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AI is Changing the Rules of Digital Marketing, Here’s How to Take Advantage of it
By Alistair Errington, Snapchat Partner Director, Ad Dynamo by Aleph
After years of promising advances, the past year has been a breakthrough for bringing artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream. Even in creative industries, which many once thought AI would never infiltrate, is starting to have a tangible impact. Nowhere is that more true than in digital marketing.
Alistair Errington,
Always at the forefront of adopting new technologies, professionals in the digital marketing space have embraced a variety of AI tools. Those tools are used for everything from generating creative collateral for campaigns to ensuring that they’re as personalised as possible and, ultimately, to analyse campaign performance.
What’s really great about the current AI explosion, is that it’s made tools that were once the preserve of technical specialists available to ordinary people. So, even if you don’t know the ins and outs of AI, you can use it to boost your digital marketing capabilities. Here’s how.
Know what’s out there
Before fully committing to the use of AI tools, it’s important for businesses to understand what AI tools are out there and how they can be used.
Tools such Midjourney, DALL-E, and Stable Diffusion can, for instance, be used to develop visual concepts for a specific campaign. While the resultant images are increasingly impressive, they’re best used as references that you take to an agency or in-house designer. Doing so can save you significant amounts of time when it comes to campaign conceptualisation.
Other tools, such as current flavour of the month ChatGPT, can be used for a variety of purposes. You might, for instance, get it to generate some suggested taglines based on a few simple inputs or to help draft a customer email. Some companies are even integrating it into their broader customer service offerings, using it for everything from responses to reviews and customer queries to sentiment analysis.
It’s also worth noting that many of the same big platforms that businesses should concentrate their digital marketing spend on are also actively investing in AI tools. Meta, for instance, is experimenting with AI-powered chatbots on Messenger and WhatsApp. While it’s initially rolling out the product to consumers, it will likely start offering it as a customer service option to businesses in the near future. Spotify, meanwhile, has been a pioneer in the AI space for some time and will likely also roll out some features from its latest advances in its advertising offerings. And for its part, Snapchat says that its My AI offering can “answer a burning trivia question, offer advice on the perfect gift for your BFF’s birthday, help plan a hiking trip for a long weekend, or suggest what to make for dinner.”
Run with the right partners
Of course, most business owners’ areas lie in something other than AI and marketing. And as user-friendly as AI tools have become, navigating them can still feel overwhelming to many. Here having the right partners, particularly when it comes to things like digital media buying, can be incredibly helpful.
A good advertising partner will be able to help you navigate what’s possible when it comes to using AI on all of the most popular platforms. Moreover, they’ll be able to help you navigate the regulatory frameworks surrounding AI in your own market as well as international ones. And if they’re really good, they’ll also be conducting their own AI research to find innovative ways of using AI in digital advertising.
Don’t be afraid, but act sensibly
Ultimately, the message to businesses should be not to be afraid of AI. Utilised properly and in partnership with the right people, it can make their digital marketing efforts faster, more personalised, effective, and capable of driving both reach and returns. But they should also act sensibly (much as you would when using GPS in an area you’re not familiar with). The very last thing they should do, on the other hand, is adopt a wait-and-see approach, because that’s a sure-fire way to get left behind.
MTN Group has begun rolling out MTN One TV, a new entertainment proposition designed to make digital video content more accessible, relevant, and flexible for customers across African markets.
Introduced in line with MTN’s Ambition 2030 strategy, MTN One TV brings together local storytelling, live channels, international programming, and market-specific viewing options tailored to how customers across the continent access and pay for digital entertainment.
The proposition is designed to give customers greater choice in how they watch content, with viewing models that may vary by market and can include free-to-view content, advertising-funded experiences, pay-as-you-watch access, and subscription offerings.
Depending on local availability, customers may also be able to pay through airtime, Mobile Money, and other locally supported payment methods, helping to reduce common barriers to streaming access.
