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Unlock the Potential of AI in Graphic Design – An Ultimate Guide for Graphic Designers

April 5, 2023 No Comments

Let’s explore the boundless possibilities of AI-powered graphic design for creative professionals.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way graphic design professionals work. By combining AI technology with creative skills, graphic designers can unlock new potential for their projects and produce amazing results. This article will explore the power of AI in graphic design and provide an ultimate guide for creative professionals looking to incorporate it into their workflow. We’ll discuss the benefits of using AI-powered tools, showcase examples of successful projects that have used this technology, provide tips on getting started with AI tools, outline challenges associated with incorporating artificial intelligence into digital graphics workflows and look ahead to future trends related to AI in graphics.

AI in graphic design and its potential for creative professionals

The potential of AI in terms of graphic design is a truly exciting concept to consider. With a combination of artificial intelligence and creative professionals, innovative designs can be created quickly and efficiently. This can provide a huge advantage when it comes to creating visuals for products, services, webpages, or ads; AI allows a designer to prototype and experiment with a multitude of different styles at a moment’s notice. By unlocking a more efficient workflow for designers, AI has the potential to nurture the creative process like never before – making graphic design more accessible and offering boundless possibilities for exploration and experimentation.

The benefits of using AI-powered tools for graphic designers

If a modern graphic designer is looking to take their creativity to a new level, AI-powered tools can help streamline the design process and maximize their potential. AI algorithms can be used to automate mundane tasks, allowing designers to focus on more important aspects such as concept development and refinement. This helps to make a project more efficient, reducing time wasted on mundane tasks that a computer can do from a few minutes to a matter of seconds. In addition, AI-powered dynamic design tools help designers create a custom look by automatically generating variations on a single theme with a few mouse clicks or voice instructions. This saves time and allows for rapid experimentation and quick iteration in finding the most stunning designs.

How to use AI tools to enhance creativity in design projects

AI tools are a fresh new way for graphic designers to add a spark of creativity and a unique quality to their design projects. By taking advantage of these technologies, designers can create a range of eye-catching visuals that captivate audiences like never before. AI tools can also be used to quickly generate multiple solutions, enhance existing graphics, and discover innovative ways to express complex ideas. As a result, merging the creative insight of a designer with the power of AI is rapidly becoming a go-to method for producing truly remarkable design projects.

Examples of graphic design tools that include AI technology

AI technology has been a game changer for graphic design software. Many of today’s popular software products include features that can generate artwork automatically and identify errors in a design.

Unleash the power of artificial intelligence with Luminar AI and transform your photos into true works of art! This intuitive image editor has revolutionized photo editing, making it easier than ever to achieve stunning results. With features designed to maximize convenience while delivering unbeatable precision, Luminar AI is the perfect tool for any level photographer.

Adobe Creative Cloud is at the forefront of AI technology, taking full advantage of it to optimize its software with a suite of tools designed for ease and accuracy. Leveraging AI, Adobe Creative Cloud helps creatives make accurate selections, automate routine tasks like retouching models in an image, or even recognize and save searchable keywords from a video clip. Creative professionals can explore a limitless range of possibilities with AI-powered apps within Creative Cloud – from quickly editing and organizing large volumes of photos to creating complex 3D artwork.

By incorporating Generative AI into Adobe Express, both experienced and inexperienced creators can reach their creative goals. Rather than having to scour for a template that already exists, users of Express will be able to generate one with ease by providing a simple prompt. With the help of Generative AI, they’ll then have the ability to add an object or create unique text effects based on what they’re envisioning – while still keeping full control over it all! The Adobe Express tools are also perfect for editing images, and applying colours and fonts; guaranteed to get you closer to your dream poster, flyer, or social media post without fail.

So far, Artificial Intelligence-driven generative systems have been mainly utilized in the realm of image creation. Nonetheless, I think that this technology also has the potential to benefit creatives who work across different disciplines such as 3D design, texture development, and logo making among others.

Innovative AI capabilities also mean users don’t have to worry about spending hours continuously tweaking and optimizing pieces of artwork, with feedback generated quickly and realistically. For those looking to experience just how powerful ai-powered graphic design can be, there is a range of different software options available that offer the best of both worlds – human creativity coupled with tech’s precision.

Tips on getting started with using AI-powered tools in graphic design

With AI-powered software becoming increasingly more accessible and advanced, now is a great time to get familiarized with utilizing ai in your graphic design projects. Different ai applications can simplify complex art tasks, speed up the workflow processes, and ensure a better quality end product. It might seem like a daunting task to learn the ins and outs of a new piece of software, but with a little dedication, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Seek out online tutorials that will guide you on how to use AI software, look for community groups that build awareness of the latest advancements in AI technology or even see if your colleagues already have an experience that they can share!

The challenges associated with incorporating artificial intelligence into graphic design workflows

AI technology has the potential to revolutionize the graphic design industry. AI promises automated assistance for tedious tasks, freeing up valuable time for creators to focus on more creative objectives. Yet, AI’s complexity and ever-evolving nature present unique challenges when it comes to its incorporation into graphic design workflows. AI requires a thoughtful marriage between human creativity and AI capabilities in order to maximize AI’s intended benefits. Thus, incorporating AI into graphic design can be a daunting endeavour that requires careful planning and consideration of resources in order to ensure success. However, this challenge is an exciting opportunity as it provides an avenue for design professionals to further hone their creative problem-solving skills while continuing to explore the possibilities AI holds for the future of graphic design.

Future trends related to AI in digital graphics

AI is revolutionizing digital graphics, and it’s only going to become increasingly influential as we look toward the future. AI can be used to create photorealistic 3D models in various fields, like architecture, engineering, and game design, with greater speed and accuracy than ever before. AI-driven AI solutions are also helping to enhance existing projects without being overly intrusive or disruptive. Furthermore, AI tools are providing a much more intuitive user experience for graphic designers: AI can automate optimization processes, meaning tasks that usually took hours of manual tweaking can now be handled in seconds. AI is not just making our lives easier; it’s pushing forward the potential of digital graphics in ways never before imagined!

