AI is an integral part of most people's lives right now. Smart assistants help out with problems from homework to planning the week ahead, while virtual agents book vacations and answer any number of customer service queries. Businesses are on the other side of these conversations, investing in automated chatbots, bespoke and personalized emails, and AI-powered data collation and organization to aid in customer research.

McKinsey has been researching AI for five years now, and in 2022, it reported that business adoption of AI had more than doubled. The same research highlighted that the biggest bottom-line boosts came when businesses used AI to improve their marketing and sales efforts, with costs dropping between 10 and 20% and revenue increasing between 5 and 10%. How can startups take advantage of AI to adjust their own marketing strategy and boost their profits?

The Challenges of Startup Marketing

Marketing as a tech startup can be difficult because you don't know what you don't know. In other words, you're starting with a blank slate; no clients, no sales data, and nothing to compare your success to except your competitors. It's obvious, then, that startups need to invest heavily in marketing, but then there comes the problem of maintaining capital efficiency. In other words, you need to show a good return on each dollar spent in order to prove the profitability of your startup and attract investors.

Startups can flounder as they try to balance creating meaningful marketing plans with maintaining growth. That's why services such as Fractional CMOs are becoming more popular and why startups seek advice from external marketing and content experts to maximize their budgets.

AI could provide resources and solutions that address many of the pain points associated with marketing costs.

AI-Powered Automation Saves Businesses Time and Money

Many businesses will already have invested in this aspect of AI: Automated emails, chatbots, agents, and response services that reduce the amount of time you or your team need to spend on admin. 64% of small businesses use email to reach potential clients or keep existing customers updated. As your customer base grows, it's simply not sustainable to have a human pen for each of these emails. But, with research showing that personalized communication can uplift revenue by up to 15%, it's also not feasible to send out a raft of identical emails to everyone your company engages with.

AI addresses this issue by creating personalized campaign materials based on data it gathers about existing buying habits, preferred products or services, and preferred engagement methods. For example, a customer that regularly reads and comments on your blog could be sent links to other articles they may be interested in. However, someone who only engages via social media could be sent relevant info via Facebook messenger instead.

AI Learns from Existing Marketing Campaigns

AI uses machine learning techniques to create results with the data you have available, which includes your existing marketing campaigns. This makes it possible to invest in AI tools that improve your marketing campaigns by actively noting exactly what worked and what was redundant across multiple strategies.

There's also AI software available that sifts through specific data, such as customer reviews of SaaS products, to discover pain points that aren't being addressed or, conversely, praise and testimonials that can be used to boost brand reputation. 

Generative AI Algorithms are Transforming Content Creation

One of the biggest leaps forward in AI's usefulness for tech startups is the ability to create unique content that actually engages readers or viewers. Generative AI algorithms take existing keywords or guidelines and create written content or images much faster than a human can. Considering that in 2022, marketers spent 33 hours on average per week creating content, AI could be a major factor in increasing efficiencies and cutting costs.

Tech startups should be aware that AI is mostly useful for short-form content right now and that longer, expert articles may still require at least a human copyeditor. However, advances in natural language processing (NLP) are quickly increasing the effectiveness of AI-powered content creation tools.

Final Word

AI provides marketers with tools and resources to make life much easier, boost ROI, and reach a potentially broader audience with less effort. Startup marketing is changing forever, and we're excited to see what new innovations AI will provide for growing businesses in the future. Want to know more about marketing for tech startups? Book your 15-minute introductory call with the team here at Arch Collective and discuss how you can take advantage of the resources available to you and the expert services we provide.

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