Artificial intelligence in communication: nothing ventured, nothing gained

Nowadays, marketing is not only about understanding customers in order to reach them with personalized messages, but also about being as efficient as possible. In this context, there is more and more talk of AI and automation.

It is important to be open to the available technological possibilities and to use them to your own advantage. With this in mind, the path to a modern marketing department involves five steps.

Step 1: Informing and researching

If you want to use digital helpers, you first need to get an overview of what tools are available and what purpose they serve. Ideally, an employee with an affinity for technology and a good command of English should research suitable solutions - German technology providers also communicate mainly in English.

It is also advisable to ask colleagues from marketing and corporate communications: Which tools do they already use? Which applications are used in other areas of the company? And can these tools also be used for your own purposes? On this basis, it is possible to draw up an initial longlist. 

Step 2: Form task force

To ensure that the "modern marketing" project does not come to nothing, it is advisable, depending on the size of the company, to appoint either a permanent team or an employee who will be responsible for the next steps, drive the project forward and get colleagues excited about the project. Ideally, such a team should not only consist of communication experts, but also include employees from other areas of the company.

Experience has shown that interdisciplinary teams deliver the best results. However, it is important that companies provide sufficient human, financial and time resources. Otherwise, the project is doomed to failure from the outset.

Step 3: Set goals (and limits)

Following the initial research, an important task of the task force is to formulate realistic goals and set limits. How and to what extent marketing departments automate their communication is a highly individual decision. While the goals are usually set quickly - companies usually want to save time and gain new insights through the use of AI - it is often much more difficult to draw boundaries.

Those responsible should therefore carefully consider how far they want to go with regard to ethical and moral aspects. Not everything that is technically possible should actually be implemented. If in doubt, it is therefore advisable to postpone the relevant decision and go straight to the fourth step instead.

Step 4: Experiment

When dealing with AI-based solutions and applications for process automation, it is always advisable to proceed according to the trial-and-error principle. The motto here is: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Many technology providers offer free trial accounts and support users in experimenting.

Marketing and communication departments can make a valuable contribution to ensuring the future viability of the entire company by playfully determining which solutions offer real added value for their needs.

Step 5: Get started

It is certainly the case that many AI-based and automation solutions are still in the beta stage. Nevertheless, there are a number of tools that have already been tried and tested and deliver convincing results. Many processes can be made significantly more efficient through the use of appropriate solutions, particularly in the areas of marketing and corporate communications.

With the help of voice-controlled assistants, users can not only shop, but also edit graphics and photos. Functions such as speech-to-text, text-to-speech and text-to-video make this possible. It is also possible to translate multi-page Word documents and even entire PowerPoint presentations using AI or to record and transcribe conversations.