Header image via Adobe Stock contributor @Jackie Niam. Do not hesitate to find inspiring projects from all over the world in the Graphic Design category on WE AND THE COLOR.

By Dirk Petzold

Sourced from WATC

In News

Mark Zuckerberg Ends the Tech Party

April 5, 2023 No Comments

By Luc Olinga

The CEO of Meta Platforms announces a new day in tech: conventional normality.

The party’s over.

In tech, this amounts to saying that the cool and Zen culture marked by an office transformed into a cosy lounge is over. Used to be we came, we entered and we were at home. The fridge was full; everyone helped themselves. The buffet was permanent.

The employee was in the centre. Work-life balance was the principle. The well-being of the employee came first. Companies were required to do everything to put their employees at ease to get the best out of them.

No more.

It’s all a distant memory now, says Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms (META) – Get Free Report. Welcome to the real world, he proclaimed on March 14.

The social media emperor just announced the elimination of 10,000 additional jobs, after 11,000 jobs were cut last November. In all, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has cut 21,000 jobs in four months.

‘Year of Efficiency’

It’s not just the cuts themselves that’s striking here. It’s the tone with which Zuckerberg announced the new wave of austerity measures. He adopted the vernacular of the boss of an old-economy company. He was a cost-killer. He was cold. It’s isn’t personal; it’s just business. He was a normal boss.

“In our Year of Efficiency, we are focused on cancelling projects that are duplicative or lower priority and making every organization as lean as possible,” Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post.

He continued: “As part of the Year of Efficiency, we’re focusing on returning to a more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles. It’s important for all groups to get leaner and more efficient to enable our technology groups to get as lean and efficient as possible.”

He used the word “efficiency” fully a dozen times, including three times in the first two paragraphs. These two paragraphs are a catch-all of classic corporate lingo that says everything and nothing: “improve our financial performance,” “difficult environment,” “execute,” “optimize,” “workstreams,” “processes,” “changes,” “uncertainty,” and “focus.”

He sounds like the CEO of a traditional company. His post is a manual, a guide that other tech CEOs will use as well.

The tone is cold. And it changed. In November, when Zuckerberg announced the elimination of 11,000 jobs, he played the sensitive chord. He apologized.

“I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here,” the CEO said at the time. “I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.”

This time, there is none of that. He is not sentimental, as if to put a wall between him and those for whom the music just stopped and who were asked to go home while the evening was in full swing. He just killed the fun.

A New Normal

Tech and Silicon Valley now enter the normal corporate world. In this world, what matters is to please the markets. And markets like cost cuts. The employee is secondary. If you make big profits with the least possible cost, the markets applaud.

Interestingly, Zuckerberg’s announcements come at the same time as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, a major player in the startup ecosystem and in Silicon Valley.

The two events cannot be separated. Their symbolism is strong. It is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, or rather the meeting of the old economy and the new one.

In case anyone still has any doubts, Zuckerberg also appears to be ending remote work at Meta. Tech companies previously backed off from from forcing employees back to the office.

“Our early analysis of performance data suggests that engineers who either joined Meta in-person and then transferred to remote or remained in-person performed better on average than people who joined remotely,” he said.

“This analysis also shows that engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week.”

“I encourage all of you to find more opportunities to work with your colleagues in person.”

The party is over. It’s time to grow up, Zuckerberg seems to be saying.

One last tip to reflect on, while you’re on your way home: “I encourage each of you to focus on what you can control. That is, do great work and support your teammates.”

Tech workers: Welcome to a normal boss and a normal company.

By Luc Olinga

Sourced from TheStreet

In News

What would these iconic old websites look like today?

April 4, 2023 No Comments

By Joseph Foley

UI design has come a long way

Web design has come a long way since the start of the century. Happily, for the good of our eyes, layouts have become less cluttered, graphics have improved, and of course, technological advances mean that sites load a lot faster. But some legendary websites didn’t make it to see these changes. They were lost along the way, leaving us to only imagine what they might look like today.

One project is doing just that, looking at sites of the past, from LimeWire to Ask Jeeves and giving them a modern aesthetic. The facelifts of four iconic sites show how web design has evolved since the days of dial-up, and also how certain norms have been established in UI design (see our pick of the best UI design tools if you’re looking to expand your own toolkit).

LimeWire

Revamped versions of websites from the past — The original LimeWire. Click right to see the makeover (Image credit: Fasthosts )

The hosting site Fasthosts (opens in new tab) began the project as a tribute to cultural icons that “played a valuable role in our lives at some point, and whose names cause a wave of nostalgia and fond memories to wash over us.” It’s made over four sites of the past, and first up is Limewire.

A free peer-to-peer file-sharing client that capitalised on the demise of Napster, Limewire was basically just a download screen. That leaves a lot of room for improvement to create a fuller user experience. The proposed facelift introduces a darker background to help the bright album covers pop against the brand green and a more minimalist UI to make browsing easier. This looks like something that aims to give Spotify a run for its money.

Bebo

Bebo was one of the first of a new generation of ‘micro-blogging’ social media sites. It let you post to all your followers at once and see updates in a single feed view. It went bankrupt in 2013 and an attempt to revive the site in 2021 failed to achieve success.

The makeover above keeps the site’s recognisable dark look but makes things sleeker and a whole lot more Twitter-like. The search bar functionality is still there, but filters are added to allow customisation of the feed. Side functions like ‘games’ and ‘luvs’ have been dropped to a more mature product.

