Artificial intelligence: the today of digital advertising

The next generation of advertising is here, and is underpinned by incredible processing power, the ability to interpret consumer data at high velocity and scale, and the ability to apply that intelligence to advertising.

What is driving the adoption of AI in our daily lives, and more particularly, digital advertising? AI is making sense of vast swathes of data and enabling brands to solve problems, by helping them to influence and understand the consumer path to conversion.

We are now entering the age where scale, reach, and the ability to deploy algorithms can make companies more successful in engaging with prospective customers. It is no longer a luxury but a necessity to be technologically equipped (both in machine and talent).

The end goal is the ability to deliver truly personalised advertising — where mass market messaging bows out to targeted and customised preferences that respond to signals from individuals across the web.  

In simple terms, AI is becoming a driving force in the development of more precise digital advertising. No where is this more true than in the programmatic arena, where machine learning technologies — a branch of AI — are being employed to continually optimize campaigns for the best performance and outcome.

Taking this one step further by merging machine intelligence and data with advertising creative, brands are today seeing increased advertising effectiveness. This what we call advertising 3.0 where machines and algorithms power data allowing for immediate decision-making and precise targeting.

In short, AI systems are upending the marketing world and it's inevitable the science side will guide the artistic side of reaching consumers in a noisy world. Depending on how you see your cup, half empty or half full, this is a killer combination that can increase the performance outcomes of digital advertising.

A human can handle six to ten campaigns, for example, but AI is allowing people today to perform some of their manual tasks at scale and execute hundreds of campaigns in an intelligent and real-time manner. The continuous development of self-learning systems fueled by rich and insightful live data sets are going to take this to a much larger scale over time.

This new world also enables advertisers to use decision engines that decide which channels and web destinations to target in real-time so they get the best return on advertising spend. Brands can reduce media wastage and consumers are being presented with more relevant and targeted advertising.

We are moving closer to the objective of delivering the right ad to the right person at the right time. The brands investing in advertising powered by AI are improving channel selection, time of placement, and the deployment of the best message to a consumer.

Ultimately, this leads to the ability to drive forward an outcome-based model that focuses on the key performance objective of every brand — build awareness, increase conversions, and increase market share.

Arshan Saha is president of Xaxis Asia-Pacific