Artificial Intelligence & Internet Marketers

The industrial revolution hurt a great deal of factory workers and artisans. A new invention could wipe out valuable skills honed over a lifetime.

 

Now the knowledge workers are in trouble. Hands were replaced by machines and brains may be replaced as well.

 

There are many ‘knowledge worker’ jobs, but focus on the ‘internet marketer’. Someone who sells products on the Internet, like me.

 

One of the most important skills that comes to mind is optimization.

 

1. Optimizing sales copy

2. A/B testing a landing page to optimize conversions

3. Optimizing your advertising spend to get more sales for less money

 

Here’s where I worry for internet marketers…. This is simply “Data in, Data out.”

 

Mention ‘good customer service’ above the fold… $20 in sales

Mention ‘free return shipping’ above the fold… $30 in sales

Choose to put ‘free return shipping’ above the fold.

 

Try the green button… $50 in sales

Try the red button… $70 in sales

Choose the green button.

 

The keyword ‘buy baseball cap’ generates $100 in sales for a $10 ad budget

The keyword ‘buy new baseball cap’ generates $150 in sales for a $5 ad budget

From now on, mention that the cap is new.

 

Computers can do this. It’s a simple function based on a output $ number. The data tells all and computers won’t miscalculate.

 

Once humans give computers a some basic inputs…

 

1. What page variables to change

2. Which ‘sales copy snippets’ to move around the page

3. Which keywords to start playing with (e.g. ‘baseball cap’)

 

… the computer will be able to continually self-optimize. (Your old job)

 

Will Internet Marketers Be Out Of A Job?

 

How do you compete on mental tasks with a computer that can think faster than you, never forgets key data, and can make calculations to the ‘milli-penny’.

 

You can’t! Look at computers beating the world’s best chess grandmasters.

 

Factory machines turn out products faster than human hands, and AI will ‘sell things online’ much better than a human brain, perhaps after a little configuration.

 

I’m surprised that Google Adwords and Facebook don’t already have an ‘Automate Button’, but I think it’s right around the corner.

 

So, what does an Internet marketer, or any other at-risk knowledge worker, do?

 

You Can’t Compete, So You Need To Control

 

A horse is 10 times stronger than a man. But the power is yours if you control the horse.

 

Fire can do a lot of damage to a human, but the human who controls it has that power.

 

AI may out-compete you for your job, but you can gain more than you lost by learning to control it.

 

The horse took away the manual plow-hand’s job. The plow-hand gained strength when he got in the saddle.

 

Learn to ‘get in the saddle’ of AI, and you’re in the same position as a 16-year-old who’s just learned how to drive. Power at your fingertips.

 

 

Learning to control and use AI will probably be as valuable as learning how to drive. It’s a ‘mental’ machine instead of a physical one, but it will disrupt industries, make job titles irrelevant, and put people out of work.

 

If your work is 90% mental, as mine is, be on the lookout.

 

Don’t be afraid. Watch for opportunities to ‘jump in the saddle’ to control AI.

 

Rather than losing a livelihood, you can harness its power.