If digital marketing seems like a sea of acronyms, you’re not wrong. And we have one more to introduce you to (that you may or may not have heard of): the LLM in digital marketing.
The LLM, or Large Language Model, is a type of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology that’s behind generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. As such, LLMs are reshaping the way that users consume content and how marketers approach SEO (search engine optimization), strategy, and content creation.
Here’s what you need to know about the rise of the LLM in digital marketing and how you can make it work for you.
What Exactly Is an LLM?
If you’ve ever wondered why it feels like you’re having a smart or helpful conversation with ChatGPT, LLMs are the reason.
What sets LLMs apart is that they are trained on massive amounts of text data, which means they’re designed to understand the relationships between words in context and generate human-like responses.
These LLMs are built on advanced machine learning techniques — specifically, on a type of network called a transformer model (the “T” in GPT). This model was actually introduced in 2017, but its widespread adoption and impact on daily life are more recent because of LLMs like ChatGPT.
This transformer model is what lets LLMs:
- Write content and adapt to specific tones or styles
- Answer questions and maintain context across larger conversations
- Compile and summarize large amounts of information
- Analyze data
Basically, transformers are the powerful engine that makes LLMs for marketing so effective because they can navigate nuance, context, and complexity.
5 Ways to Maximize the LLM in Digital Marketing
Marketing professionals are beginning to use LLMs to brainstorm ideas, improve SEO, personalize messaging, optimize campaigns, and much, much more.
Here are a few ways they can be helpful tools to support your authentic, irreplaceable human creativity while also elevating digital marketing strategy.
1. Amplify SEO
If you’ve focused any marketing efforts on SEO strategy at all, you know that keywords are a big player in the game. But it can be challenging — and even murky — territory to navigate.
So, you’ll be glad to know LLMs are transforming keyword analysis. That’s because they can comprehensively and quickly analyze large amounts of data to identify trending keywords. These models also shine when it comes to more niche long-tail keywords, which are generally less competitive but highly valuable in digital SEO strategies.
In addition to keyword analysis, LLMs can generate engaging, informative, and relevant content that’s structured to align with search engine best practices. This makes LLMs for marketing an important tool to boost SEO and visibility.
2. Optimize Content Creation
Data from Salesforce shows that 76% of marketers are using generative AI for basic content creation and writing copy, and 71% are using it to inspire their creative thinking.
Indeed, an LLM in marketing can help brainstorm content ideas and blog topics, generate outlines, provide brand voice guidelines, and even generate image assets.
But it’s important to remember that an LLM doesn’t replace the human expertise of marketers or the creativity of actual human writers; rather, it can speed up the creative process and ensure that a range of ideas are brought to the table.
3. Enhance Personalization
Did you know that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions? Personalization and customization are becoming more important than ever in today’s digital marketing landscape, and, you guessed it — LLMs can help with this, too.
Think about the hours your team spends analyzing and slicing up spreadsheets filled with consumer data. LLMs can do that heavy lifting in seconds, freeing you to focus on the message itself. And, when it comes to that messaging, these models can help with that, too, by giving recommendations for specific language and offers that will resonate with specific consumer segments and buyer personas.
All of this paves the way for digital marketing elements — from emails to product descriptions and recommendations, special offers, and more — to feel tailored and hyper-personal. It also allows for a personalization strategy to be scalable.
4. Support A/B Testing
A/B testing is an essential piece in the digital marketing puzzle to improve conversions, and it can be applied across many campaign elements, including ad creative, email subject lines, landing pages, headlines, call-to-action buttons, images, and more. For example, a retailer could use an LLM to draft five variations of a holiday sale email in mere seconds.
So, instead of teams spending lots of time analyzing all the different A/B options, LLMs quickly do the work for you — leading to faster, more effective testing, better optimization, and ultimately more successful campaigns.
5. Maximize Efficiency
Seven in 10 marketers (71%) estimate that generative AI is helping or will help eliminate busy work and allow them to focus more on strategic work. Content, sales, and strategy teams can all take advantage of the time savings with LLM integration.
By automating repetitive tasks, helping analyze large amounts of information, providing supplemental ideas for brainstorming conversations, and more, LLMs essentially free up bandwidth so teams can focus on bigger-picture strategy, creative development and innovation, and thoughtful content refinement.
Putting LLMs to Work for You
An LLM in digital marketing can be a game-changer for your business. But, like any tool, it’s only as effective as the strategy (and the people) behind it. At The Threadgill Agency, we’ve seen clients use LLMs to cut content production time in half. Another client leaned on an LLM to surface niche keywords they’d never considered.
Those are just two stories of many where we’ve helped our clients navigate the fast-paced and ever-evolving world of digital marketing, including how to leverage LLMs in marketing to amplify business goals and deliver measurable results.