Myspace

Now, strictly speaking Myspace is not dead. The site still exists, and it looks very different to what it did back in the day, foregrounding music news content. Fasthosts has focused on the original community ethos, foregrounding new connections and hashtags to follow community discussions.

It might look more like LinkedIn than a music-oriented social media platform, but it’s certainly sleeker than Myspace’s original design. It also adds a shop, reflecting the fact that social media sites need to increase monetisation (think Twitter Blue), but we’re not sure what exactly this shop would sell.

Ask Jeeves

The search engine Ask Jeeves was the epitome of 90s web design, throwing everything it had at the page. The 2023 revamp sees it stripped back to a Google-like minimalism, improving its usability. “Users want something minimalist, clean, and easy-to-use,” Fasthosts notes. The stripped-back approach extends to the logo, which reduces Jeeves to just a bowtie and a portion of a suit. We have a fond nostalgia for the original Ask Jeeves site, but I wonder if a cleaner approach might have helped it survive the battle of the search engines.

Feature Image credit: Fasthosts

By Joseph Foley

Sourced from Creative Bloq

In News

Retailers are building consumer relationships by leveraging the creator economy

April 4, 2023 No Comments

By Grin

Brian Mechem, president and co-founder, GRIN

Word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing has been the most powerful way to drive behaviour and build a brand for decades. Even before mobile phones and social networks, the world’s most innovative brands found ways to create deep experiences with target audiences that would naturally share and discuss those experiences with others.

The rise of social media changed WOM marketing forever, expanding it from the real world to the digital world and giving brands an entirely new dimension to consider. In this new arena, consumers don’t have to limit sharing their experiences with those they encounter face-to-face, and now, they can instantly share their thoughts with thousands — even millions — of people.

Influencer marketing was born as a powerful new distribution engine for brands to harness. And today, this has evolved into the well-known and burgeoning creator economy.

In the creator economy, all the content in the current digital world is collected, created, distributed and monetized. Here, old-school mass advertising like radio and television moves to the backseat, and people — not companies — serve as consumers’ trusted sources of product information.

Across categories, brands become household names in their respective industries by leveraging the creator economy to form direct partnerships with high-performing content creators. Through these partnerships, brands overcome modern challenges by utilizing a team of storytellers to provide honest product endorsements with a human touch with which traditional, brand-controlled marketing can no longer compete.

Establishing partnerships with nano and micro creators stretches brand budgets

Even with the uncertain state of the economy and rising influencer rates, influencer marketing remains one of the most cost-effective strategies available to modern brands.

To bypass massive fees expected from macro and celebrity influencers, many brands successfully partner with nano and micro creators who love their products and are willing to accept free merchandise in exchange for content. These creators might have less reach and name recognition than their larger counterparts, but they almost always have stronger, more personal relationships with their followers.

Some brands have also started partnering with their most engaged customers, even if those customers don’t have a large audience or fit the traditional definition of an “influencer.” By sharing their experiences on social media, these diehard fans can offer valuable social proof and genuine product endorsements at virtually no cost.

Working across channels unlocks multiple consumer touchpoints

Imagine the average day for a brand’s target consumer. They start their day by scrolling TikTok as they enjoy their morning coffee. Afterward, they check their email and throw on a podcast before heading to work. On the way home, they tune into their favourite music streaming service and flip on the television while cooking dinner.

That scenario alone leaves the consumer with five opportunities to hear about a brand — not to mention the opportunities from other social media platforms they might visit throughout the day. And creator content is valuable for all of them.

TikTok and Instagram might be the hottest channels for influencer marketing, but successful brands know they need an omnichannel strategy to win in the creator economy. That means partnering with a variety of creators (podcasters, influencers, athletes, bloggers, performers, etc.) and investing in the tools necessary to keep their programs organized and scale their efforts.

In-person partnerships with local creators are boosting in-store foot traffic

Influencer marketing is for more than just DTC and e-commerce. The strategy also helps retail stores drive consumer awareness, create excitement and generate buzz around a new product launch.

Retail brands leverage creators to boost in-store traffic in several ways, starting with providing creators exclusive in-store discount opportunities to pass along to their followers. Retailers also partner with local creators and businesses to host giveaways, which require participants to visit a store to redeem prizes. Other options are hosting livestreams with creators from a brick-and-mortar store location to show followers the in-store experience or hosting an in-person meet-and-greet or pop-up event with creators at the store.

Authentic creator relationships open a direct line to target audiences

In the creator economy, authenticity is everything. Consumers can spot a fake endorsement from a mile away, and if they do, brands often lose them for good.

To avoid this, retailers and marketers focus on creators who use their products, love their brand and truly believe in both. These individuals will be the ones who can best share a retailer’s story and create compelling content that resonates with their target audience, improves brand sentiment and ultimately increases sales and conversions.

Brand-creator relationships aren’t just arms-length transactions. They are true partnerships operating as a way to reach consumers and a feedback channel for brands and products.

No one knows a creator’s audience better than the creator, and when they come to brands with advice on how it and its products can better resonate with their followers, it’s on brands to listen. Many brands have even taken this feedback to the next level and collaborated on new product launches like Gigi Hadid’s Reebok collection or Charli D’Amelio’s signature drink from Dunkin’.

Retailers’ success in the creator economy ultimately depends on the quality of their partnerships. By choosing brand-aligned creators that genuinely care about their mission, retailers set the foundation for a future of strong marketing campaigns and innovative collaborations.

By Grin

Sourced from ModernRetail

In News

How to Create a High-Converting Product Landing Page

April 4, 2023 No Comments

By ReadWrite.com

Technology has changed the digital marketing landscape forever. We now have more ways than ever before to communicate company and product benefits. Marketers can improve on-site engagement and sales when they use the tools they have at their disposal.

Business leaders and marketers across all industries want nothing more than to connect with their readers and grow their brands. However, they face many challenges along the way. One of the biggest hurdles is convincing users to invest in a product or service. The simplified solution is to build engaging product landing pages.

