In the ever-evolving field of social media and digital marketing, 55% of businesses in APAC consider AI to be an important part of their social media strategy. This is a significantly higher percentage compared to their global counterparts (44%).
In fact, 55% of marketing and communications professionals across the APAC region plan to increase their use of AI tools in 2024, with organizations primarily focused on finding inspiration (45%) and writing copy ( 40%) are powered by AI.
Don't miss: Research: Gen AI increases content creation by 56.7%
These are the findings of social media intelligence firm Meltwater's State of Social Media 2024 report, which surveyed nearly 400 professionals in the Asia-Pacific region and found that 64% of respondents said that AI tools It was also revealed that respondents said that it helped them save time when writing. 36% say it helps them improve their copy.
When it comes to why companies use social media, 47% of organizations use social media to achieve the top-of-funnel goal of increasing brand awareness and the sub-goals of connecting with customers and increasing brand engagement. I'm interested in doing that.
As the use of AI in social media agencies increases, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to several local agencies to find out how they're incorporating AI into their social media strategies, and how they're adapting to it as they grow. I asked him if he plans to continue investing in the company.
According to Sunny Johar, Managing Director and Head of Digital Strategy at KRDS, there are two different aspects to the use of AI in social media. The first is functional, where AI is used at a tactical rather than strategic level.
“For example, image generation AI can be a great alternative to stock images for brands in industries with minimally differentiated products where competitors are highly likely to use similar images. “At this level, it may or may not be immediately obvious. AI was used to create the content,” she said.
The second aspect of using AI is to entertain, and cutting-edge campaigns put AI at the center of their ideas and leverage its capabilities to create interactive campaigns at scale.
“At KRDS Singapore, we are a young and highly creative team that is always up for a challenge, so naturally we seize every opportunity to use AI to give our campaigns an interactive twist,” Johar said. explained.
She added that the agency has already invested in several functional AI tools and is constantly refining the tools in its portfolio.
“However, given the opportunity to create an AI-centric campaign, we are also prepared to conduct due diligence on lesser-known tools that may help realize a more unique vision,” she says. said.
She added that AI should not be included just for the sake of it, but according to the brand's purpose and the problem it solves.
“AI can be a powerful way to deliver interactive campaigns with a twist, but it requires considerable due diligence on a technical level to successfully integrate into strategy,” she said.
Furthermore, Dzhokhar explained that AI is still far from being able to completely replace humans. “In reality, there are some limitations to the capabilities that AI can provide, so the perceived concerns about employee bandwidth are not a reality. It brings clarity,” she said.
Therefore, while AI may assist employees with certain menial tasks, it will most likely free up their time to provide more value-add.
According to Meltwater, content generation has increased by 56.7% since the year ChatGPT was launched, as content generation has never been easier.
According to new research from digital asset management provider Bynder, this significant growth is seven times faster than the average annual growth rate of 7% in content production, and Gen AI tools are increasing the amount of content being created. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effects on Managed by marketers.
However, Meltwater's report found that despite the ease of using AI to generate social media content, 51% of companies are concerned about employee bandwidth when managing social media. found that 37% say the lack of a clear strategy is a bigger challenge.
In fact, the majority of survey respondents (50%) operate in small social media teams of 2-5 members, and the increased focus on social media is straining human resource constraints. It is becoming clear that what is happening.
“This year, social media teams are in the enviable position of doing more for their organizations with limited resources and budgets,” said Mimura Mahmood, Vice President of Enterprise APAC and Meltwater APAC Partner. states.
“Brands typically post three to four times a week, and the challenge is to consistently create engaging content in a scalable way. AI continues to be a focus as it enhances the capabilities of social media teams. ”, he added.
Incorporate education into your AI implementation
According to Yi Hui Toh, Singapore Country Manager at AnyMind Group, when it comes to incorporating AI into social media teams and strategies to reduce workload, it all comes down to education.
Like programmatic before it, any highly publicized new technology requires significant education before users can fully maximise the value of the technology, Toh said, adding that this can be further broken down into two stages: adoption and familiarisation.
“Social media managers need to conduct thorough research and foresight before implementing AI use cases, as use cases will drive confidence in technology acceptance during the implementation phase,” he said. explained.
During the familiarization phase, you need to consider which areas will be most effective and what the costs will be when implementing AI into your social media workflow.
Mr Toh added:
The post-familiarization stage is where we start to see marketers unlock the true value of AI in social media management.
To said Anymind has been using AI in its operations for many years. “Before GenAI went mainstream, we were developing computer vision for DOOH installations through our digital marketing platform AnyDigital, floor price optimization with AnyManager, our platform for publishers, and our influencer marketing platform. , AnyTag,” he said.
He added that in addition to implementing virtual influencers, the agency has already implemented GenAI into its logistics management platform to automatically convert shipping addresses.
“Looking to the future, we are maximizing the use of data across our suite of platforms, from e-commerce and marketing to logistics and customer service, to help our clients improve their organization’s business processes in less time. “We want to develop capabilities that allow us to do that,” he said.
He added that ideally, social media agencies can use AI as a research tool to ideate campaigns and visualize concepts in the form of images and videos.
“For example, the development of mood boards using GenAI can help improve efficiency and the required lead time. Even brand marketers can use such tools,” he said, adding that AI is used Trendjacking is also an area that can be focused on as it detects and generates content at a much faster pace.
Use AI for social media research
In addition to his claims, Gushcloud International explained that it uses AI to assist with data exploration and analysis to derive consumer insights.
“We use that insight to come up with campaign strategies. Additionally, our campaign strategists and creatives also use AI tools like Gencraft and ChatGPT to help with content ideation and content mockups. ” he said. May Chaweewannakorn, Head of SEA Talent at Gushcloud International, said:
Adding to her point, Choy Peng Kong, chief technology officer at Gushcloud, said the agency has been tracking AI advances since early last year to assess the feasibility and impact of AI technology on society. He said he is conducting rigorous research and building a proof of concept. its business and industry.
“We developed an AI chatbot using OpenAI’s GPT-4 as a base model and enhanced access to extensive proprietary data about Gushcloud’s talent and campaigns,” he explained. “This AI is currently being evaluated for its potential and is envisioned to play a key role in all key stages of agency marketing, from recommending talent to generating valuable following and engagement insights. doing.”
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