AI Tools for Digital Marketers

The AI marketing tools gold rush: do autonomous tools get paid advertising results?

What we’ll cover here:

1. Can AI tools improve your digital media performance outcomes?
2. How to choose the right AI-powered performance marketing tools
3. The caveat? Investing your marketing budget elsewhere

By the end of 2025, global revenue from AI use in marketing is expected to hit $47 billion. From content creation to predictive analytics and beyond, we’re in the midst of an AI marketing tools gold rush.

The question is, does working with AI tools actually drive better results and ROI? Every tool on the market claims to deliver AI magic – but not all of them deliver the goods.

If you’re thinking about investing in AI tools to elevate your paid marketing strategy, knowing whether to take the plunge can seem daunting. Let us set the record straight.

Can AI tools improve your digital media performance outcomes?

So, can AI tools get positive paid advertising results? The right tools can certainly help, but they’re no substitute for a solid strategy founded on truly understanding your target customers, their motivations or pain points, and where they like to interact most.

Human in put is essential to AI-powered paid marketing outcomes.

Without these core elements in place, no AI tool will save you from draining your ad budgets faster than a leaky bucket.

Yes, AI tools for paid advertising are powered by innovations, including machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP), to automate or optimize key elements of the process.

But, without informed human input, these tools can only take you so far. To drive consistent results, there has to be synergy between human and ‘machine’. When you get it right, harmony will prevail. Here’s why:

The collaborative dynamic between AI model and human creates an “intelligence amplification” effect. By offloading the mind-sapping burdens linked to extensive data processing and repetitive calculations to AI platforms, you can free up extra time and brain power to focus on more strategic activities.

This level of liberation means you can engage in higher-order thinking, strategic planning, and creative problem-solving, amplifying your intellectual contributions in the process.

Making the ‘AI sandwich’

AI marketing expert Kerry Harrison coined the concept of the AI sandwich. This simple yet effective framework demonstrates how AI tools can complement human creativity to improve marketing outcomes instead of replacing them.

It goes a little something like this:

1. Bread: Human data analysis, planning, strategic thinking, goal-setting, targeting, and parameter setting.

2. Filling: AI-powered content generation, process automation, dynamic ad optimization.

3. Bread: Human analysis and measurement, editing, refinement, and future strategic improvements

If you do decide to work with AI tools to assist with your paid advertising efforts, it’s vital to remember that the direction and outcome of your campaigns start and end with human input. Scratch that… not just input, but creative and strategic direction.

Key AI Marketing Tools by Category: Overview

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How to choose the right AI-powered performance marketing tools

When you’re looking to invest in an AI tool or platform, knowing what will potentially offer a healthy return on investment (ROI) and what’s merely hype is vital.

While there’s no absolute way to know whether an AI tool will offer the best ROI, there are measures you can take to make an informed decision for your businesses. Let’s take a look.

Step 1. Identify your specific goals and pain points

Before you dip your toe into the AI water, you should establish your specific goals and where your digital weaknesses lie. For instance:

• Are you struggling with creative direction and driving consistent brand awareness?
• Do you need to scale the production of your ad creatives and messaging?
• Are you looking for an effective way to gather deeper audience insights?

Don’t invest in an AI tool because it’s popular. Choose a tool because it directly addresses creative or branding challenges you’re currently facing.

A tool known for its granular budget optimization might be redundant if your main focus is branding and organic content creation. Decide where AI can deliver the most significant lift for your current efforts before making a firm commitment.

Step 2. Try tools for collaboratoin and control, not just for automation

Remember, the “bread” of the AI sandwich – strategic thinking and human input – is non-negotiable.

Look for platforms that offer transparency in their algorithms, allowing you to understand why certain recommendations are made or how your ads are being optimized.

Tools that offer clear dashboards, customizable parameters, and easy ways to weave (your) human insights into the mix will be far more valuable than generic tools that ‘promise’ results with little explanation.

The bottom line? You need to be able to refine your AI tool’s output and choose tools that can automate key aspects of your performance marketing processes effectively.

The right AI stack + human direction = an optimized standard operating procedure (SOP) that improves productivity without compromise.

Step 3. Opt for demos. Try product trials.

Many AI tool providers and platforms offer free trials or demos, so take advantage of them. Run small-scale tests, compare results against your current methods, and evaluate the ROI these tools may offer.

Focus on tools that demonstrate genuine strategic improvements while complementing your internal branding and organic content development (the kind that speaks to your audience and drives conversions).

A truly effective AI platform won’t just claim to deliver the goods. Instead, it will prove its worth with features, tools, and customizations that are most likely to enhance your strategic efforts.

Oh, and make sure you talk to your peers and dive deep into user reviews to ensure any potential tool is tried, tested, and trustworthy.

The caveat? Investing your marketing budget elsewhere

With a measured approach and the right considerations, you can make AI tools work for you (and your paid advertising ROI). But here’s the caveat (or curveball, if you will):

You don’t need to be lured in by the AI marketing tools goldrush. Instead, you can strike a harmonious balance that elevates your performance marketing strategy long-term:

• Choose tools that align with your business goals while offering effective content creation and brand enhancement features

• Train your in-house creative team on how to use these tools to their strategic and creative advantage

• Collaborate with paid ad agency that gives you access to data you don’t have in-house, fueling AI models with richer inputs. The result: sharper targeting, stronger campaigns, and more consistent results.

Yes, in addition to leveraging AI in-house, you can use your resources to collaborate with a specialist agency. One equipped with the tools, talent, and insights to drive consistent ROI from your paid ads across channels. But beyond performance, the right partner also safeguards your brand, ensuring every campaign aligns with your voice, values, and visual identity. That way, you don’t lose consistency or dilute the equity you’ve built with your audience. Instead, you gain a trusted extension of your team, committed to delivering measurable growth while keeping your brand story intact. An agency like us.

If you’d like to invest in an agency with a unique approach to paid advertising and earn consistent commercial growth, get in touch.