Generative AI in content marketing boosts efficiency and creativity

by Julia Pott

The further development of artificial intelligence (AI) is currently revolutionizing many areas of the world of work and business. This is particularly true of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), which can generate unique content. The market launch of ready-to-use generative AI models (the best-known example is the chatbot ChatGPT from OpenAI) is now bringing about ground-breaking changes, for example in content marketing.

A survey by Capgemini shows that this development has already arrived in the marketing sector: almost 60 percent of the companies surveyed have already integrated generative AI into their marketing activities. More than half of marketing professionals expect generative AI to act as a catalyst for new creative opportunities and motivate marketing teams to think beyond traditional boundaries.

The results after the first application phase show Generative AI tools help employees to create content faster and more efficiently. In addition, specialists are no longer needed for many tasks, as the AI creates content at a high level based on simple text instructions.

Will AI replace employees? According to a survey by Deloitte, there are more companies that expect to hire staff to use AI than companies that expect AI to reduce their workforce. Humans are still indispensable for developing creative strategies and storytelling, making ethical decisions and checking quality. In addition, humans must control AI with precise prompts, ensure emotional fine-tuning and contribute innovative ideas in order to generate effective and authentic content.

However, very few companies will be able to avoid using the technology, as only those who can constantly increase operational efficiency will survive the competition. GenAI can help to save time in content production despite staff shortages. It can produce numerous suggestions in a matter of seconds and thus support creative processes. If personalized versions or variants tailored to target groups are required, an AI works much more resource-efficiently and makes content creation scalable. This gives employees more time to concentrate on strategic tasks or keep up to date with the latest content marketing trends.

With the CREAITECH GenAI Beauty Content Lab, L’Oréal has created a platform for tools to scale AI-powered content for its 37 brands. The lab makes it possible to create brand-compliant content and train employees in new creative technologies. This results in innovative beauty campaigns that are characterized by the use of tailor-made AI models that take into account the respective visual brand codes and designs. According to Asmita Dubey, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer at L'Oréal, entire campaigns can be created in a short space of time without relying on completely AI-generated images of faces or bodies. L'Oréal also wants to explore the creative boundaries of 3D, AR and AI by collaborating with Meta and leading content creators.

Fashion label Marc Cain has also relied almost exclusively on AI-generated images for its fall/winter 2024 campaign. The campaign shows photorealistic scenes of models in fields of flowers that were created entirely by an AI based on text descriptions. Only the clothing is real and was photographed in the studio. The campaign reflects the collection motto “Blend Boundaries” by blurring the boundaries between reality and virtuality.

SPAR Slovenia has released the first series of AI-generated promotional videos created entirely by AI. Only a few photos of stores and specific text instructions served as a starting point for the AI.

In addition, SPAR is testing holographic advertising in one of its INTERSPAR stores. As part of a loyalty points campaign for JBL speakers and headphones, a hologram installation was used to project animated 3D images of JBL products into the room. This advertising method is to be tested in several markets, attracting the attention of customers and ensuring better conversion.

MediaMarktSaturn uses AI to deliver automatically generated, SEO-optimized content for partner companies. This includes content for product pages such as headlines, descriptions and keywords as well as texts that are adapted to the communication strategy of the respective company. The AI can also translate content into different languages, adapt it to country-specific requirements and edit it to avoid duplicate content.

Target also relies on GenAI to optimize product pages and thus the user experience in its own online store. AI-generated summaries of reviews, more precise product titles and more helpful product descriptions enable customers to find more suitable products. By the end of this summer, over 100,000 pages will have been optimized to make the shopping experience more user-friendly.

Generative AI is fundamentally changing content marketing in retail, not only by increasing efficiency but also by serving the specific needs of the industry. Brands such as IKEA and L’Oréal  are investing in extensive training programs and experimentation rooms to educate their employees in the use of AI technologies and promote creative innovation. Providers such as Google and Amazon are also supporting small and medium-sized retail companies that cannot afford their own laboratories or specialized teams by giving them access to powerful GenAI tools. These tools enable retailers to create appealing product images and advertising content without much effort, which aims to lead to higher conversion rates.

However, there are still challenges in using generative AI in content marketing. These include ensuring that AI content is original, does not infringe copyrights and complies with ethical standards.