Ryan Hernandez, the founder of WGA, a Chicago-based marketing agency, believes that AI, user-generated content (UGC), and short-form content are at the forefront of the future of marketing. He says that brands will soon see their version of the perfect campaign become a product of the public more than ever before. Hernandez explains that AI tools have reduced WGA’s time in the preliminary research phase by 70% to 80%.
This crucial component, which includes industry research, market trends, and strategies, has been streamlined through AI. “AI helps gather detailed insights about our clients and their verticals. It accentuates our strategies, scrolling through the available information much faster than humans can,” he says.
“AI becomes especially useful in its ability to show us information that we wouldn’t have even thought to ask about.”
For content creation, WGA has seen at least a 40% reduction in their workload. With AI responses serving as a jumping-off point, WGA can get started on their campaigns much faster while maintaining a high level of quality and performance. As early adopters of an AI-integrated communication platform, WGA has built tailored chatbots for each of their clients, enabling outputs that exactly align with the client’s needs.
Hernandez believes that AI’s accessibility has enabled WGA and other businesses to easily integrate it into their operations. As large companies adopt AI, it functions as an endorsement for other businesses to follow suit. Since most of the economy is comprised of small businesses, the precedent that larger companies set is incredibly important.
The Walmarts of the world aren’t shying away from AI, and it has a trickle-down effect throughout,” he added. User-generated content (UGC) also holds significant potential, according to Hernandez.
Ai shaping marketing strategies
For e-commerce businesses, UGC is a costless mode of marketing that is often better than self-proclaimed statements on the quality of a product. Potential customers will be comparing multiple businesses with similar offerings, so the decision often comes down to what they have to show: previous work, success stories, referrals, and testimonials,” he explains. “So, the fact that people choose to create videos about your products simply because they enjoy it speaks volumes.”
This trend coincides with the rise of short-form content.
Between the ’60s and late ’80s, television commercials could run for as long as two minutes. Now, in the streaming and internet age, advertisements are pushing the limit if they are longer than 15 seconds. As the demand for cable television diminishes, connected TV (CTV) has changed the model—shifting from paying for minutes-long commercials in prime time to running 15-second commercials across devices.
“Now, we pay pennies on the dollar by connecting to CTV partners. We have shifted from a position-based advertisement strategy to a frequency-based one,” Hernandez added. Additionally, today’s attention economy means that people don’t choose to click on videos that are entirely dedicated to advertisements.
Instead, paid sponsorship segments within influencer videos and user-generated short-form content are the way to go. Brands and influencers can now use AI tools to optimize quality workflows, instantly generating specific aesthetics, visuals, and scripts to save time and ensure desired outcomes. I believe that the marketing industry is going to be AI-supplemented to the bone.
It simply helps us get more ideas out, helps businesses get their preferred branding out into the world, and saves a huge amount of time and money for scriptwriters, video editors, graphic designers, influencers, and the entire value chain,” Hernandez concludes. The future may be uncertain, but AI’s involvement in it, is not.
