Targeting technology in the digital ad space has evolved dramatically to provide more relevancy and better personalization, but it’s not without flaws. Oversaturation is still a problem and automation can sometimes over-optimize for a specific, perhaps unintended, trend. Artificial intelligence (AI) should be, by design, devoid of biases and influence. But when it comes to advertising, there’s a lot of intuitive information that must be considered, especially as it relates to human behavior.
Leveraging AI, backed with human intuition, to optimize targeting and delivery provides a much more curated experience that adds value for the consumer. TJ Sullivan, SVP of Sales, was recently featured in VentureBeat, where he explained how marketers can leverage AI to deliver a better consumer experience:
Effective performance measurement requires multiplatform, real-time analysis — how ads are performing across multiple channels examined together — and real-time optimization to be effective. By using AI to analyze and optimize, marketers can eliminate repetitive, annoying, or misplaced ads.
Digital marketing has traditionally relied on first- or last-touch attribution. In reality, it’s more likely that multiple touchpoints in a specific placement strung together in a series actually drove the action—and experience infinitely different across every consumer. AI can analyze this dynamic journey, learning the specific touchpoints and cascade across multiple channels that drive efficacy and delivering that just-right experience to influence buyer behavior.
AI-based ad platforms are optimized for performance. But to a machine, high performance means getting the most ads in front of the largest, most valuable audience—which can have a negative firehose effect and blow through budget. It is important to adjust variables to manage the volume of ad delivery, including setting frequency caps that span multiple platforms, so consumers aren’t bombarded and then ghosted.
Beyond just making ads relevant to the viewer based on known interests or intent, AI can also make them relevant based on the context in which they appear. AI can tell the difference in programming segments and deliver ads appropriately to ensure the best fit.
With AI, marketers can optimize for attention metrics, which typically means getting our message out within the context of higher-quality, more compelling content—the type of content audiences are less likely to turn away from. AI helps brands to do that in real time, but again, it requires human insight to know what’s gripping and will keep people’s attention.
It’s important for marketers to reach people in a way that’s meaningful and addressable without being annoying or interrupting their experience. Despite AI technologies making a big impact to improve the ad experience, it still takes a human touch to interpret and inform the model. Human guidance is key to preventing AI from optimizing incorrectly.
Check out TJ’s full commentary on VentureBeat and be sure to follow Digital Remedy on LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest updates.