The thing is, not all landing pages are created equal. You have to know how and when to connect with customers if you want to find success.

Technology has changed the digital marketing landscape forever. We now have more ways than ever before to communicate company and product benefits. Marketers can improve on-site engagement and sales when they use the tools they have at their disposal.

Now, let’s dive in and look at several actionable ways you can use tech to create high-converting product landing pages.

Show relevant lead magnets

Lead magnets are one of the best things you can do with your product landing page. Simply put, these are exclusive content and offers designed to generate leads and provide value to readers.

Common examples of lead magnets include:

Discounts
Case Studies
Infographics
Event Invitations

These offers are crucial for improving conversions because, on average, 40-70% of qualified leads are not ready to buy. If a customer leaves without interacting with your brand meaningfully, they will likely forget it exists.

On the other hand, if a user joins your email list, you have a direct line to stay in touch and build rapport through lead nurturing.

The key to getting people to click a lead magnet is to offer something the reader will find valuable. This concept will vary based on the intended audience. Segmenting visitors based on their unique interests, goals, and pain points can help you come up with inventive and effective lead magnets.

There are plenty of different lead-generation plugins that allow users to create attractive and engaging offers for product landing pages.

Make mobile-friendly product landing pages

Google has made it clear that they want business leaders to optimize their websites for mobile. When you consider that over 68% of the global population owns a mobile device, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, according to smachballon.com.

Online shoppers use smartphones and tablets to engage with brands, read reviews, and shop. Mobile apps are on the rise that allows consumers to do all of this and more. If your website or app, including your landing pages, is not optimized for mobile, you could miss out on significant traffic and clicks.

There are many ways to ensure your site is ready for mobile users. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Use a landing page builder that comes with mobile templates.
Reduce the size of images and host videos off-site for faster loading times.
Make sure buttons and navigation work with handheld devices.
Test your product landing page with multiple operating systems and devices.

You’ll find that putting smartphone users first in terms of page design and functionality can lead to a tremendous boost in conversions.

Optimize for voice search

While we are on the topic of mobile devices, let’s talk about voice search. Did you know that around 30% of all searches were conducted without a screen last year? In other words, people use smart speaker devices or voice assistant apps on their smartphones and computers to search for websites, information and products.

Websites not optimized for what a customer might say have a slim chance of appearing in the results for these types of searches. The good news is you can start making changes today to make your landing pages voice search-friendly.

We suggest including FAQs at the bottom of each product page. This seemingly small addition can significantly impact how people engage with your brand.

At face value, an FAQ section answers vital questions asked by your target audience. The option to see these questions and answers can guide users and help them determine if your product or service is right for them.

Behind the scenes, FAQs can help build your search presence, particularly when it comes to voice search. When someone uses voice search, they typically ask a question. If your landing page answers their inquiry concisely and accurately, Google may relay the answer you provided to the user.

You can also appear in the featured snippets at the top of Google for specific keyword searches. It’s worth mentioning that over 40% of voice results come from featured snippets.

It’s also a good idea to add schema markup to your website. Schema markup is behind-the-scenes code that allows Google to understand your intent better. Marketers use this SEO strategy to inform Google about product availability, prices, and more.

The bottom line is this; if you want to attract more visitors to your landing page, even if they aren’t using a screen, voice search optimization is a must.

Focus on user benefits

A fundamental mistake many business owners make when designing their product landing pages is they spend too much time focusing on features instead of benefits. The two ideas are similar but differ in one important way.

Features are what your products can do. Benefits describe how features will ultimately help the end user. For example, a social media marketing plugin might promote a feature called a social wall. Most potential customers, even those skilled in social media marketing, will wonder exactly what they mean and why they should care.

Now, imagine if, instead of promoting a social wall feature, the company stated that this feature allows people to share all of their social media feeds in one place, which can boost brand awareness.

The second description is more detailed and explicitly tells users how they will benefit from this feature.

When designing your product landing pages, keep your customers’ needs in mind. Instead of writing a bullet list of features like you’re in an investor call, spend some time thinking about your product from your customer’s eyes. Write benefit-oriented descriptions, and people are far more likely to engage with your business.

Show social proof

Social proof is an excellent way to improve your landing page conversion rate. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, social proof is a psychological phenomenon that causes people to do things based on other people’s experiences. We all tend to trust people and businesses that are respected by others.

The most common type of proof is user reviews. Think about the last time you bought something from Amazon. There’s a good chance you scrolled to the bottom of the page to learn what other people thought of the product.

If you saw only 1-star reviews, you likely decided to pass and look for a similar product with better reviews. Similarly, a bunch of 5-star reviews may have prompted you to place an order.

Research shows that user reviews and other types of social proof can have a noticeable impact on conversions. In fact, surveys suggest that 83% (trustpulse dotcom) of people trust customer reviews over traditional advertising.

There are two primary ways to add reviews to your landing page. The first method involves placing an open-ended review form on your page, just like Amazon. Customers can review your products, and future visitors can see how others feel about your brand.

The other way to show reviews is to pull positive feedback from social media and surveys. You could include a section on the product page that reads, “see what others think of (product)!” A few glowing reviews can turn a prospect who is on the fence into a happy, paying customer.

You can also use live sales notifications and trust seals to capture visitors’ attention and convince them to take action.

Split test product landing pages

Much like the rest of your website, your product landing pages need to evolve with the needs of your customers. Split tests are a great way to experiment with new ideas and improve clicks.

Split tests, also known as A/B tests, involve changing a page, email, or social media marketing campaign for 50% of your audience. These changes can be subtle, like switching the verbiage on a call-to-action, or they can be something more noticeable, like a complete colour swap.

The objective of split testing is to see which version of the page leads to more clicks and sales.

