Generative AI vs. Predictive AI: how to get the best of both

Marketers and those in marketing departments are juggling many balls and wearing many hats.

Creating engaging content, analyzing data, and staying ahead of the curve are all very time-consuming tasks. 

You’ve already seen the rise of AI and everything it promises to do, but there’s an issue. 

The market has become so flooded with “information”, tools, apps, platforms, and solutions that it’s now easier to get bogged down and stuck with what’s available than to sit and do the task you were trying to speed up or improve. This guide is here to help. 

I’m walking you through the marketing-specific AI tools you should know and how to make the most of their offers. 

Most notably, we’re breaking down Generative AI vs. Predictive AI – two powerful technologies transforming the marketing landscape – and together, they can unlock a whole new level of success for your business. Let’s get into it.

What are generative and predictive AI?

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Generative AI is like the creative artist of the AI world. It uses complex algorithms to create new content, from stunning visuals and captivating videos to compelling copy that practically writes itself. 

It takes all the information it’s been fed and creates the most statistically accurate result based on the prompt it’s trying to achieve, as set by you.

For example, if you write 2 + 2 = ? it’ll always give you four since that’s statistically the answer it’s seen everywhere. It’s not a calculator. It’s the same as if you wrote, “The quick brown fox jumps over the….”

It’ll always give you “Lazy dog” because that’s statistically the most probable. However, if you asked for a creative ending to that sentence, it’d provide you with something else. 

Predictive AI, on the other hand, is the master of foresight. 

It analyzes mountains of data to predict future trends, anticipate customer behavior, and help you make data-driven decisions that hit the mark. 

You could treat generative AI as your creative assistant, whereas predictive AI focuses more on using data for administrative and decision-making purposes. Combining both allows you to enjoy the best of both worlds.

How to Use Generative AI for Creative Content Production

How often have you stared at a blank screen, the cursor blinking mockingly as you struggle to create fresh, engaging content?  Generative AI can help speed up the process. 

It should not 100% do the job for you. Anyone can prompt an AI and produce something. You need to learn how to prompt and get the creativity flowing that can help you create value and fit-for-purpose media.

And it’s being used for everything: from generating copy for your products, pages, and social media to images for your website, company headshots, ads, and everything in between.

From visuals to videos: Generative AI does it all

One of the most exciting aspects of Generative AI is its versatility. It can be used to create a wide range of content, including:

• Visuals: Need a stunning image for your next blog post or social media campaign? Generative AI can create unique, high-quality visuals that capture attention and convey your message effectively. Tools like Freepik’s AI image generator make generating custom visuals tailored to your needs more manageable.  
• Videos: Want to create engaging video content without the hassle of traditional production? Generative AI can help you produce captivating videos that tell your story and resonate with your audience.
• Audio: From podcasts to voiceovers, Generative AI can create high-quality audio content that’s informative and entertaining. If you’ve found the bar to produce high-quality content that is too expensive, this is no longer the case.
• Text: Struggling with writer’s block? Generative AI can help you generate compelling copy for everything from blog posts and articles to marketing materials and social media updates.

The benefits of blending human creativity with AI

While Generative AI is a powerful tool in its own right, the best results are obtained when using an “expert in the loop” approach—or having a human and AI work together. 

By merging manual efforts with AI capabilities, you can achieve:

• Better outcomes: Generative AI can help you overcome creative limitations and generate ideas you might not have thought of otherwise, leading to more innovative and impactful content.  
• Faster results: Generative AI handles some heavy lifting, so you can create high-quality content faster and more efficiently, freeing up time for other tasks.  
• Innovative approaches: By combining human creativity with AI’s ability to analyze data and identify patterns, you can develop fresh, creative approaches to content creation that stand out from the crowd.  

Again, Generative AI is not about replacing human creativity but amplifying it. By embracing this powerful technology, you can unlock new levels of creative expression and achieve marketing success.

What are the current generative AI trends?

The world of Generative AI is moving at lightning speed! New trends and innovations are popping up every day, and it’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve if you want to harness the full potential of this game-changing technology. 

Trend #1: Hyper-Personalization

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Remember the days of generic marketing campaigns that blasted the same message to everyone? Those days are long gone. 

Today’s consumers crave personalized experiences, and Generative AI is making it easier than ever to deliver them. 

By analyzing vast amounts of data, Generative AI can create highly targeted content that resonates with individual customers personally.

Imagine sending emails that address customers by name, recommend products based on their past purchases, and even adapt the tone and style of the message to their preferences. 

That’s what hyper-personalization can achieve.

Trend #2: AI-Powered Content Creation

Generative AI is not just about personalizing existing content; it’s also about creating entirely new content from scratch. 

From blog posts and articles to social media updates and marketing materials, Generative AI can generate various informative and engaging content formats. 

With tools like Freepik’s AI Image Generator and image upscaler, you can create stunning visuals that capture attention and enhance your content.  

Trend #3: The Rise of Synthetic Media

Prepare for a world where the lines between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred. 

Synthetic media, also known as AI-generated media, is a rapidly growing trend that uses Generative AI to create realistic but artificial content, such as images, videos, and even voices.

