The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance social media marketing strategies is nothing new—since the early 2000s, businesses have relied on AI-driven content recommendations and ad targeting. However, the emergence of more advanced AI tools has undeniably transformed how brands use social media: 66% of marketers say AI has improved their influencer marketing campaigns, and 63% report an increase in revenue.
Since its introduction, AI in social media has evolved to include advanced analytics, logo recognition, and, most notably, unprecedented scale in content creation. Experts predict that by 2026, about half of the business social media posts will be AI-generated. James Nord, founder of influencer marketing platform Fohr, does not believe AI will replace human creativity but instead sees it as a tool to enhance it.
“We’ve given everyone in the world (on their smartphones) a camera, but in reality, only a few people can use this tool to tell interesting stories worth consuming—AI is the same,” James said, emphasizing that the key for brands is connecting with their audience through storytelling. Read on to discover how to unlock the ROI of AI-powered social media tools while building genuine connections with your audience.
New Uses of AI in Social Media
The development of analytical and generative AI tools is redefining the possibilities of social media marketing and content creation. However, the fact that these capabilities are currently trending doesn’t guarantee they will be lasting. Some emerging uses of AI in social media include:
- Complex Data Analysis
- Image Generation and Filtering
- Text Generation and Copywriting
- Virtual Influencers
- Increased Influencer Engagement
Complex Data Analysis
AI can analyze vast amounts of data and generate insights much faster than previous technologies, allowing brands to analyze user behavior in more detailed ways. For example, foundational elements of a social media strategy—when and how to post—are no longer a matter of guesswork. AI tracks user behavior and engagement patterns, pinpointing the best-performing content and recommending the optimal times for posting to increase visibility and audience interaction.
At Fohr, James and his team have taken this a step further, using AI to analyze content and audience sentiment on a large scale. In their proprietary influencer marketing app, James’s team uses AI to categorize creators’ content (e.g., travel, parenting, outdoors, fashion), identify top-performing creators in each category, and report emerging trends to clients.
“If you look at 50 influencers’ posts, you might say, ‘It’s 20% better when it has your face in it, but it’s not as effective if it’s just a landscape photo,’” James explained. “AI helps you understand what works in these different people and thousands of posts.”
However, he stressed the importance of statistical significance when working with large and diverse datasets and warned creators and strategists against over-analyzing individual posts. “A lot of creators might only post 10 stories in a month,” he noted. “There are too many variables for us to accurately determine what’s happening. In the end, it only leads to more false positives, not insights.”
Image Generation and Filtering
With tools like DALL-E and Midjourney, influencers, brands, and social media teams can generate content within seconds. These AI-generated images can be further optimized with auto-editing tools and filters (e.g., Shopify Magic), commonly used for brand social media posts, ad creatives, and product models.
Heinz gained attention by using AI (DALL-E 2) to generate ketchup images. This campaign was a reimagining of Heinz’s human-centric “Draw Ketchup” campaign, which began in 2021, asking customers to draw ketchup from memory. Eventually, Heinz incorporated a series of ketchup-style visuals into print and social media ads.
Beyond expanding creators’ ability to produce digital art, image generation tools also enable brands to generate and split-test multiple versions of content almost immediately, speeding up performance insights. Brands also save on costs by using AI to enhance the creative output of their campaigns. For example, digital content agency Shuttlerock demonstrated its AI creative process for Corona Extra’s ad campaign on Pinterest. By repurposing existing brand assets and adding AI-generated images, the agency (and the brand) was able to do more work in less time and at lower cost.
Although AI-assisted creativity can spark conversations or save costs, James emphasizes that human creativity, perspectives, and audience connection remain crucial to social media success. “If creators use AI to supplement their workflow, you’re still paying for community and viewpoints,” he said. “Creators are still the leaders; they’re just using a different tool, not a camera. So it doesn’t actually change the fundamentals of the space.”
Text Generation and Copywriting
AI tools like ChatGPT and Jasper help brands write copy, ads, and campaign headlines at unprecedented speed. These AI tools are designed to create optimized content tailored to tone, sentiment, and keyword usage, with most tools being able to mimic a user’s writing style.