Let’s say a marketing team decides to test their call-to-action by changing “subscribe now” to “subscribe and save.” After enough time has passed – we suggest two weeks to a month for each test – they look at the results.

If the subscribe and save option saw significantly more clicks, the team may use this new call-to-action on pages they want to improve.

It’s possible to test many different aspects of your pages, but it’s worth mentioning that tracking one test per page is the best option. Multiple tests make it hard to determine what led to better (or worse) results.

Final thoughts

Online businesses need product landing pages to generate leads, sales, and interest in their brand. Every industry is different, so it’s always a good idea to introduce new strategies slowly so you can figure out what works.

The tips presented today will help steer your product landing page in the right direction. The tools and resources you need to improve performance and connect with more customers are out there. The only thing left to do is get started.

By ReadWrite.com

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionizing Marketing. Here’s What the Transformation Means for the Industry

April 3, 2023 No Comments

By Jessica Wong

Artificial intelligence technology is changing how marketers reach and engage customers. From programmatic advertising to data analysis, AI can help marketers do a better job, but this rapidly evolving field also raises concerns and uncertainties.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has started transforming every aspect of our professional and personal lives. The marketing industry is not immune to this digital transformation, with leading brands starting to embrace the opportunities the technology brings. Gaining a better understanding of customer behaviour is one of the core benefits of AI in marketing.

For years, marketers have gathered and analysed data about customer behaviour. Their goal has remained largely unchanged — extrapolate patterns and predict which products and services will be most popular with a certain audience. From that basis, marketers would then identify the channels to reach their target customers.

AI is giving marketing professionals an essential advantage in this quest. This fast-evolving digital technology can analyse more data more accurately than humans can. AI and its subfields, such as machine learning (ML), also identify existing behavioural patterns and predict future behaviour based on that.

The growing role of AI in marketing

In 2020, the market for artificial intelligence technologies in marketing was valued at just over $12 billion. While that may seem impressive, it pales in comparison with the global AI market, which was valued at over $325 in 2021. However, the current market size does not reveal the true potential of marketing-related AI. That only becomes clear by considering growth predictions.

According to experts, the market for AI in marketing will exceed $35 billion next year, nearly tripling in size in only four years. Another four years later, in 2028, industry insiders believe that this area of the marketing industry will have tripled once again. Statisticians expect that marketers will utilize AI to a value of nearly $108 million before the end of this decade.

How marketers are using AI today

How realistic are those expectations? Consider this: as of last year, four of five marketing industry experts said they had already included some form of AI technology in their work. When asked to identify the areas in which AI and ML were already enhancing campaigns, marketing professionals named benefits in several areas:

Automation of repetitive tasks
Analysis of large quantities of data
Personalization of campaigns
Predicting conversion rates
Optimizing the timing of email marketing

Most of those areas benefit the current leading application of AI technology in marketing — programmatic advertising. A recent survey found that 50% of participating marketing professionals named more targeted advertising as one of the main advantages of integrating AI and ML in their approach.

How AI enhances programmatic advertising

Placing the right adverts in front of the right customers at a time when they were receptive to this content used to be a painstaking process. Machine learning algorithms have allowed marketers to automate buying and selling digital advertising space.

Once programmed, the ML algorithms are not static. They mimic human behaviours, including learning. In practice, the algorithm ‘understands’ whether an advert has missed or exceeded expectations and learns from this outcome. There is no need for additional human intervention. The algorithm, or the machine, learns without additional input simply by analysing results and iterating its approach.

Marketers and the brands they represent benefit from improved targeting of specific audiences with customized messages. As a result, conversions grow, and advertising spends more efficiently. Programmatic advertising platforms work by analysing quantities of data that would overwhelm humans.

These platforms cannot only compute data about user behaviour, website analytics, and demographic information. They also see trends and patterns before humans can. Marketing professionals can then use those insights to make their content more relevant, increasing the likelihood of customer engagement. Plus, marketing algorithms can optimize ad placement and bid pricing.

Understanding AI-related concerns in marketing

Like most powerful technological developments, AI has raised some concerns in the industry. In addition, marketers starting to invest in AI technology are dealing with unanswered questions as the technology continues evolving at great speed. Two of the main concerns relate to customers and marketers themselves. These concerns are privacy, data protection and job security in the industry.

Protecting privacy — AI and ML rely on access to large quantities of customer data to recognize patterns and predict potential behaviour. Despite their far-reaching capabilities, these technologies cannot self-police. They will analyse any data fed to them. Marketers need to ensure that their data collection and usage practices are not only ethical. They must also comply with current privacy and data protection legislation, such as the European Union’s GDPR or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Job security for marketers — Job security for marketers is another concern about the growth of AI-based applications. Most recently, these concerns have been discussed in connection with OpenAI’s ChatGPT software. Granted, it is not possible to predict entirely where the marketing industry is headed, but most experts believe that AI and ML will change existing jobs rather than replace them. Marketers can work more efficiently and effectively to benefit the brands they represent. Their daily routine may change, but it is unlikely that robots will replace human marketers anytime soon.

Final thoughts

While AI has the potential to transform the marketing industry as we know it almost beyond recognition, the technology is not here to replace human marketers. Instead, AI and ML can optimize and streamline current marketing approaches.

Both technologies can also take care of repetitive tasks, allowing their human team members to focus on what they are best at and develop creative campaigns that engage more customers than ever before.

By Jessica Wong

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor. Founder & CEO of both Valux Digital and uPro Digital. Jessica Wong is the Founder and CEO of both Valux Digital and uPro Digital. She is a digital marketing and PR expert with more than 20 years of success driving bottom-line results for clients through innovative marketing programs aligned with emerging strategies.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

8 Years Ago, Apple Made a Monumental Mistake. Today, Its Apology Is Still a Master Class in How Brands Can Recover From a Blunder

April 3, 2023 No Comments

By Nick Hobson

How brands say sorry to save face

Humans are social creatures. We jump aboard moral bandwagons. This is especially true in the digital age. We light our internet torches and march together toward the common enemy. Sometimes that enemy is a person. And sometimes it’s a brand or company.

