Digital Marketing is in the midst of AI evolution with the eruption of Artificial Intelligence — AI offers time-saving tools not just for search, but for content creation, and marketing planning. In this video, you will discover strategies on how to adapt and adopt in this AI-driven world.
Watch this Video on the New AI Evolution
Digital Marketing Evolutions
I recently celebrated 30 years of digital marketing! Yes, I started in 1995. That was before the Internet was a household word! I remember when Google and Yahoo were both born as ways to index websites so people could easily find information. My job back then was to create websites and make sure that they were indexed in Google and Yahoo and the bevy of other lists and directories that existed back then. The objective was to be found when a World Wide Web surfer was looking for what the business had to offer.
Then came the evolution of social media. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter – now X. We all had to adapt and adopt and re-strategize.
That’s why I started my business over 13 years ago! I saw a need to show small business owners how to effectively promote their businesses in this new-fangled media.
The Old Strategic Recipe for Success
You had to become a content magnet. Then, share that content on Social Media to build relationships and gain a following. That was the formula: Content plus social media gave you SEO or traffic to your website. Given that, you still needed a website set up to capture leads. You want to convert a visitor into a lead with an enticing offer or call-to-action.
Then have them in some sort of email automation system to nurture them into a sale. Without content AND social media, you won’t get the traffic to your website. Without traffic to your website, you won’t get those CONVERSIONS!
It’s Still About CONVERSIONS!
Whether it’s sales on an ecommerce site, getting the phone to ring, or lead generation, the purpose of all of your marketing efforts is to get CONVERSIONS! Conversions are still your goal — that hasn’t changed. What has changed in how your potential customer is going to get there — how are they going to find you?
The steps to effective marketing haven’t changed. If you try to skip any of these steps, you’re going to come up short. You’re going to waste your time, effort, and money and not accomplish what you need to. Therefore, you should…
- Clearly define your target market – you can have more than one.
- Research: Learn as much as you can about your target – here’s where AI can help you.
- Set SMART Goals of what specifically you want to accomplish.
- Develop a Strategic Plan – outlining the strategies to accomplish your goals. Then a Tactical Plan -that’s how you’re going to implement the strategy.
- Set up, brand & optimize your website and social profiles for the AI search bots — make it easy for them to cite your content.
- Learn How to Properly – AND EFFECTIVELY – Use the new, time-saving AI-Tools — I can teach you!
- Create Content – write blog posts, record videos or podcasts, all optimized for the LLMs.
- Implement, Engage & Build a Following by sharing, not selling. Just do it! Get your content out there strategically.
- Get your email marketing automation going to entice sales.
- Monitor & measure monthly – check your analytics and insights to see what’s working and not working, and adjust your strategic and tactical plans accordingly.
Enter the AI Evolution
These are Large Language Models or LLMs. By the way, Google is still very much in the game. Their AI is Gemini. On the Google mobile app, tap on the beaker icon, and you can turn on AI Overviews. On Desktop, you can turn on AI Mode, which is technically a research assistant rather than a search engine.
Furthermore, if you don’t like Google, then go over to Bing and try Microsoft’s Copilot, which uses the popular ChatGPT. 77% of Americans use ChatGPT as a search engine, is nearing 700 million weekly active users. Additionally, we have Grok, Perplexity, Claude, and NotebookLM, and over 100 other AIs!
How is AI Different?
- Ranking in an AI platform is different than ranking on Google Search
- 87% are question-based searches
- 13.7 billion people are using AI tools for search
- 50% for information
- 34% for navigation
- 14.8% for conversion — they’re looking to buy
- .8% for a transaction — they’re ready to buy
If your target customer has a question, a problem, or a pain point, they’re now, more than likely, going to ask their favorite AI Search Tool. The question is, which tools? Where are they searching? What are they asking? How do I know when they’re ready to make a decision? How do you get your content cited in the AI search results? (Note: these stats are changing by the minute.)
Context is King!
Content used to be King. It’s now Queen. Context is king these days.
What is Context?
Context, as defined by the dictionary, is the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. AND the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.
You still need to be a content magnet, but for the AI-bots.
Before, I used to tell people to write for the human reader with the search engine in mind, but now it’s to write for the human reader with the AI-Search Bot in mind.
Now more than ever, EEAT is crucial.
What is E-E-A-T?
- Experience — This is something AI can’t provide — YOUR personal experience on a subject.
- Expertise — Does the content showcase your expertise and high level of knowledge or skill?
- Authority — Are you the go-to person on this subject?
- Trustworthiness — Is the information provided correct? Can you trust it? Are you legit or a fly-by-night operation? You don’t want to sound fake. Remember this! It’s important! This is what Google and the AI-bots look for!
Get more Tips: What is E-E-A-T
Building Trust and Credibility is Paramount to Being Cited in the AI Search Tools.
Let’s review your strategic recipe for success…
- You want to become a trustworthy content magnet for the robots.
- Then strategically share that content on Social Media where your post can
- Be found and cited by the AI search bots. Content plus social media that the AI-Search bot can cite, which will lead to…
- Traffic to your website.
- Capture leads with that call-to-action.
- Then have them in some sort of email automation system.
Without strategic content AND
strategic social media posts,
the AI Bots won’t find you, and
neither will your potential customers!
Overwhelmed? Of course you are. So many tools! Which one should you use? What do I use for what?
