From buzzword to bottom line: 3 ways advertisers can get more out of their AI investment

And they know that AI-powered tools and automation are key to unearthing, engaging and converting these opportunities at scale. But, even though 2024 is the year of AI implementation, are marketers getting the most out of the tech? Breaking news suggests not.

AI adoption struggling – SME impact

Despite a £25m+ AI investment boost in UK and US businesses in 2024, many are struggling to move beyond AI experimentation into effective execution. A lack of C-suite vision around AI usage, data hurdles and legacy tech are all hampering adoption. And that’s leading to missed opportunities across the board. 47% of global employees aren’t meeting AI productivity expectations because they’re not confident with the tech.

And SMEs in particular want to pick up the pace when it comes to AI. 42% say not optimizing their AI usage puts them at a competitive disadvantage. And one in two say insufficient automation and AI adoption holds them back from achieving their goals. Given that SMEs tend to drive world economies, that’s not ideal in today’s pressure-cooker marketplace.  

Alex Cheeseman, head of enterprise at Outbrain says: “SMEs are leading the charge of this AI momentum as a lack of adoption and optimization is massively affecting their scalability and efficiency.

“AI and automation tools offer marketers such potential for realizing performance excellence. But only if they’re used in the right way – to empower human intelligence to strategize and innovate. By automating the intricate details of their ad campaign, marketers can get so much more out of their creative performance as well as their budget.”

How can open internet advertisers match their AI ambition with its implementation? How can they tune into what works, to ramp up their ROI?  

Here are three strategies they can adopt right now:

1. Bid smarter, not harder 

Having the proper digital advertising bid strategy is crucial to achieving maximum output at the best cost. But manual bid management is time-consuming, especially as campaigns grow. And this is leading to missed opportunities and inefficiencies.

Marketers who lean into the predictive algorithms of bid automation tech to set real-time bids can leverage countless bidding signals that are otherwise hidden when they optimize their bids manually. Automated solutions do the heavy lifting to optimize ads against engagement and conversion goals, so marketers are freed up to spend their precious time and resources elsewhere. And automated bidding also means campaigns are continually optimized, so they don’t need constant monitoring.

2. Use publisher data for privacy-first targeting  

Advertisers need to use personalization to engage their customers, but the ongoing, privacy-first culture and regulations mean it’s more challenging than ever to engage with audiences meaningfully. Contextual tools and AI are key to unlocking future audience engagement.

Platforms which have direct publisher relationships use AI and machine learning to harness advanced contextual signals and predict outcomes which enable them to understand audiences more deeply. And that means marketers can connect with their customers more effectively in moments of relevance, leading to greater efficiencies at scale.

Cheeseman says: “It’s more than just adapting to new rules. It’s about setting a better standard for meaningful digital interaction. For example, using Outbrain’s platform data for targeting enabled WeightWatchers to acquire 64% more new users compared to social media rates, at a 3.5 times lower cost.”

3. Crank up customized creatives 

Campaigns usually require a lot of testing to uncover which creative most effectively meets their goals. And they need constant rejuvenation: using creatives like any that have previously performed well will result in ads whose impact decreases over time. So marketers tend to rely on stock imagery, which means their time gets taken up with finding the right image – a challenge which becomes even more taxing when it comes to finding creative that will engage local audiences, in global campaigns.

Advertising platforms that use AI-powered, real-time data can turn performance insights into more compelling ad creatives. Creative automation tools can then automate the end-to-end ad personalization and creative optimization process to produce contextually relevant images and titles which drive higher conversions and growth at scale, more easily.

To find out more information and advice about using AI to engage audiences on the open internet, please visit Outbrain.