What are the Best AI and Marketing Automation Tools?

Artificial intelligence (AI) helps marketers automate activities and campaigns at scale in a way we've never seen before. But there are a lot of AI tools out there and they're coming at us fast!

This can make it overwhelming for marketers to know where to start with AI and see that there are many tools out there (not just ChatGPT) that can help gain customer insights, drive personalization, and boost efficiency. 

To help you get started and pick the right AI tool for your goal, we've compiled a list of the best AI marketing tools available for a number of digital marketing activities:

• Audience research
• Customer journey mapping
• Idea generation and content research
•  Keyword research
• Trend analysis and forecasting
• Competitor monitoring
• Sales automation
• Social media management and advertising
• Writing and content generation

But first, a quick introduction to AI and its use in marketing...

What is AI in marketing?

Marketing automation is a system that automates repetitive tasks like curating subscriber lists, emailing customers about abandoned shopping carts, and providing automated customer assistance (among many others).

AI marketing tools facilitate the automation of these tasks and usually integrate into your existing applications or platforms. 

Did you know? 28% of the top companies across industries actively use marketing automation and AI marketing tools.

The best marketing automation—or AI marketing—tools are powerful and many brands use them to find valuable leads, create campaigns, and track the sales funnel with pinpoint accuracy.

AI marketing tools are designed to automate key tasks while augmenting the creativity, insight, and performance of the people that use them.

For a deep dive into the concept, check out our 'Ultimate Guide to Marketing Automation'.

AI Tools for Audience Research

Answer the Public is a social listening tool that provides insights into potential audiences.

Answer Socrates provides insights into the types of questions that people are searching about.

SparkToro is a powerful audience research tool that gathers data about potential customers.

Google Trends helps you discover content that is currently resonating with audiences.

AI Tools for Customer Journey Mapping

Kissmetrics analyzes customer data to gain insights on customer behavior and brand interactions.

Mixpanel analyzes customer data to gain insights on customer behavior and brand interactions.

Amplitude analyzes customer data to gain insights on customer behavior and brand interactions.

Semrush Persona enables you to build buyer personas using AI-powered persona templates.

AI Tools for Idea Generation and Content Research

ChatGPT can help you do initial content research, based on highly detailed prompts.

Reddit enables you to do content research via its subreddits, which can then be fed into AI tools.

Consensus is an AI-powered search engine particularly suited for searching research papers.

Bard is a powerful text-based AI tool backed by Googles search engine.

Milled is an AI tool that helps you research content in email newsletters.

Clearscope analyzes high-ranking pages to give you ideas on how to create optimized content based on your keyword research.

MarketMuse can help with content planning, optimization, and performance monitoring, as well as competitor analysis.

Perplexity AI is an AI-powered search engine particularly useful for generating ideas, based on cited sources.

AI Tools for Keyword Research

ChatGPT can help you identify keywords based on topic or audience research.

UberSuggest is an AI-powered tool for keyword research and integration.

Clearscope is an AI-powered tool for keyword research and integration.

AI Tools for Trend Analysis and Forecasting

Talkwalker uses AI-powered tools to help alert you to upcoming trends.

TrendKite uses AI-powered tools to help alert you to upcoming trends.

Zoho Social uses AI-powered tools to help alert you to upcoming trends.

Seismic uses AI algorithms to predict trends so you can then adjust your marketing strategies to optimize ROI.

Bloomreach uses AI algorithms to predict trends so you can then adjust your marketing strategies to optimize ROI.

AI Tools for Competitor Monitoring

Rival IQ is an AI tool that helps brands conduct competitor monitoring.

Brandwatch is an AI tool that helps brands conduct competitor monitoring.

Sprout Social is an AI tool that helps brands conduct competitor monitoring.

AI for sales automation

Sales automation software is a convenient and cost-effective way for markers to generate highly personalized email campaigns that build loyalty and communications with ease (and at scale).

In addition to email campaigns, sales automation software is also effective for scheduling prospect appointments, prioritizing leads, and gathering valuable data. 

Let’s take a look at some of the best tools for AI marketing sales right now.

Outreach

Outreach is a versatile sales execution platform that helps marketers transform sales data into actionable insights. This seamless AI marketing tool helps you automate your workflows while testing engagement activities and key messaging across channels including SMS, email, and social media. The likes of Siemens, OKTA, and Zoom use it for their sales automation activities, so it must be good.

Gong

Gong is a sales marketing automation tool that exists to shorten sales cycles while significantly boosting team-wide communication and productivity. One of Gong’s most striking features is its ability to guide sales reps through their day with automated activity recommendations and strategic suggestions. A smart tool with a great deal of scope.

Drift

Drift is an incredibly smart conversation tool that helps marketers and sales reps work in harmony to reach out to customers with exactly the right messaging at the times as well as channels where they’re most likely to engage. With razor-sharp insights designed to get under the skin of key customer segments, Drift will help you meet your consumers needs while boosting overall output.

AI marketing tools for social media management & advertising

A cutting-edge social media management and advertising tool, Cortex uses razor-sharp technology to deliver critical marketing data sourced from a variety of channels. With Cortex, you can see exactly what is driving engagement and sparking interest with your target audience, giving you the insights to understand when, as well as what, to post. Its content posting suggestions are usually pretty spot on, too.

AI writing & content generation tools

Last but not least, we arrive at AI writing tools. As you no doubt know, content is one of the most vital components of any successful digital marketing strategy. Without rock-solid content, you’ll never establish a strong brand voice or establish authority in your niche. 

Now AI writing tools exist to help create valuable content with minimal human intervention. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Jasper

Trained by a mix of top direct response copywriters and digital marketing experts, Jasper AI is a smart writing assistant that produces content in a natural voice based on the key features of your brand’s tone. It also has a clever SEO optimization function and it can create imagery to support or complement your copy. A reliable and well-rounded AI writing assistant.

How do you use AI digital marketing tools?

“The playing field is poised to become a lot more competitive, and businesses that don't deploy AI and data to help them innovate in everything they do will be at a disadvantage.” —Paul Daugherty, Accenture

There are many inspiring uses of AI in digital marketing. As autonomous technologies become increasingly accessible (and powerful), an increasing number of renowned brands are joining the party. 

Big-hitting publications like Bloomberg, the Washington Post, and Forbes, for example, are currently using AI tools to create content—which you can find out all about by listening to our recent ‘Art of Copywriting’ podcast. 

To help you get the most from your AI marketing efforts, here are a few quick dos and don’ts for your reading pleasure.

Do

• Work with a small selection of AI marketing tools that align with your specific goals and business needs.
• Train your staff on how to use your new AI-powered tools to enhance their work and creative efforts.
• Use your best judgment to automate tasks you feel need streamlining and cherry-pick the best elements of your tools.

Don’t

• Integrate a bunch of different tools and bounce between them. It will cause confusion and create chaos rather than achieve harmony and boost productivity.
• Forget to include your team in the decision process when it comes to choosing the right AI tools.
• Lean solely on AI marketing tools to carry out your various tasks and processes. As we said, AI marketing tools are best when used with human leadership and nothing beats the human editorial eye!

Supercharge your marketing with AI

AI can be a powerful tool to help optimize your digital marketing initiatives. But you need to know the fundamentals to use it effectively. DMI’s Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing will give you the knowledge and skills (SEO, content marketing, email, PPC and strategy) to devise and implement effective digital campaigns.  

Related

• How AI is Changing Digital Marketing
• 8 Digital Skills You Need to Survive the Rise of AI
• Best Examples of AI in Marketing