Will AI Replace Digital Marketers? [3 Hard Truths Every Affiliate Needs to Know]

Like you, I’ve been paying close attention to the proliferation of generative AI and large language model (LLM) tools out there.

We’re talking LLMs from ChatGPT to Perplexity to DeepSeek… plus countless third-party tools like Jasper and Copy.ai… and even AI functions suddenly appearing in your favorite existing software tools, from Hubspot to Surfer SEO to Asana.

It’s enough to make a lot of marketers stand up and take notice. I’ve been doing content marketing for over a decade, and suddenly, it seems like there are tools that can write as well as I do – or at the very least, a lot faster!

So, it’s natural to wonder, will AI replace digital marketers? in this article, let’s break down exactly what the rise of generative AI means for affiliate marketers, content creators, and brands – and 3 truths you can take away on what it means for you.

Is AI the End of Digital Marketing?

So, is AI the end of digital marketing jobs?

Not at all!

In fact, the idea seems pretty ridiculous if you stop and think about it for a few seconds.

First of all, humans prefer to do business with people they know, like, and trust… (key word: people.) There will always be a contingent of the workforce and the general population who bypass AI altogether and interact with a person.

Second, there’s a limit to what AI can actually accomplish on its own, even now. I know flashy new releases like Deep Research and Operator are impressive, but they still only work based on what’s assigned to them by a person with a specific use case in mind.

Third, AI isn’t actually intelligent (no offense to our robot overlords). The way an LLM works is simply outputting predictive text based on patterns it’s gleaned from an input of the trillions of data points that it was trained on. Impressive, yes. But with that said, it’s not truly creative, or innovative, or forward-thinking.

I can prove this, because when I first wrote up an overview of ClickBank’s brand-new landing page builder, ClickBank Accelerator, back in 2023, ChatGPT only had MY article as input at the time – and it basically just rephrased everything I’d written with my own original thoughts!

The reality is, AI is only a tool. Depending on the kind of work you do, it can be a fantastic tool – but it’s important to remember the difference between a tool and an intelligent mind!

Who Artificial Intelligence is Coming For

Of course, while AI may just be a tool, it’s not ALL good news for digital marketers!

I’ve heard a phrase floating around that perfectly encapsulates what’s actually going on:

“AI isn’t going to replace people, but the people who use AI will replace the people who don’t.”

And honestly, when it comes to digital marketing – including affiliate marketing – this really rings true! I work in marketing every day, and I can personally attest to how much AI has already reshaped the way marketers create content, optimize campaigns, analyze data, and reach audiences at scale.

Ultimately, instead of replacing human marketers, AI will just act as an amplifier for your existing talent and skills. If you embrace AI, you can rapidly speed up tedious tasks, improve your efficiency, and devote more of your mental resources to high-value tasks and strategies. If you choose NOT to embrace AI, you’ll inevitably fall behind the people who are conversant in its functions and use cases.

I would stop worrying about AI taking over everything, and instead reframe it in your mind as an opportunity – one that you need to learn how to leverage.

How AI is Making Digital Marketing More Efficient

One of the biggest advantages of AI in digital marketing is its ability to automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks. AI-powered tools can help with things like:

• Content Generation and Optimization: AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Surfer SEO can generate blog posts, ad copy, and email sequences in seconds. They also assist with keyword research and on-page optimization for SEO, helping marketers fine-tune their content for better rankings in search – or for coming up with lots of different angles and creatives to test for ad campaigns. 
• Ad Campaign Automation: AI-driven platforms like Facebook Ads’ Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max optimize targeting, bidding, and placements automatically, reducing the need for constant manual adjustments.
• Email Marketing and Chatbots: Tools like HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, and ChatGPT-powered chatbots enable hyper-personalized customer interactions at scale.
• Automation Workflows: Platforms like Make.com and Zapier allow marketers to integrate different tools, streamlining workflows and saving time on manual processes.

If your current marketing strategy relies on basic skills – such as manually writing emails, setting up ads, or managing spreadsheets – you need to evolve. AI will eventually handle simple tasks much faster and cheaper than any human.

To stay relevant, you need to focus on high-value activities that AI can’t easily replace. Consider the following 3 hard truths for marketers!

1) Specialization Will Be Key for Digital Marketers and Affiliates

If AI can handle routine or general marketing tasks, what should human marketers and agencies be doing?

My advice is to go deeper.

Instead of being a generalist, the best way to future-proof yourself is to develop expertise in a specialized domain. In the field of digital marketing or affiliate marketing, that might include:

• Facebook and TikTok Ads: AI helps with campaign management, but strategic ad creatives, audience research, and offer positioning still require human intuition and direction.
• SEO and Content Marketing: Google is cracking down on thin, AI-generated content, while rewarding well-researched, in-depth articles that provide real value.
• Email Marketing and CRO: AI can personalize email campaigns, but the psychology of crafting high-converting sequences still requires human insight.
• High-Ticket and Relationship-Based Sales: AI chatbots can handle basic inquiries, but building trust and closing big deals stillrequires human connection.

