Speaker Series: AI and More, What's New & Next in Digital Marketing

www.emeritus.org

Your Host & Speakers

Dwight Galler

Growth Marketing Consultant,

Emeritus Program Leader

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Matt Cardoni

Consultant and Educator, Green Lightning Marketing

Dana Todd

CEO, Balodana

Program Leader, Kellogg PCDM

Poll: How often do you use AI yourself?

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Why is this important now?

• Growing ubiquity of AI in marketing and classrooms
• Challenges for educators keeping pace with changes
• Disruptions across the board in marketing industry

AI transformed my business (Matt)

My Business

• 25+ years in digital
• From 6 people to 1 (me + AI)
• Lonelier, but better margins

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https://seo.goover.ai/report/202503/go-public-report-en-482cdc21-cdb4-4d3a-8bfe-25012f20e7d8-0-0.html

AI has transformed the digital marketing economy

I'm not the only one

The impact is massive and growing

• 88% of marketers report using AI in work
• 41% of companies plan workforce reductions as AI adoption expands
• 60% of jobs in advanced economies are at risk of being replaced by AI, compared to 26% in low-income countries
• → Zoinks! Time to learn & adapt

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https://seo.goover.ai/report/202503/go-public-report-en-482cdc21-cdb4-4d3a-8bfe-25012f20e7d8-0-0.html

AI isn't on the way – it's overtaken the digital advertising industry

• Market Share: AI-powered programmatic advertising accounts for 72% of digital display ad spending in the U.S
• 68% of marketers have seen a positive ROI uplift using AI (HubSpot)
• Changed our daily lives: AI has fundamentally shifted the amount of time marketers spend on strategic vs tactical activities:

https://seo.goover.ai/report/202503/go-public-report-en-482cdc21-cdb4-4d3a-8bfe-25012f20e7d8-0-0.html

AI in Marketing: Channels and Tactics

AI for Automation and Analysis

Bring on the heavy machinery!

• A marketing “flywheel” is exciting idea to most marketers, as an evolution of the “funnel”
• Analysis of CRM/customer data/purchase data - anything in a spreadsheet or database
• Email/SMS automation and lead scoring
• AI segmenting (e.g., Mailchimp Predictive Segmentation)
• A/B testing with AI on all surfaces: emails, landing pages, ads

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Social Media Marketing

What can you use AI for in Social Media?

• Caption and ad content generation
• Image generation & optimization
• Posting time optimization
• Sentiment analysis
• Ad scoring & optimization
• Multivariate testing

Embedded AI creative tools in Meta make ad generation faster and easier.

Social Media Marketing

What are some popular Tools?

• Jasper (multi-service marketing AI suite)
• Built-in tools in Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Pinterest
• Buffer, Social Pilot, Hootsuite (social media managers)
• Chatgpt for strategy, content, images
• Snap’s “AI lenses” interactive ads
• Perplexity for competitive analysis

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Digital Advertising & Google Ads

AI is impacting Google significantly

• Platform Evolution: Google Ads has become more efficient and results-oriented, changing how campaigns are managed.
• SERP Disruption: Google's AI Overviews are significantly decreasing clicks to traditional organic listings for informational queries, forcing adaptation in paid strategies.
• 98% of PPC marketers use Google as their primary advertising platform, making Google's AI advancements particularly impactful.
• Channel Effectiveness: 93% of marketers rate PPC as "effective" or "highly effective," making it the second most valued channel after content marketing.
• Increasing Complexity: 49% of marketing specialists report PPC campaign management has become more difficult in the past two years, driving AI adoption.

AI & Digital Advertising → Paid Search Ads

AI impacts marketing metrics throughout the funnel

• 68%: average AI impact on marketing ROI
• 75% of PPC professionals say they use generative AI at least "sometimes" for writing ads (Backlinko)
• AI is integrated within Smart bidding, Performance Max, automated creatives, &:
• Landing page copy
• Ad copy
• Day parting/bid scheduling
• Geo bid optimizations
• Keyword/search term optimizations
• Use case: ecommerce bedding example

Content Marketing & SEO

AI dominates SEO already

• 86% of SEO pros use AI in strategy (SeoProfy)
• 67% of organizations use AI for content marketing
• AI-optimized content generates 83% higher engagement rates, though purely AI-generated content scores 3% lower on perceived quality compared to human-written material, underscoring the need for a balanced approach.
• Practical use cases:
• Google business location review analysis
• Keyword research, content ideation, creation, calendaring: the daily workflow