Imagine creating a marketing campaign featuring a virtual spokesperson who looks and sounds like a real person but is entirely generated by AI. 

The possibilities are endless, and the potential impact on marketing is immense.  

Trend #4: Democratization of AI

In the past, AI was often seen as a complex and expensive technology accessible only to large corporations with deep pockets. 

But that’s changing rapidly. 

Generative AI tools are becoming increasingly user-friendly and affordable, making them accessible to businesses of all sizes. 

This democratization of AI empowers small businesses and individuals to leverage the power of Generative AI to create compelling content, automate tasks, and achieve their marketing goals.  

How to use Predictive AI as your crystal ball of marketing

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In the early days of marketing, marketing teams had to guess which moves to make.

Sure, more experienced agents had ideas of what worked and what didn’t, but a ton of time and resources had to be spent figuring out what people wanted, how they thought, and what efforts would work.

David Ogilvy, considered one of advertising’s greatest icons, said he spent about 80% of his time researching, reading, and commissioning surveys for his clients and only 20% of this time writing ads.

Whether an ad would work is still a shot in the dark. Sometimes, ads were launched that suffered severe backlash because the advertisers were just out of touch.

Pepsi ad, anyone?

We’re still using the same mindset, but getting the data to use is much simpler, more accessible, and more catered to your business and audience than ever before.

Simply feed in your available data (or data from a study, industry dataset, or Ahrefs spreadsheet), and you’ll see a prediction of whatever you want to know from this data.

All the hidden patterns and insights enable you to make data-driven decisions that drive results.

The benefits of Predictive AI: Data-driven decisions for the win

Predictive AI offers a range of benefits for marketers, including:

• Improved targeting: By analyzing customer data, Predictive AI can identify your ideal audience, allowing you to target your marketing efforts with laser precision. This means less wasted spend and higher conversion rates.
• Personalized experiences: Predictive AI can help you tailor your marketing messages and offers to individual customers, creating customized experiences that resonate and drive engagement.
• Enhanced Customer Lifetime Value: By predicting customer churn, Predictive AI can help you identify at-risk customers and take proactive steps to retain them, ultimately increasing customer lifetime value.
• Optimized campaigns: Predictive AI can analyze campaign performance in real-time, allowing you to make data-driven adjustments and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact.
• Reduced risk: Predictive AI can help you mitigate risks and make informed decisions that protect your business by forecasting future trends and potential challenges.

These are benefits plenty of companies are already experiencing.

• E-commerce: Predictive AI can recommend products to customers based on browsing history and past purchases, increasing sales and customer satisfaction.
• Content Marketing: Predictive AI can analyze content performance and predict which topics and formats resonate most with your audience, helping you create content that drives engagement and conversions.
• Social Media Marketing: Predictive AI can analyze social media data to identify influencers, predict trending topics, and optimize your social media strategy for maximum reach and engagement.

As Predictive AI continues evolving, we expect to see even more sophisticated applications that further enhance marketing efforts. 

From predicting customer sentiment to automating complex marketing tasks, Predictive AI is poised to revolutionize how we connect with customers and achieve marketing success.

In many respects, it’s still early days, but it’s advancing steadily.

How to use Generative AI and Predictive AI in harmony

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So, these two AI powers are brought together. What does this look like for you?

Well, they complement each other well.

As a marketer, Generative AI fuels your creative engine, generating fresh ideas and content that captivate your audience. 

Predictive AI, on the other hand, provides the data-driven insights you need to steer your strategy in the right direction and ensure your creative efforts hit the mark.

• Data-driven creativity: Predictive AI can analyze customer data and identify patterns that inform your creative strategy. This allows you to create content that resonates with your target audience, increasing engagement and conversions.
• Personalized content at scale: Generative AI can create personalized content at scale, while Predictive AI ensures that the content is tailored to each customer’s preferences and needs.
• Optimized content creation: Predictive AI can analyze content performance and predict which topics and formats resonate most with your audience. This information can guide your Generative AI tools, ensuring you create content that drives results.
• Continuous improvement: Predictive AI can analyze the performance of your Generative AI-powered campaigns, providing insights that help you refine your strategies and optimize your content for maximum impact.

Here are a few examples of how businesses are leveraging this powerful duo:

• Personalized email campaigns: Predictive AI analyzes customer data to identify preferences and predict behavior, while Generative AI creates personalized email content that resonates with each individual.
• Dynamic content creation: Generative AI creates a variety of content formats, while Predictive AI analyzes performance data to optimize content and ensure it’s aligned with audience interests.
• AI-powered chatbots: Generative AI powers conversational chatbots that provide personalized customer service, while Predictive AI analyzes chat logs to identify customer needs and improve chatbot responses.

Of course, as Generative AI and Predictive AI continue to evolve, their combined potential will only grow stronger. 

That’s why it pays to get involved and start learning the process now. The sooner you can develop your skills and build your tech stack, the more capable you’ll be as this technology becomes increasingly integrated into the marketing industry.

Then, you’ll be able to out market your competition, stay ahead of the curve, and stay successful.