Thanks to the increased sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) tools now available in marketing, it’s easier than ever to write copy, generate content, and most importantly for brands, to optimize search engines using AI. This may be good news for smaller brands who don’t have the budget to compete against deeper pocketed-brands in the ever expensive SEO race, but is it good news for the larger public and marketers in general? If using AI to gamify the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) system is the business equivalent of eating instant ramen- cheap, easy, and good for consumers’ short-term attention span, what does this mean for the long-term health, growth, and results?

In order to understand how AI can manipulate search engines, let’s explore how Google and other search engines use AI in search. When people talk about search engine algorithms, they’re talking about how search results are being delivered and how easily findable they are. However, Google and other search engines are based on an interconnected series of web-powered signals that powers where these search engine results are appearing, how they’re appearing, and what type of search results are appearing (source: Marketing AI Institute).

So how are people utilizing AI to game SEO  and SEM (Search Engine Marketing)? With AI, search engines utilizing LLMs (Language Learning Models) could “dynamically adjust the richness and type of information provided based on multiple variables such as query specifics, user profile, location, and time.“ Bad actors can “work the system” by creating fake news or fake data and arranging it in such a way that the search engine’s LLM will think it’s authentic enough to prime the search results in a desirable way for the short term (e.g. first page Google search results.) However, when these fake news and/or fake data aren’t corroborated, the LLM will realize that they aren’t legitimate and cease showing them in the search results. 

This essentially means the potential to game consumers’ short attention span is higher than ever with the advent of AI and necessitates the need for brands and public relations professionals to firmly hold and manage their digital reputation. Editors will still need to fact check sources before letting AI instant publish, and brands will need to integrate branded keywords into other credible sources like whitepapers, research papers, and infographics in order to maintain a high level of trust with search engines.

Essentially the end lesson is this: while it may be tempting for marketers to produce fast food-like digital marketing results using AI for search engines, in the long term to retain trust, they’ll need to do the hard work of proving credibility with a lengthy digital footprint, integrated marketing communications, and third party approval (rankings, awards, back linking.)

Written by Courtney L.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way Americans normally work, shop and spend their leisure time. Since consumers as a whole have decreased their overall spending, companies in turn have decreased their marketing budgets. However, businesses shouldn’t make the mistake of slashing and burning their marketing budgets completely. McDonald’s did this during the 1990-1991 recession and saw sales drop by 28%. Fast food competitors Pizza Hut and Taco Bell strengthened their advertising budgets, and increased sales by 61% and 40% respectively.

So, where should small businesses spend their marketing dollars in the most cost-effective way right now? Social media advertising (also called paid social), content marketing, and market research are the best ways companies can maximize their budgets right now.

Social Media Advertising

Compared to pay per click advertising models like Google Adwords, paid social is still more affordable for advertisers. Average CPC (cost per click) for Google Adwords is between $1-2 on the search network, while for Facebook ads, it’s about $0.35 globally and about $0.28 in the U.S. Advertisers can choose to either run an ongoing campaign with a minimum daily budget of $5 or boost a post (usually a one-time cost) for $10 to reach a certain percentage of their Facebook page’s followers.

Interesting facts you should know:

• The pandemic actually caused a drop in Facebook advertising prices when you compare CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per mille impressions) prices from Q12019 to Q12020. Check the charts below from Revealbot.

• Ad prices did tick back up in April & May 2020, likely due to advertisers returning to the platform. Advertisers should focus campaign objectives on Reach+App Install, which saw the biggest increases in CPM. (source: Revealbot)
• Social media platforms saw solid growth in their monthly active users, with Facebook,Youtube, and Whatsapp seeing the most growth in April 2020. (source: Next Web)
• Advertisers can now reach more than 2 billion people on Facebook. (source: Next Web)

Bottom line: Facebook advertising and paid social advertising in general are the best ways to reach a captive audience, since many people are turning to social media for connection, entertainment, and information.

Potential cost: $5- $$ (depends on your ad budget and campaign length)

Content Marketing

Even though most internet users have increased their time spent online, brands still need to consider whether the content they publish is relevant, interesting, and valuable. People are more likely to pay attention if your content hits these points:

• Craft content that’s both informational and entertaining. If your content can both alleviate pain points and do so in a humorous or light-hearted way, you’re more likely to convince your readers to perform an action- whether that’s signing up for an email list, buying a product, listening to a webinar, or visiting a website.
• Efficiency and DIY topics are likely to be a huge hit with employees who have had to shoulder an extra workload because of downsizing while still needing to make deadlines.
• Tune into the thoughts, emotions, and challenges people are feeling with working remotely during this pandemic and what your brand can do for them.

Bottom line: Whitepapers, webinars, blog articles and Facebook/Instagram Live videos don’t require much overhead but do need the involvement of content writers, designers and social media managers.

Potential cost: $$ Time and manpower from key internal + possibly external stakeholders.

Market Research

Are your customers’ values and behavior still the same, prior to COVID-19? Chances are, probably not. Consumer purchasing behaviors change in a down economy.

Confirm what products, software, and services your customers still deem essential. Market research in the form of feedback forms, surveys, and email campaigns can help determine whether customers will remain with a premium product line, downgrade to a basic package, or switch to a cheaper substitute/competitor.

Learning your customers’ priorities during this time will help you figure out if and where to reallocate funds and manpower. It is more important than ever to be responsive to what your customers are saying and doing, and adjusting expectations as necessary.

Bottom line: Verify your core customer needs in order to make critical decisions about product roll out and existing services.

Potential cost: $$ Internal stakeholder labor plus additional low-cost and free tools such as Survey Monkey, JotForm, and Hubspot Make My Persona which help you create surveys and generate buyer personas.

Post by Courtney L.