The amazing thing about online marketing and artificial intelligence is that for so many businesses who have hesitated to ramp up their content creation efforts, the barriers to creation have fallen tremendously.  The change is so dramatic that it is almost unnecessary to engage external support for content creation.  Even campaign management itself is increasingly automated, and in many ways, the sky is the limit as to where this technology will bring us in the future. 

While there is a lot of restructuring soon to happen in the industry of social media marketing, businesses are already reaping the benefits.  AI is being used in social media marketing in a variety of ways. Here are a few examples:

• Content creation: AI can be used to generate social media content ideas, write engaging posts, and create visually appealing images and videos. This can save social media marketers a lot of time and effort, and help them to produce more high-quality content.
• Audience targeting: AI is also used to analyze social media data to identify and target specific audiences with relevant content and ads. This can help social media marketers to reach the right people with their message, and to increase the effectiveness of their campaigns.
• Ad optimization: AI prompt engineering can be used to optimize social media ads for performance among select audiences. This can include things like choosing the right ad targeting options, setting the right budget, and creating effective ad copy. AI can also be used to test different ad variations and to identify the ones that perform the best.
• Social media listening: AI can be used to monitor social media for mentions of the brand, products, and services. This can help social media marketers to identify trends, track customer sentiment, and respond to customer feedback.
• Customer service: AI can be used to provide customer service on social media. This can include things like answering customer questions, resolving customer issues, and providing support.

As AI continues to develop, we can expect to see even more innovative and effective ways to use it to market businesses on social media.

AI Tools for Social Media Marketers

There is also a wealth of potential in the online marketing tools that are being developed to help businesses advance their own marketing objectives.  Here are some specific examples of AI-powered social media marketing tools, many of which have already become a standard of operations for marketing agencies:

• Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a social media management platform that uses AI to help businesses automate their social media tasks, schedule posts, and analyze their results.
• Buffer: Buffer is another social media management platform that uses AI to help businesses create and schedule social media posts.
• Sprout Social: Sprout Social is a social media management platform that uses AI to help businesses monitor social media for mentions of their brand, track customer sentiment, and respond to customer feedback.
• BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo is a content marketing tool that uses AI to help businesses find and share popular content.
• Tailwind: Tailwind is a social media scheduling tool that uses AI to help businesses schedule posts at the best times for engagement.

Businesses can choose the tools that best meet their needs and budget.  But these are just the tip of the iceberg.   

AI-enabled Techniques and Applications

Some very new technologies which are under development (or in a phase of rapid improvement) include the following categories: 

• AI-powered social media influencers: AI is being used to develop virtual influencers who can be used to promote products and services on social media. These virtual influencers are being created to be more realistic and engaging than traditional social media influencers, and they can be targeted to specific audiences with relevant content.
• AI-generated social media content: AI is being used to develop tools that can automatically generate social media content, including text, images, and videos.
• AI-powered analytics: Analysis of social media data will become more sophisticated, helping marketers to better track the performance of their campaigns, and identify new opportunities for growth.

Some specific applications in these areas are under development:

• Synthesia: Synthesia is a platform that uses AI to create realistic videos of people talking. This technology could be used to create social media videos that are more engaging and effective than traditional videos.
• Persado: Persado is a platform that uses AI to generate personalized marketing messages.
• IBM Watson Tone Analyzer: IBM Watson Tone Analyzer is an AI tool that can analyze the tone of text. This technology could be used to analyze social media posts to track customer sentiment and identify potential problems.
• Google AI Test Tube: Google AI Test Tube is a platform that allows developers to experiment with new AI technologies.

These are just a few examples of the many new technologies that are being developed in the field of AI and social media marketing.  As AI continues to develop, we will see even more innovative and effective ways to use it to market businesses and generate sales. 

Of course the reader may wonder if this article is AI generated. And therein lies the danger for social media marketers who use AI exclusively for content creation – AI is not perfect, and it lacks the human touch. The challenge for social media marketers and all content creators is finding the right balance. That means, using the tools to help, but remembering the importance of the human touch.