A Look at the AI Tools Helping to Improve Marketing Productivity

By Albizu Garcia On Feb 7, 2020

Marketing agencies continuously strive to improve internal Productivity. One way to do this is by utilizing technology to help employees work better and smarter. Whereas once only large companies used Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, the cost of this technology is much lower, putting it in the hands of the masses.

AI has many uses, and one that teams are capitalizing on now is Productivity. In an AI study, 44% of executives said that the most beneficial aspect of AI is “automated communications that provide data that can be used to make decisions.” The same study found that 80% of executives believe Artificial Intelligence improves worker performance and creates jobs.

Employees at Marketing agencies have incredibly hectic schedules. From multiple client requests to internal tasks, a marketer rarely has downtime. Luckily, there are AI tools that can help ease the daily burdens of a marketer’s life.

Here are five areas where marketers typically get bogged down and lose time and the AI tools that can alleviate these stresses.

Easier time tracking and billing

Tracking time is an enormous but necessary pain for marketers. Accountants need to know how much to bill each client or to see if the team is over- or under-servicing an account. For marketers, however, putting in each 15-minute increment is terrible, especially if they forget and have to do it at the end of the week.

Smarter Time is an “Intelligent Assistant, to measure, analyze and improve your time use.” Smart Time creates a time breakdown so marketers can evaluate where they spend the most time and where they lose time. This tool can help with billing as well, making it easier for marketers to allocate the time spent on each client.

Tech takes over menial tasks

Completing a lot of little tasks can mean wasting a lot of time. Marketers can find themselves spending a large portion of the day scheduling meetings and going back and forth with participants. Among the tools to help with meetings, two stand out in the AI world: Zoom.ai and x.ai.

Zoom.ai “helps employees securely automate everyday tasks including searching for files, scheduling meetings, and generating the document.” X.ai automates meeting schedules when employees CC the artificial assistant who will handle all back and forth. Then there are, of course, Digital Assistants like Siri, who can handle small tasks for marketers during the day as well.

Meetings made easier

Internal and client meetings are a way of life at Marketing agencies, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be more efficient. Zoom announced new changes to the platform, which include augmented reality meetings and automated intelligent transcripts, that can integrate into Slack. An intelligent tool such as this means that no one has to take notes, no one has to slow down to make sure the notetaker “got that,” and everyone can participate in the meeting fully. Furthermore, the transcript is searchable, which means marketers can jump to areas of the meeting they want to review quickly.

Organize daily tasks

A marketer’s to-do list is never short, and between executive demands and client requests, actually getting work done can be a challenge. Luckily, AI can help. Trevor is an AI solution that boasts a “20% higher completion rates for scheduled tasks, compared to some of the best to-do apps.” The tool allows anyone to input tasks, create a schedule, and receive tips on how to better organize the day. It only takes one minute to create a daily schedule, so for anyone who gets overwhelmed with tasks, Trevor can be a helpful tool.

Better email management

Almost everyone can agree that email is a time suck. In fact, 96% of workers agree that unnecessary emails waste their time. There are numerous inbox management solutions, but using AI can really help in this case. Astro, for example, is a smart tool that works with Gmail and Office 365. Astro is customizable with features such as snooze and uses AI to get important messages in front of people faster, not allowing them to get lost in a crowded inbox. The tool can also integrate with Slack and Alexa, making it even more useful for marketers.

Harvard Business Review found that wasted time and inefficient processes cost the U.S. economy $3 trillion each year. Clearly, there is room for improvement and technology is often the solution. Marketers are used to the hectic schedule, but they can also automate certain parts of the day to make more time for being creative. AI technology is booming right now, and we’re likely to see more solutions come on the market in the coming years.