It doesn’t take much for the masses to quickly turn against a brand, even a brand as beloved and respected as Apple. In today’s quick-moving marketplace, no one is invincible. All it takes is one message from one very influential person… like, for instance, a Tweet from Taylor Swift.

Back in 2015, Swift announced a public boycott of Apple Music. She was miffed with the tech giant because of certain conditions in their one-month trial period: It would be free for the users, but artists wouldn’t see payment for any of their music that was played during the trial period. Apple brand loyalty is strong, one of the strongest out there, but even its reputation was at stake at that moment. Hell hath no fury like an angry Swiftie. Put together tens of millions of diehard fans, and you can bring a giant to its knees.

Apple’s leaders knew they were in trouble with the boycott.

A “Swift” apology

Almost immediately, an unlikely person made an unlikely apology — and it worked. Senior vice president of internet software and services, Eddie Cue, went public to admit the brand’s wrongdoing. He did it informally, but sincerely — on Twitter.

In two separate tweets, one minute apart, Cue got right to the point:

At 11:29 PM: “#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period”

Then at 11:30 PM: “We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple”

In two-sentences, Apple righted their wrong.

Not long after, Swift starred in an Apple commercial. The relationship was repaired, between Swift, her tens of millions of fans, and Apple.

When a brand screws up

When someone wrongs us, we expect them to admit their mistake and make amends. It’s the same with businesses and brands. If a company screws up, we have the same expectations: own up, regain my trust. Psychologically speaking, there’s a great deal of overlap between how we relate to another person and how we relate to the “entity” of a company or brand.

This is true, in fact, at the level of the brain. A theory referred to as “brands as intentional agents framework” shows that people humanize brands all the time. As one team of consumer scientists describe in their research paper, “brands seem to be like me, are part of me, and are in a relationship with me.” It’s more than mere metaphor. Even legally, corporations are considered people, too. They have certain rights and responsibilities.

On the responsibility side, businesses and brands that done something wrong have the moral, psychological, and legal obligation to make things right for those individuals affected.

The online marketplace is a minefield for reputational damage. One minor misstep could spell disaster for your brand and business. The good news is, users and customers are as forgiving as they are vengeful. If someone screws up, there’s always good way to apologize and make amends. Be thoughtful about how you say sorry.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Nick Hobson

Sourced from Inc.

In News

YouTube eases demonetization rules when creators use profanity

April 3, 2023 No Comments

By Damien Wilde

YouTube is to ease the rules surrounding the use of profanity in videos after introducing new stipulations in late 2022.

More advertiser-friendly content guidelines have been adjusted after a creator backlash in recent months. Under the previous rules, the usage of profanity within the opening 15-20 seconds of a YouTube video could result in demonetization or reduced monetization capabilities for content creators. This expanded to include videos with extensive usage of swearing and foul language. However, YouTube did not make it clear just what levels infringed upon the guidelines.

According to a new “Profanity Update” video uploaded to the Creator Insider channel, the previously introduced guidelines are being altered. Retroactive reviews of old content saw many channel content demonetized, but new rules are tuning things ever so slightly.

Profanity (for example, the f-word) used in the first 7 seconds or majority of the video may earn limited ad revenue rather than no ad revenue, as previously announced below. Usage of words like “bitch”, “douchebag”, “asshole” and “shit” in the video content is eligible for green icons.

Now, profanity such as the f-word used within the opening seven seconds of a video or the majority of a video “may earn limited ad revenue.” While the usage of lesser swear words is more likely to allow for full video monetization.

Profanity used in the first 8-15 seconds may now earn ad revenue. We’ve also clarified our guidance on how profanity in music is treated; strong profanity used in background music, backing tracks, intro/outro music may earn ad revenue.

Profanity used beyond the 15-second intro phase may be subject to other rules, but it’s not entirely clear just what has changed here with regard to the volume of swearing within YouTube content. For music, backing tracks and YouTube video intro/outros, profanity will be allowed and can be monetized.

Existing content that may have been demonetized under the previous rule change will be retroactively re-examined and the latest rule changes surrounding profanity will be applied accordingly. This change has already come into force from March 7 and when uploading videos to YouTube Studio, creators will now get a notification to explain the changes. Just how creators respond remains to be seen, but it’s yet another case of YouTube making changes after yet more backlash rather than involving the community in platform alterations.

By Damien Wilde

Sourced from 9TO5Google

In News

Why Your Brand Should Pivot From DTC to Retail—and How to Do It Right

March 31, 2023 No Comments

By Jason Vaught

The move isn’t without risks, but CPG companies can mitigate them

Direct-to-consumer brands are rethinking their channel strategy, specifically a return to retail, and for a handful of good reasons. While the pivot takes a contrarian stance on the “unavoidable” takeover of online commerce, smart brands are leaning into national retail relationships with a physical and digital footprint.

On the surface, the timing of this shift seems odd. Considering the pandemic’s acceleration of ecommerce sales, many assumed retail revenues would fall off the cataclysmic cliff to certain death. But immediate revenue potential doesn’t always equate to profitability. When considering the burn rate consumer packaged goods brands are experiencing in the DTC model, the proof is in the non-GMO, sustainably packed pudding. There is unavoidable evidence for a CPG brand’s need to pivot.

Within the DTC realm, underlying factors negatively affect the ability of moderately priced CPG and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to show black on their profit and loss statements. While we weigh the scale differently for each category, the outcome is predominantly the same. The removal of third-party cookies, the low barrier to entry, and the supply and demand of digital DTC marketing platforms create a challenge for almost every CPG sector.