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Content Marketing & SEO

AI Overviews Impact on SEO

• AI integration in search engines (AI Overviews) cannibalizes organic clicks & CTR
• →SEO expert Neil Patel assessed the impact of AI Overviews on SEO strategy to be that more content will need to be created to rank for specific FAQs

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https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overviews-reduce-clicks/?user_id=66c4bd325d78644b3a9b4ba8

Live SEO Tool Demo

AI empowers professionals to create tools to set us apart

• Alex Brown created custom ChatGPT tools!

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https://chatgpt.com/g/g-680d0ec1ab788191bf01b28099bdb88a-alex-s-seo-analyst

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https://chatgpt.com/g/g-680e775c8f808191a91ce03f1faefe53-alex-s-keyword-explorer-seo

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https://chatgpt.com/g/g-680f1c3410288191bd61abf56d1c74d2-alex-s-content-creator-seo

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Creative, Branding, Video Marketing

Video generation projections are particularly massive

Creative tools abound.

• Personal image creation favorite: Ideogram
• Logos
• Branding
• Others: Midjourney, DALL·E, Canva AI
• AI video tools: Pictory, Synthesia, Runway
• Fast repurposing of webinars or explainer videos
• Branding & tone: cohesive brand voice via AI writing

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Ethical Considerations in Marketing AI

Ongoing debates that may never end…

• Copyright/intellectual property
• Data bias
• Data protection
• Deepfakes
• Transparency
• “Human in the loop” models

Upcoming Training Resource

Antiracist education for educators

https://cjc.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/cjc/event.jsp?event=7371&

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Our vision is to create an anti-racist workforce development system and employment equity so that everyone can realize their unique pathway out of poverty.

AI in Education

AI Is Not Going Away - Embrace It!

*(Cautiously)

Using AI in the Classroom

• Examples of teaching with ChatGPT, Perplexity, Canva, Grammarly
• Letting students explore vs. prescribing tools

Setting AI Policies for Students

• Dana’s model: “Disclosure Required: show me your query and method”
• Balance between learning, ethics, and innovation

The Plagiarism Question

• How schools are evolving
• Turnitin’s new AI detection, but with disclaimers

https://www.saintmeinrad.edu/student-resources/academic-regulations/artificial-intelligence-policy/

The demand for AI education is BOOMING

Key Takeaways

• According to LinkedIn research, "mastering the basics of AI" is the #1 essential skill for leaders today.
• 98% of business leaders view AI as a strategic priority, leveraging it for product innovation, customer experience, and operational efficiency.
• There is an increased demand for high-skilled, AI-literate workers with wage premiums for those with AI expertise.

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AI Conferences

AI niche? Find yours – there's a conference for that.

Industry Summits

AI Summit at Black Hat

AI Elevate by Alined

Academic Conferences

AAAI Conference in Singapore: the scientific society dedicated to advancing AI understanding through rigorous academic discourse.

Niche Industry Events

Specialized AI sub-conferences such as law, medicine, and technology

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→ Find your niche!

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Corporate Learning Pathways

Academic Programs

• Kellogg/Northwestern's AI Strategies for Business Transformation provide valuable credentials
• Emeritus AI Education Opportunities

1:1 Consulting & Workshops

• Green Lightning Marketing offers private, custom AI education
• General Assembly provides evening courses to boost workplace productivity.

Corporate Certifications

• LinkedIn Learning, Coursera
• Google & Microsoft have industry-standard AI certifications

Entrepreneurial Learning Approaches

Online Courses

• AI evening courses & team training opps abound =)
• Add yours(!)

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YouTube

• Free grad school!
• Matt Wolfe & Blazing Zebra*

Entrepreneurs may prefer more flexible, cost-effective learning options that prioritize practical application over formal credentials.

Thank You! (Q&A)

Other Optional Slide Templates Below

www.emeritus.org

Where to learn more

AI education for executives

https://greenlightningmarketing.com/ai/

AI Power Hour 1:1

Workshops

• AI for executives
• AI for educators
• AI for digital marketers: SEO, Paid Ads
• AI for creatives
• AI for technical pros