Similar to image generation, AI text generation works best in enhancing writing efficiency rather than replacing unique expressions. One way to inject creativity into AI-generated text is by repurposing long-form content, such as blogs, podcasts, and books. Tools like Hootsuite’s OwlyWriter AI, Feedhive, and Spiral can automatically repurpose long-form content into social media content optimized for various platforms.
Ultimately, AI-generated captions and content allow businesses to manage more accounts, campaigns, and content streams without increasing their workforce. A recent McKinsey report revealed that 37% of companies using AI in marketing saw marketing costs decrease by as much as 19%.
Virtual Influencers
One of the most striking AI trends is the rise of virtual influencers like Shudu, Miquela, and Imma, who have collaborated with well-known brands such as Fenty, Prada, and TEDx (with mixed reactions). In addition to offering deeper control over messaging, brands can save substantial costs by partnering with AI influencers—Harvard Business Review reports that the cost of working with celebrities can reach up to $250,000 per post, whereas collaborating with top AI influencers costs just $9,000 per post.
However, James is skeptical about the potential of AI-generated influencers to build lasting brands, as he believes it contradicts the reason people originally spent time on social media. “If we suddenly start spending our time browsing content from people who don’t even exist, it would mark a fundamental shift in what we crave as humans: connection with others,” he explained.
Expanding Influencer Engagement
Human influencers are also using AI to interact with their fans through chatbots, extending their reach and engagement. These bots can mimic the influencer’s voice and tone, engaging with followers through comments, mentions, and direct messages. Combined with AI-driven social listening, brands or influencers can respond to their audience around the clock.
However, these chatbots raise important questions about transparency, as users need to know whether they are interacting with a bot or a human. James also questions whether influencers truly want to automate their interactions with fans.
“If you talk to most creators about their DMs,” James said, “many will say, ‘I bought what you recommended, thanks!’ But others will say, ‘I moved to New York because of you, or you helped me through a really tough time in my life.’ I don’t think people want to build that quasi-social relationship with a machine.”
Ethical Considerations of AI in Social Media
As AI becomes more embedded in social media, its long-term impact remains unclear. “AI will become an integral part of social media, but I think, in some ways, its impact will be bigger or smaller than people imagine,” James predicted. “Ethical issues around AI in social media will become a point of discussion.”
Debates surrounding AI on social media have raised complex ethical issues that brands can’t ignore. From deep fakes to data privacy, these social media tools that empower creativity and efficiency blur the lines of trust and transparency. “This will be a complex issue that platforms will need to address,” James noted.
Privacy
AI thrives on data, but without proper safeguards, its collection and use of customer data can cross ethical boundaries and even violate privacy laws and regulations. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that large social media companies like ByteDance and Meta have gathered large amounts of user data without disclosing how their AI systems and platforms use it.
Misinformation and Misleading Consumers
AI-generated content may blur the line between fact and fiction. Deepfakes and synthetic media (content created or altered by AI) challenge the authenticity of user-generated content, raising concerns about the transparency of online information. AI-generated virtual figures, based on influencer or paid actor likenesses, further confuse the line between user-generated content and advertising.
Deepfakes were identified as one of the top global risks in 2024, and their numbers have been increasing; according to a Deloitte report, deepfake instances grew by 550% from 2019 to 2023. This surge is driven by the widespread use of generative AI tools, making it easier for bad actors to create deepfake content and spread misinformation.
Bias
AI reflects the biases inherent in its training data. This means that automated community moderation or content generation might inadvertently reinforce harmful stereotypes or exclude marginalized voices. For example, a study by the Pulitzer Center found that AI algorithms embedded harmful gender stereotypes in social media platforms.
However, in some cases, AI’s bias can be leveraged for good. The Human Rights Research Center reports that AI can be a powerful tool for detecting and mitigating hate speech, flagging misinformation, and identifying human rights issues on social media platforms.
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