Authors:  Jonathan Davis (Partner, EMEA), Daniel Hart (Vice President, EMEA), Chris Karl (Chief Business Development Officer, US)

Technological advancements in processing vast amounts of data are sparking a revolution for Brands, Agencies, and Tech Partners across the Marketing Services landscape raising the bar yet again on the industry’s unwavering focus on improving performance.

The emergence of Generative AI and data analytics tools is transforming the way marketers harness data to create content and execute advertising campaigns across the addressable landscape; from paid search, and optimize organic SEO to Social and Connected TV (CTV).  

As adoption of technologies such as ChatGPT, Bard, Perplexity and a growing list of marketing focused AI tools take center stage, performance marketers are reaping the benefits including better campaign performance predictions, personalization at scale, and improved return on investment.

However, with the rewards come challenges such as brand safety concerns and questions about AI’s ability to produce expert content.

Data and Analytics: Decoding the Power of Insights

At the heart of the performance marketing revolution lies data and analytics. The integration of diverse, unstructured data sources is enabling marketers to glean new insights, providing a holistic understanding of their audience’s behaviors and preferences in advance of executing campaigns. Companies like Personalize, Chalice.ai, Ad Copy, Seven Sense are leveraging First-party data and Generative AI to deliver personalized and responsive experiences, supercharging the marketer’s ability to build stronger connections with their customers.

Interpreting this wealth of data to inform creative, strategy, and campaign optimization has emerged as an invaluable skill in the industry. Analysts who can decipher the data and draw meaningful conclusions are increasingly in high demand.  Selecting and parsing through disparate data sources can also be augmented by AI with tools like Narrative I/O’s Rosetta. 

Content Creation: The Rise of Gen AI in Programmatic Advertising

Automation stands to reshape the content creation landscape, particularly for programmatic advertising aimed at CTV.

With Generative AI tools at their disposal, marketers can now automate content production in ways not before possible. Tools such as Memorable and INK use data-driven insights to inform content creation, facilitating a low-cost, fast-moving approach at scale.

The implications of this transformation are profound. Imagine a world where the actual visual content seen in Ads has been machine curated for you based on real-time data from your recent online activity and behaviors. We are fast approaching that moment.

However, as AI takes over content creation, concerns about brand safety have also surfaced. Striking a balance between mass personalization and maintaining brand integrity is a key challenge that marketers must address.

Paid Search: The Algorithmic Advantage

The world of paid search has seen a seismic shift with the rise of Generative AI and Data Analytics. Smart bidding and responsive ads have become the norm, leveraging AI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data and optimize campaigns in real-time. Multi-model search algorithms (that can understand the context of connected images and words) have further enhanced search relevance and performance.

Can Paid Search improve even further in its efficacy? Marketers can now achieve more significant results with fewer resources. By capitalizing on AI-driven insights, they can improve return on ad spend, making every advertising dollar count.

Organic SEO: Elevating the Standards

AI-powered tools have refined the way marketers streamline copywriting, introducing mass automation and individualized relevance to create better-performing content. However, while AI copywriting (such as ChatGPT, Jasper and Anyword) has raised the bar, it still falls short in generating expert-level content that requires deep domain knowledge (albeit MarketMuse a research and copywriting tool is taking on this challenge).

As AI tools mature, there is a need to bridge the gap between AI-generated content and the expertise of human writers in order to achieve relevance at scale. The evolving SEO landscape is prompting marketers to reconsider their content strategies and find the right balance between AI-generated content and human expertise.

Conclusion: Embracing the AI-Powered Future

Generative AI and data analytics are undeniably transforming performance marketing, enabling better predictions, personalized experiences, and improved ROI. The power of data has unlocked new insights and opportunities, empowering marketers to make data-driven decisions that resonate with their audiences.

While AI is revolutionizing content creation and its consequent effect on organic SEO, it is crucial for marketers to acknowledge the limitations and find ways to leverage AI’s strengths. Embracing the AI-powered future requires a delicate balance between automation and human expertise to maintain brand safety and produce high-quality, expert-level content.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, performance marketers must stay agile and adapt to these transformative technologies.

M&A Role

With the adoption of Generative AI and the pace of change we expect M&A to play a central role as Brands, Agencies and Tech Vendors race to gain a competitive advantage be that in adding consultative expertise or in direct tech. The table below includes AI-related transactions over the last three years, which highlights this trend.

We look forward to continuing the conversation as the AI-story unfolds. If you have any queries or would like to have an in depth discussion on this topic or the broader market please Contact us. Our next AI article delves into the world of Animation & VFX.