The internet is changing. Fast.
There are many reasons for this, but the most prominent impact comes from the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), which has gone from an esoteric technology to mainstream adoption at breakneck speed.
Its effects are felt across the digital marketing/publishing landscape. Nearly every top U.S. news site lost traffic in July 2025 as Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) captured mindshare without sharing traffic with publishers. As a result, marketers are seeing declines in visibility and organic traffic due to AI-driven search features as zero-click search results become the norm.
This change is disrupting established organic marketing tactics as brands grapple with reduced visibility and the enduring necessity of paid search ads.
While these changes persist, machine learning and predictive analytics are revolutionizing traditional marketing workflows, such as ad planning and purchasing. There are obvious upsides when the technology works as intended. Repetitive processes can be fully or partially automated, empowering even small marketing teams to have a significant impact on their brand’s bottom line.
Meanwhile, losing creative control or a lack of insight into these black box technologies can be disconcerting, even for the most tech-forward marketing professionals.
Here are three best practices I’ve developed that will help you adopt the latest technologies with excellence.
Table of Contents1. Properly Vet and Master Emerging Tools2. Test Early and Often 3. Emphasize Quality Over Quantity, Always A Final Thought
1. Properly Vet and Master Emerging Tools
The latest AI technologies are packed with promises. The actual impact and implications are often much more nuanced.
That’s why marketers should adopt a mindset of disciplined skepticism toward new AI tools, thoroughly testing and vetting them to ensure they advance actual marketing outcomes and success metrics.
For many marketers, this is a significant hurdle to adoption.
43 percent of marketers say they don’t know how to maximize the value of Gen AI.
SurveyMonkey
When vetting new AI tools, confirm their features will benefit your business today and operate as a sustainable, long-term resource you can master to gain a competitive edge. Ensure you don’t get left behind by relying on outdated platforms or features that could deprecate in value as the marketing landscape continues to rapidly evolve—while also only diving into things that have potential for your business, avoiding shiny object syndrome and testing every new thing that is rolled out.
In the process, don’t forget that nobody knows your business as well as you. Analyze the data and avoid becoming solely dependent on third-party or platform validation, as many platforms have their best interests in mind when displaying results for their customers (you).
For example, when Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaign type initially rolled out, my team didn’t just set it and forget it.
We ran five or six very different iterations and structural setups of the new campaign type. In fact, one of our aggressive testing models involved building thousands of Asset Groups, which quickly pushed the platform’s limits and even caught the attention of Google’s own product team.
This intense, real-world experimentation enabled us to quickly understand the actual performance guardrails and the levers we could control, rather than simply adopting the recommended default structure.
2. Test Early and Often
AI empowers brands to move faster, learn quicker, experiment more efficiently, and adapt sooner.
Simply put, with most brands and their marketing partners leveraging AI in some capacity, speed is imperative. It’s the only way to differentiate your messaging and maximize authenticity.
Since most marketers are navigating black-box AI algorithms, the only way to gain a true edge is through rapid and rigorous testing.
The process is simple (and ongoing!).
Utilize the information and insights gained from your ongoing experimentation to gain a competitive advantage.
While everyone else is trying to use the same technology to produce unique results, your continuous testing gives you proprietary insight into how the machine thinks and what truly drives brand marketing performance.
3. Emphasize Quality Over Quantity, Always
Gen AI and predictive AI-powered marketing tools have an obvious effect on marketing: they allow every brand to make more content more quickly.
However, this ability to push out marketing content at expedited speed and scale presents a new challenge: navigating and diversifying the strategy while maintaining high-quality outputs and deliverables.
The solution isn’t full automation; it’s augmentation. By having a human in the loop, we can move much faster while still ensuring we deliver accurate, high-quality information at scale.
For instance, Gen AI may draft 20 ad copy variations in seconds, but a human must select the best five and infuse them with the brand’s unique voice and regulatory compliance.
Similarly, predictive AI can identify the ideal customer segment for a specific offer. Still, the human touch of personalization ensures the reward is highly relevant and engaging for both brand loyalists and potential customers.
This is efficiency maximized. It combines the best parts of AI with marketing professionals’ empathy and judgement, which helps marketing collateral connect with your audience.
A Final Thought
AI will profoundly impact how brands market their products and connect with their customers. The outcome of this is still in progress.
Right now, none of us are experts with this technology. However, the lessons learned along the way can help us all maximize our marketing potential now and in the years ahead.
Our work has shown that embracing disciplined skepticism, rigorous repetition, and a commitment to the human touch is the most effective way to adopt this technology.
Marketing with AI may be a work in progress, but we can keep getting better every day.
©2025 DK New Media, LLC, All rights reserved | DisclosureOriginally Published on Martech Zone: Three Best Practices for Successfully Integrating AI Into Your Marketing Strategy