How AI Is Impacting Consumer-Brand Connections

From smartwatches and product recommendations to customer service chatbots and automated emails, we are officially in the era of assistive technology. However, the integration has been so seamless that only __27% of Americans __believe they interact with AI daily, and 44% claim they do not interact with the technology at all.

Whether or not consumers believe they are actively using AI, the truth is that brands are leveraging their intelligence for business. In fact, AI is expected to add $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. This is because artificial intelligence technologies like chatbots and large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT promise to improve efficiency and boost creativity. In some cases, AI also supports the eradication of recurring business tasks like email composition, writing, editing, and even ideation.

But these technologies aren’t just helping brands improve their workflows. AI and ML are helping companies build brand loyalty by optimizing content libraries and enhancing the creative process.

Harness the power of AI with new strategies

Owned asset optimization (OAO) gives brands a powerful strategy to reach audiences in an oversaturated digital marketplace. Patrick Danial, CTO and co-founder of Terakeet, has seen firsthand how OAO can create authentic consumer connections. The brand’s clients see a 70% to 90% decrease in customer acquisition costs.

OAO maximizes the impact of digital assets fully owned and controlled by a brand to shape their own narratives and gain meaningful attention. Brands can also use AI to enhance owned assets and create their own methodologies to boost future content optimization processes. This helps to streamline and customize the content creation process and prepares brands for the future.

Generative AI technologies, like GPT-4, are trained on a large volume of data, making it possible for them to generate a variety of content types and topics. But still, marketers must keep in mind that its data is limited and requires a human element to review, refine, and personalize AI-generated content. The combination of content resources, proprietary data, and brand-focused models gives companies the opportunity to seamlessly capitalize on prospective AI developments.

Build from a strong foundation of data

As AI continues to become a bigger part of our lives and work, marketers will have to reckon with the validity, ethics, and timeliness of the data fed into the systems. This means brands can’t completely rely on current third-party AI data sets to understand their consumers in real-time. Danial says this requires tapping into reliable and up-to-date consumer data to build strategies that audiences care about.

For example, marketers could lean on proprietary data, pairing unique insights with AI efficiencies and human expertise. Or, they can leverage what is likely the most honest (and volunteered) consumer data that’s housed in organic search and Google trends to reveal behaviors and consumer priorities.

However, all of this must be done strategically. The key to effectively leveraging AI for content optimization is to use it as a solution for efficiency needs, not a replacement for human-driven work or search data.

Understand the creator economy

As brands learn how to implement the benefits of AI into their workflows, they must understand its role in shaping the creator economy. In an era where consumers are continually bombarded with marketing strategies, there's an increasing thirst for content that is genuine, inventive, and credible. This shift is powering the burgeoning creator economy, ushering in a new age of creator marketing.

Companies like Evolved Talent Agency are at the forefront of this industry, linking esports players and brands for lucrative deals. Brands looking to leverage the creator economy—and creators themselves—need representation that knows their industries. Take a look at the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes and debates over digital likeness. A good agency will work to ensure talent receives the proper value for their likeness and aid creators in navigating this AI-centric terrain, answering pivotal questions, and offering strategic guidance to their clients.

At the same time, AI is responsible for the advent of content creation superpowers. Now, anyone with a smartphone can quickly and easily capture, edit, and produce high-quality content and share it across social media. From branded videos to quippy copy, AI provides a shortcut and evens the playing field for content creators.

This combination of strong creative content demand with a new technology that empowers creative abilities will inevitably lead to a surge in content creators, making it harder to stand out. While this fuels the interests of consumers, marketers and brands have a greater responsibility when it comes to AI, specifically when it comes to the technology’s creative and legal impact on their work and partnerships with content creators.

Use data to identify branding

AI can use large amounts of data and intelligent insights to reveal which type of consumer is purchasing a brand’s products. Brands can use that information to personalize and tailor their advertising and marketing efforts to cater to the relevant consumer and drive sales.

However, Nick Holmes, Director of the Trademark Practice for Caldwell, warns that AI doesn’t always discern between brands. This means consumers may speak into their phone or tablet and ask for a specific product, but the results might exclude certain brands. This can prevent brands from obtaining new consumers or finding their target market. But, he notes, it can also expose consumers to new brands and products that might not have the same resources and recognition as larger brands.

AI can leverage this same technology to assist brands in finding and taking down counterfeit products or infringing brands that unlawfully use a registered trademark. While AI may present results quicker than humans, accuracy is a concern.

As marketers and brands become accustomed to leveraging AI to connect with consumers, it is important to understand the technology’s abilities and limitations. Rather than expecting AI to solve every problem and present new solutions, brands must consider it another tool in their arsenal of content creation collection.

By humanizing the data, insights, and capabilities behind AI, brands will find success in building meaningful connections with consumers based on an understanding of who they are, what they want, and what does and does not work for them. This way, AI becomes a bridgebetween brand and consumer, built on a strong foundation of data and content creation.