Beyond enhancing customer experiences, MTN One TV creates new opportunities for African creators, broadcasters, advertisers, and ecosystem partners by helping connect content to wider audiences through MTN’s scale across connectivity, payments, and digital services.
By bringing together a broad mix of content experiences under a single proposition, MTN aims to support greater content discovery, broader audience reach, and sustainable growth across Africa’s digital entertainment ecosystem.
Anchored in MTN’s strategic platforms of Connectivity, Fintech, and Digital Infrastructure, MTN One TV forms part of the Group’s broader ambition to build digital experiences that create value for customers while enabling participation and growth across Africa’s digital economy.
“Entertainment is increasingly becoming an important gateway to digital participation,” said Selorm Adadevoh, MTN group chief commercial, strategy and transformation officer.
“Through MTN One TV, we are leveraging the scale of our connectivity, fintech, and digital capabilities to make relevant content more accessible while creating new opportunities for Africa’s creative and digital economies. This is aligned with our ambition to deliver digital solutions for Africa’s progress.”
MTN One TV is being introduced progressively across MTN markets through a phased rollout approach that reflects local market needs, existing services, and partnership opportunities.
Over time, MTN will bring together a combination of video capabilities, content partnerships, and customer experiences under the MTN One TV brand to create a more consistent and scalable entertainment proposition across its footprint.
Through MTN One TV, MTN continues to extend its role beyond connectivity by combining entertainment, payments, and digital services to deliver experiences tailored to the needs of African consumers.
The rollout supports MTN’s Ambition 2030 vision of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress while expanding access to digital entertainment across the continent.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) has identified Nigeria as one of the most expensive countries in the world for airline operations, citing high taxes, charges and operational costs that continue to weigh heavily on local carriers.
IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, Kamil Al-Awadhi, disclosed this during the association’s Annual General Meeting held in Rio de Janeiro.
Al-Awadhi said that although Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, had been pursuing reforms aimed at improving the aviation sector, airlines operating in the country still faced enormous cost pressures.
According to him, the high-cost operating environment has continued to affect the profitability and competitiveness of Nigerian airlines, making it difficult for the industry to realise its full potential.
He noted that excessive taxes, regulatory charges and other operating expenses remained major obstacles to airline growth across the region, with Nigeria ranking among the most challenging markets from a cost perspective.
Al-Awadhi urged member states of the Economic Community of West African States to adopt a proposed 25 per cent reduction in aviation taxes and charges to ease the burden on airlines and passengers.
According to him, lowering taxes and charges would reduce airfares, stimulate passenger traffic and strengthen the competitiveness of carriers operating within West Africa.
He stressed that a more supportive policy environment was critical to unlocking the economic benefits of aviation, including increased trade, tourism and regional integration.
Industry stakeholders have consistently advocated lower taxes and regulatory fees, arguing that the current cost structure makes air travel less affordable and limits the growth of the sector.
IATA’s latest remarks add to calls for governments in West Africa to implement policies that will promote a more sustainable and competitive aviation industry across the region.
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NASENI Trains 50 Women in Kano on Renewable Energy Technologies Under She-Powers Initiative
The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), under the leadership of its Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, has trained 50 women in Kano State on inverter and battery technologies through its She-Powers Energy Initiative.
The three-day programme, held at the Technology Incubation Centre, Farm Centre, Kano which ended yesterday, was designed to equip participants with practical renewable energy skills, promote women-led enterprises, and enhance sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative forms part of NASENI’s broader commitment to empowering women, creating economic opportunities, and expanding participation in Nigeria’s growing clean energy sector. It also aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by supporting job creation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic development.
Through targeted interventions such as the She-Powers Energy Initiative, NASENI continues to demonstrate its commitment to leveraging technology and innovation to improve lives and drive sustainable development across the country.
Photos: Participants at the She-Powers Energy Initiative training organised by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) held at the the Technology Incubation Centre, Farm Centre, Kano yesterday.
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