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Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the world of social media advertising. However, with the potential for swift backlash in this channel, brands need to carefully consider the speed at which they adopt these new technologies.
The Need for Caution in Adopting AI Advertising Technology
AI-powered advertising tools are gaining popularity among social advertisers, who are under pressure to embrace them for their promised speed and efficiency. However, concerns have arisen around the quality and brand safety of these tools, particularly those powered by generative AI. For example, Google recently suspended its Gemini AI chatbot’s ability to create images of people after it generated historically inaccurate images. Additionally, a study found that only 38% of consumers have a positive view of AI, raising questions about the reception of AI-generated ads.
While these concerns are valid, advertisers should not completely avoid testing and learning with AI-powered tools that align with their goals. By adopting these technologies cautiously, advertisers can tap into their benefits while prioritizing brand safety. As automation and AI become the new norm in digital advertising, it is crucial for teams to develop their skill sets and familiarize themselves with these tools to use them confidently and enjoy their increased efficiencies.
AI-Led Targeting for Social Advertising
AI is already changing how advertisers target audiences on social media platforms. Platforms like Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn are reducing the number of manual controls given to advertisers and instead promoting AI-powered tools that identify the most appropriate target audiences for campaigns. Meta’s Advantage+ Targeting feature, for example, automatically identifies targetable audiences based on factors like performance data, consumer interactions with other ads in the same vertical, and the content consumers are viewing across various platforms.
This shift is both exciting and nerve-wracking for advertisers. While the results from using these tools are promising, advertisers may feel uneasy about letting platforms take control of targeting. Advertisers who have specific target audiences in mind and invest significant amounts of money in reaching them want assurance that their ads are being served to the right people. Nevertheless, as platforms move toward AI-powered audience targeting, advertisers need to test and learn with these tools to become more comfortable with this shift.
However, AI-led targeting does not mean advertisers should set and forget their campaigns. It is crucial to review performance data and assess whether the AI-powered tools are achieving their goals. For instance, if an advertiser is running a lead generation ad and Facebook recommends broad targeting settings, it is essential to evaluate whether those settings are actually driving quality leads. In this AI-driven social world, advertisers must carefully evaluate and adjust their strategies accordingly.
Generative AI for Social Advertising
Social platforms are empowering advertisers to create assets such as copy, images, and entire ads using AI. These tools offer significant benefits, including simplicity, speed, and ease of launch. This efficiency can revolutionize how advertisers develop and scale their social campaigns. Advertisers can generate and test new creative variants across different audience segments for more targeted campaigns or experiment with entirely different creative approaches to determine consumer resonance.
Despite the efficiency of AI-generated content, advertisers have valid concerns about its effectiveness. Without adequate quality control and campaign monitoring, advertisers may waste money on ineffective creative or face backlash from consumers. There is also a concern that social media will become saturated with AI-generated ads, potentially leading consumers to desire more authentic content. Advertisers should strive to strike a balance and use AI tools opportunistically while ensuring they do not solely rely on them for social media advertising and messaging efforts.
AI-Powered Social Listening
Social listening is a crucial advertising tool that provides valuable insights for shaping a brand’s strategic approach. Manual social listening can be time-consuming, but AI-powered social listening tools can review and process vast amounts of data and sentiment, automatically extracting key takeaways for immediate use. These tools allow advertisers to understand the top concerns of consumers in a specific category, overall sentiment, and the reasons behind negative or positive sentiment.
AI-powered social listening is a safe and impactful way for social teams to leverage AI, as it does not generate content that is directly sent to consumers. Consequently, AI-powered social listening has seen high adoption rates, with 40% of brands and retailers using these tools in Q4 2023, making it the third-most popular use of AI after chatbots and copy generation.
In summary, social listening offers a low-risk, high-reward avenue for advertisers to harness the power of AI, even for those who are cautious about adopting AI technologies.
Wrapping Up: Embracing AI-Driven Change in Social Media Advertising
The adoption of artificial intelligence-powered tools for social media advertising will vary among agencies and brands. Some may be ready to fully embrace generative AI, while others may adopt these technologies at a slower pace. Regardless of the pace, it is important to test and learn with tools falling into each of the three categories mentioned above. The future of social advertising is AI-driven, and advertisers who do not become comfortable with these technologies will lose their competitive edge as these solutions become more commonplace and advanced in the coming years.
Curious about how marketing professionals feel about generative AI, the specific tools they use, and their frequency of utilization? We conducted a survey of over 200 marketing professionals from leading agencies, brands, non-profits, and publishers to gauge industry sentiment and usage of generative AI. Read our report, “Generative AI and the Future of Marketing,” to explore the findings.
