Best Practices for Using AI in Digital Marketing
AI: What is it good for? Absolutely some things.
In 2026, digital marketers are bombarded with news and speculation about what AI can do, what it will be doing soon, how we should be using it, and how it will take our jobs. And with little to no regulation in place, we see marketing that runs the gamut of AI use in terms of ethics and efficacy.
Here at Starling Social, we believe in giving good advice which will be true and useful for the long term, so we have been hesitant to dive into AI due to the rapidly changing nature of the technology. But we have come to see a few truths about AI in digital marketing that we believe can help guide our work in 2026.
When you work with Starling Social, you’re still getting content created by humans, for humans. Research shows that savvy social media users recognize – and really dislike – AI-generated content. Not to mention that AI won’t know your business, your brand standards, or be able to generate images of your staff, facilities or customers.
However, there are some ways AI can help in our work without compromising quality. Here are some ways we are finding AI useful in 2026, along with best practices for using AI in digital marketing.
GEO vs SEO
In a study conducted in November 2025, more than a third of internet users started web searches with AI tools (as opposed to traditional search engines). This number is growing, which means it is increasingly important to be optimizing for AI search (or GEO – Generative Engine Optimization) as well as SEO.
Thankfully, GEO is not at odds with SEO, and shares a lot of the same principles – just a little more specific. There are many pieces to this, but for web copy, writing clearly and concisely, and getting to your key points and keywords within 150 words of the beginning of a page or article are a big help.
AI for generating content ideas
Something we see a lot of in our industry is AI being used to generate ideas for social media and blog content.
In a broad sense, AI can be pretty good at this. You can use your favourite chatbot to (almost) instantly generate a list of concepts and ideas which you may not have thought of otherwise, or certainly as quickly. Those concepts might give you what you’re looking for, or help spark a better and more focused idea.
However, it’s worth remembering the limits of AI before you become too reliant on it for idea generation. First, AI will generally be behind on any trends or timely data, as it can only be trained on content which already exists. Second, and similarly, AI generally won’t give you any truly novel ideas, because again, it is drawing only on content that already exists.
AI for research
As we mentioned earlier, people are increasingly turning to AI as an alternative to traditional search engines – and often for good reason. Traditional search seems to be getting worse in quality, and AI often allows for more specific, targeted search and results.
This is especially true for doing research, as most AI tools will pull up and summarize published data with links to where it found the information, allowing you to fact-check its own results. This is crucial, because AI is also prone to occasional hallucinations – but as long as you’re double checking any facts and data you want to use, it can certainly streamline aspects of the research process.
AI for data analysis
For those actually conducting their own research, surveys, or reviewing data, AI does some of its best work in analysis. Feeding your own high-quality data to an AI tool and asking it for statistics and insights allows you to skip the Excel exercises and streamline your analysis.
Many CRM and database tools are also now integrating AI for this exact reason, allowing you to draw insights from your own customer, donor or survey data. This is one of our favourite uses of AI, as it’s more about leveraging real data and computer power to improve your marketing than it is about taking a shortcut.
AI for advertising optimization
Most digital advertising platforms now have AI-powered tools for optimizing your ads, whether through automated A/B testing, honing or broadening your audience, testing different placements, or even automated content variations.
While we wouldn’t suggest these for every brand and every ad, the data suggests these are often useful. Our advice is to try these out for yourself, but pay close attention to what aspects of your ads might be altered by the AI, and consider whether that is appropriate for your ads and brand.
For instance, if your ads rely on some very specific wording – perhaps because you’re in a regulated industry or have a certain type of promotion in your ad – you will want to avoid any AI altering your actual content.
Subscribe for more
Looking for more guidance on how to optimize your digital marketing? Want to keep your finger on the pulse of AI and what role it plays in our industry? Subscribe to the Starling Social newsletter!
Every second Tuesday, we put together the latest digital marketing news and some helpful articles, both from our blog and around the web. And the best part is, it’s free! Subscribe today and start leveling up your digital marketing.
