, creatives and writers can produce content at the speed of thought.If you've already used ChatGPT, you know that it's possible to write a prompt and get a response, but with multimodal AI, it's different. There, creators can provide a text prompt and ask the AI to produce an image or even a video. And that's what tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion do.
Tools like Adobe Experience Cloud offer AI-powered features, such as Adobe Sensei, which automate much of the personalization process without requiring deep technical knowledge. It uses AI for predictive analytics, personalization, and data insights. And with Adobe Firefly, you can create videos of people speaking any language on the planet simply by providing a script and a 3-minute video of the person speaking their native language.The latest version of Google Analytics (GA4) also uses machine learning to provide insights into customer behavior and features built-in, easy-to-use clustering and prediction models.
AI won't replace marketers, but marketers who know how to use AI will replace those who don't.
- Company data is disorganized
One of the biggest challenges for companies is making data useful for both humans and machines. With the growing trend of the market becoming more data-driven and enabling both to improve their decisions, the pace is accelerating. However, when databases are implemented over the years, each team configures the system for their specific needs: marketing automation systems for marketers, financial systems for business and finance teams, and CRM for salespeople. Like a machine, these systems often break down and leak at the joints.
The new category of software calledCustomer Data Platform(CDP) connects customer data silos, creating a single, actionable view of each customer. This enables personalized marketing, precise segmentation, and real-time decision-making. When these tools are connected to messaging platforms like WhatsApp, email, and SMS, customers respond.
McKinsey reports that companies that excel in personalization generate 40% more revenue compared to their peers. A study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that brands that implemented large-scale personalization achieved revenue increases of six to ten percent.
And like a ship, these systems break and leak at the joints. Companies that break down silos and create connected experiences for the customer outperform those that do not.
- We cannot share our data
With global regulations like GDPR and LGPD in Brazil, many companies feel that their ability to collect and share customer data is becoming increasingly restricted. However, a new category of software calledData Clean Roomallows you to share data with business partners in a responsible and ethical manner, about a third of marketing organizations in the US have already adopted this technology, according to a study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and MarTech.
For example, imagine a manufacturer wanting to partner with retail stores and distributors who resell their products. Both parties reach a legal agreement, establish rules about who can view the data, and place selected subsets of their data in the data clean room. None of the companies can see all the data of the other, but they can view the overlaps. Frequently, this data is anonymized.
What do they do with these insights? We can create audiences for promotions, email marketing, or offline campaigns. Furthermore, it is possible to better understand the efficiency of marketing efforts and enrich the information that both parties know about each customer.
What do data have to do with content? Data has the power to help us create stories, and stories have the power to inspire us. That's why marketers say "content is king," but the brands that know and interact meaningfully with customers are the ones that succeed.
Today, modern marketing allows companies to know each customer and interact at the right time and place, with the right content. Many brands are taking advantage of the convergence between technology, hardware, software, data, and AI. For example, Starbucks uses the Deep Brew AI platform to analyze purchase data and personalize offers and recommendations, considering factors such as weather and time of day.
This approach works for both B2B and B2C. Intimate knowledge about each client and the ability to use that knowledge to interact meaningfully are fundamental. Therefore, if content is king, relevance is what makes it reign.
In this new digital marketing landscape, it is clear that the integration of technology, AI, and data is essential to create personalized and impactful experiences. Brands that can understand and engage their customers in a meaningful way will be at the forefront, leveraging commercial dates like Black Friday to strengthen their strategies. The future of marketing depends on our ability to innovate and adapt quickly, using all available tools to turn data into relevant and engaging stories.
So, if content is king, relevance is what guarantees its reign.