Whether you’re a new brand challenging a category, an existing brand that transitioned away from retail, or an existing DTC brand looking to pivot for the first time, you’ll need to learn how to navigate the return-to-retail terrain and what it takes to succeed on both physical and digital shelves.

Why pivot to retail?

Retailers are constantly innovating, creating seamless integration between their online and IRL storefronts. This integration presents two primary reasons for getting your hands on the in-store action.

First, your brand can embrace a retailer’s online opportunities. Retailers want brands committed to supporting and performing in-store, in-app and online; pivoting to retail presents opportunities to leverage a retailer’s first-party data for specific consumer targeting. Second, the numbers don’t lie: Projections for 2024 suggest 72% of retail sales will occur offline.

No matter how you slice it, brick-and-mortar stores are still the predominant driver of purchases. Brands willing to buck the DTC-only trend are reaching the largest consumer demographic while establishing deep, sustainable relationships that can lead to future online opportunities.

Why pivot away from DTC?

On the flip side, there are reasons to shift your attention. Whether choosing to promote through organic brand strategies, taking the paid ad approach or a combination of both, the high customer acquisition costs of DTC are not attractive to investors looking for a scalable brand.

There’s also the limitation of DTC reach: With 74% of shoppers making purchases in-store, building mainstream brand awareness exclusively online is nearly impossible. Even successful DTC brands, such as Bulletproof, eventually reach a point where they need partners like Whole Foods to further their growth and meet revenue expectations.

And there’s the false assumption that DTC leads to greater customer loyalty than working with traditional retailers. In fact, the most prominent form of brand loyalty is when the consumer views your products across many digital and physical touch points.

When not to pivot

Not every brand is ready for retail. With retail partnerships comes responsibility. To win in retail, you must have your ducks in a row:

Supply chain: Do you have the capability to support retail growth consistently?
Proof of concept: Can you guarantee a good sales velocity to keep your distribution?
Legal compliance: Are you ready to meet the contractual obligations?
Capital: Do you have enough funding to support the channel?
Competition: Within a retail environment with multiple and different competitors, is your brand differentiated and competitive? Do you lose an advantage only available online?

There are plenty of failed examples where a DTC company poorly shifted to retail commerce. While the details differ, the overarching theme is always the same: These brands wrongly assumed their existing awareness and marketing were enough to support these channels.

How to pivot successfully

Retail brands must take a strategic approach, provide product differentiation and have the resources to compete against the big-name, traditional brands that dominate their category. Whether it results from being too ambitious or simply a lack of experience, many brands may fail against existing retail shelf competitors.

Moving from the DTC approach to traditional retail isn’t without risks, but CPG companies can mitigate these risks by addressing four areas.

Establish the right partner(s)

On the other end of the CPG channel spectrum are consumer brands trying to be everything to everyone. As such, these brands approach all physical retail partners for their product category without considering how one affects the other. Having too many retail partners can cause shelf dilution, capital constraints, having too many promotions to manage or losing distribution due to poor product-shopper fit.

Develop a concise value proposition

Being concise in your product messaging is a practice that should exist across all consumer channels, but it’s especially true for in-store presentations. With limited attention spans and competitors sitting within your product’s line of sight, the speed and eloquence with which you communicate your point of differentiation matters.

Customer loyalty is constantly at odds with the retail environment, so engaging in this form of commerce requires more attention to how effectively your packaging design and in-store presentation reach the consumer.

Prepare your supply chain

In DTC, being out of stock may lead to a preorder. In retail, however, it leads to a lost sale.

Supply chain mishaps are risky for your brand and the retailer. Whether direct-to-retailer or through a wholesale channel, overhaul your supply chain to ensure consistent on time in full rates for customer orders so you are a reliable vendor and good partner. Help your buyer ensure you have enough orders in the system to cover any incremental volume coming from a promotion or big event you know is coming up.

Prepare data to support the channel

Assumptions serve no purpose when engaging in commerce with national grocers and retailers. To enter any retail door, you must have consumer data proving why your brand will be a top category performer.

The modern retail store has advanced insights from internal point-of-sale data and eye-tracking technology. Brands mirroring this data-driven intentionality will build stronger relationships with their retail partners.

The most predictive consumer data comes through testing buyer behavior in a simulated environment—we call this purchase intent testing, where we separate what consumers say they want from how they make buying decisions while at a retail shelf. This test measures the effectiveness of the packaging and its ability to lead to purchase selection, which commonly happens in 3-12 seconds.

At this stage of the buyer journey, we simulate these choices by inserting your product into a set of leading products you are likely to compete with. We then measure the performance of various packaging design candidates in the marketplace.

The benefits of retail partnerships

Having looked at the why and the how, let’s look at what success looks like after winning in retail. Here are five ways that retail differs from a DTC strategy.

Greater reach and wider brand awareness: Walmart received more than 230 million visits in 2022. Even though this number is down from prior years, 1% of this figure is more visitors than nearly every DTC brand receives to its website.

Access to valuable customer data and analytics: While not every brand asks, retail partners can provide deep insights helping you understand who buys your product and who does not. Collectively, you can better meet the needs of consumers who match your buyer persona.

Opportunities for product innovation and co-branding: Whether through white-label products or cross-brand collaboration, creative co-branding opportunities only happen when you work with the retailer.

Building a loyal customer base through in-store experiences: The more we push to a digital world, the greater consumer desire for a curated retail experience becomes. In-store demonstrations encourage greater brand resonance, so you get two for the price of one in your shopper marketing: direct influence on the in-store sale, plus a broader brand awareness driver, which may halo to other stores and channels.

It opens the door to click-and-mortar: Being on Target.com is not nearly as powerful as being available within their app for in-store pickup. As retailers innovate, click-and-mortar will continue to grow, and you will want to be part of this action.

Ready to transition into retail?

If you are a CPG brand currently using or weighing a DTC model, it may be time to consider a pivot back to retail. These partnerships offer opportunities to reach a larger consumer demographic, establish sustainable relationships and embrace online opportunities. By engaging in retail action, brands can achieve long-term growth and success.

Feature Image Credit: Mattes/Getty Images

By Jason Vaught

Jason Vaught is the director of content and marketing for SmashBrand.

Sourced from ADWEEK

In News

Should you pay for Meta’s and Twitter’s verified identity subscriptions? A social media researcher explains how the choice you face affects everyone else

March 31, 2023 No Comments

By Anjana Susarla

Social media services have generally been free of charge for users, but now, with ad revenues slowing down, social media companies are looking for new revenue streams beyond targeted ads. Now, Twitter is charging for its blue check verification, and Meta and Twitter both charge for identity protection.

Users benefit from “free” services such as social media platforms. According to one study, in the U.S., Facebook users say they would have to be paid in the range of $40 to $50 to leave the social networking service for one month. If you value Facebook highly enough that you’d need to get paid to take a break, why not pay for these new services if you can afford them?

Meta plans to offer paid customer support and account monitoring on Facebook and Instagram to guard against impersonators for US$11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 a month on iOS devices. Twitter’s proposed changes make two-factor authentication via text messaging a premium feature for paid users. Twitter Blue costs $8 a month on Android devices and $11 a month on iOS devices.

As a researcher who studies social media and artificial intelligence, I see three problems with the rollout of these features.

The collective action problem

Information goods, such as those provided by social media platforms, are characterized by the problem of collective action, and information security is no exception. Collective action problems, which economists describe as network externalities, result when the actions of one participant in a market affect other participants’ outcomes.

Some people might pay Facebook for improved security, but overall, collective well-being depends on having a very large group of users investing in better security for all. Picture a medieval city under siege from an invader where each family would be responsible for a stretch of the wall. Collectively, the community is only as strong as the weakest link. Will Twitter and Meta still deliver the promised and paid-for results if not enough users sign up for these services?

a screenshot with large and small text and a white checkmark inside a 12-point star — *Meta is beginning to roll out a paid identity protection service for Facebook and Instagram users.* *William West/AFP via Getty Images*

While large platforms such as Facebook and Twitter could benefit from lock in, meaning having users who are dependent on or at least heavily invested in them, it’s not clear how many users will pay for these features. This is an area where the platforms’ profit motive is in conflict with the overall goal of the platform, which is to have a large enough community that people will continue using the platform because all of their social or business connections are there.

Economics of information security

Charging for identity protection raises the question of how much each person values privacy or security online. Markets for privacy have posed a similar conundrum. For digital products in particular, consumers are not fully informed about how their data is collected, for what purposes and with what consequences.

Scammers can find many ways to breach security and exploit vulnerabilities in large platforms such as Facebook. But valuing security or privacy is complicated because social media users do not know exactly how much Meta or Twitter invests in keeping everyone safe. When users of digital platforms do not understand how platforms safeguard their information, the resulting lack of trust could limit the number of people willing to pay for features such as security and identity verification.

Social media users in particular face imperfect or asymmetric information about their data, so they do not know how to correctly value features such as security. In the standard economic logic, markets assign prices based on buyers’ willingness to pay and sellers’ lowest acceptable bids, or reservation prices. However, digital platforms such as Meta benefit from individuals’ data by virtue of their size – they have such a large amount of personal data. There is no market for individual data rights, even though there have been a few policy proposals such as California governor Gavin Newsom’s call for a data dividend.

Some cybersecurity experts have already pointed out the downsides to monetizing security features. In particular, in giving a very rushed timeline, one month from announcement to implementation, to pay for a more secure option, there is a real risk that many users will turn off two-factor authentication altogether. Further, security, user authentication and identity verification are issues that concern everyone, not just content creators or those who can afford to pay.

In the first three months of 2022 alone, nearly one-fifth of teens and adults in the U.S. reported their social media accounts getting hacked. The same survey found that 24% of consumers reported being overwhelmed by devices and subscriptions, indicating significant fatigue and cognitive overload in having to manage their virtual experiences.

It is also the case that social media platforms are not really free. The old adage is if you are not paying, then you are the product. Digital platforms such as Meta and Twitter monetize the enormous tracts of data they have about users through a complex online advertising-driven ecosystem. The system makes use of very granular individual user data and predictive analytics to help companies microtarget online ads and track and compare advertising views with outcomes. There are hidden costs associated with people’s loss of privacy and control over their personal information, including loss of trust and vulnerability to identity theft.

Social media and online harms

The other problem is how these moves to monetize security options increase online harms for vulnerable users without identity protection provisions. Not everyone can afford to pay Meta or Twitter to keep their personal information safe. Social bots have become increasingly more sophisticated. Scams increased by almost 288% from 2021 to 2022, according to one report. Scammers and phishers have found it easy enough to gain access to people’s personal information and impersonate others.

For those who are scammed, the process of account recovery is frustrating and time-consuming. Such moves might hurt the most vulnerable, such as those who need Meta to find access to job information, or the elderly and infirm who use social media to learn about what is happening in their communities. Communities that have invested resources in building a shared online space using platforms such as Twitter and Facebook may be harmed by monetization efforts.

People are tired of having to navigate numerous subscriptions and having security and privacy concerns that persist. At the same time, it’s an open question whether enough users will pay for these services to boost collective security. Ultimately, the service a social media platform offers is the opportunity to connect with others. Will users pay for the ability to maintain social connections the way they pay for content, such as entertainment or news? Social media giants may have a difficult path ahead.

Feature Image Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images

By Anjana Susarla

Sourced from THE CONVERSATION