Specialization doesn’t mean you can’t have other general skills, but it might bring back the idea of a “T-shaped” marketer who’s super knowledgeable in one domain, while knowing enough to be dangerous (with AI) in a handful of others.

What This Means for You: If you want long-term success, don’t “compete” with AI – leverage it to enhance your skills while developing deep expertise in areas that AI can’t fully replace.

2) Tech Platforms Are Cracking Down on AI-Generated Spam

AI has made it easier than ever to pump out large volumes of content, but that doesn’t mean all AI-generated content is good content. Both humans and algorithms can tell when your content or creatives were low-effort or low production values.

In fact, Google and other major platforms are actively penalizing thin, AI-generated content that doesn’t add any real insights. Google’s latest algorithm updates have repeatedly tackled the problem of spammy, low-quality content, including repeat rounds of “helpful content updates” and “spam updates.” 

In addition, popular sites like YouTube require you to disclose when you create altered or synthetic content using AI. While these measures won’t necessarily stop people from creating AI-assisted content, it DOES mean that these platforms aren’t big fans of the “spray and pray” style of content creation using AI.

So, in the long run, AI-based blog posts, YouTube videos, social posts, or paid ads that regurgitate generic existing information simply won’t perform well. They will be de-prioritized in all the algorithms, and even if they get shown to your audience, they could end up hurting your brand instead of helping it. 

What This Means for You: Ironically, this brings us back to the early internet, when creative, authentic videos and blog posts were favored. I recommend focusing on original, insightful, data-backed, and experience-based articles, social posts, and ads. Of course, this doesn’t mean you won’t use AI in the process, but AI should never have the last word on what you’re putting out there.

3) AI Excels at Answering Basic Questions, But Depth and Trust Still Matter

One area where AI excels is answering top-of-funnel (TOFU) questions.

For example:

• “What is the definition of affiliate marketing”
• “How long has ClickBank been in business”
• “Best ways to start an online business”

AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s SGE (Search Generative Experience) can provide instant, well-structured answers to these types of queries.

And part of the reason for that is because there’s already so MUCH content out there around search queries like these. TOFU queries tend to have high search volume and are also relatively easy to answer, so it’s historically been a no-brainer for SEOs like me to focus on content creation around these search terms.

But now, what if half the people who would have searched Google or YouTube for their TOFU question just ask an AI tool instead? It’s already happening!

The bottom line is, if you’re creating content for organic reach or trying to build authority in your niche, you’ll get a lot more mileage by dominating areas where AI struggles, including:

• Highly technical, niche-specific explanations
• Up-to-date, real-world case studies
• Personalized guidance and expertise

For example, if you wanted to learn how to maximize commissions with ClickBank’s new AI tool, Ember, other AI-powered tools wouldn’t be able to provide the same level of insight on what that looks like as an experienced affiliate marketer could.

What This Means for You: The more specialized and technical your content, the harder it is for AI to replicate. If you want to stand out, focus on creating content that requires deep expertise, original research, or firsthand experience. In Google’s parlance, this is essentially E-E-A-T, or Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

As long as you’re adding value in ways AI can’t and providing a good customer experience, you’ll stand out from the crowd in the best possible way.

Embracing AI as a Digital Marketer and Affiliate

I hope this guide has helped you get a handle on the future direction of AI and digital marketing. Rather than fearing AI, smart digital marketers are embracing it.

Just to recap, AI can help you with so many things, like:

• Speeding up content creation (but you still need to add unique insights).
• Automating repetitive tasks (but you still need a strategy).
• Enhancing personalization and engagement (but relationships still matter).
• Analyzing data and optimizing campaigns (but human intuition is key for decision-making).

At ClickBank, we know how important AI is in the modern landscape of affiliate marketing. That’s why we launched a new tool called Ember AI to help affiliates both organic and paid traffic opportunities. This new AI-powered assistant can literally support all of the above things, from content creation to recommending new data and optimization. 

Be one of the first to take advantage of this powerful set of AI-based features!

>> Learn more about Ember here!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is AI the future of digital marketing?

Yes. It’s clear that generative AI is here to say, and it may continue to accelerate in sophistication for a while.

As long as the internet exists and people want to communicate with each other online, digital marketing will be a part of it – but your particular slice of the digital marketing pie could potentially get gobbled up by AI at some point, which is why it’s so important to choose the right area to specialize and learn to work with AI to amplify the results of your work.

Will AI replace digital marketing jobs?

No, AI will not replacing marketing jobs anytime soon. However, AI will likely replace some entry-level or junior digital marketing jobs. If your main job duties are more basic and rote, AI already can do much of that work cheaper and more efficiently than a human can.

In addition, where you once may have needed a dozen people to fulfill a certain business function, it may now only require 2 or 3. It’s not so different from when the computer first came along. But if you embrace AI, you can make yourself indispensable. 

Which career will not be replaced by AI? 

There are some obvious examples of jobs that may get replaced, such as cashiers, customer service, and data entry clerks. Beyond that, it’s not so much about which entire career field will be replaced by AI, but which specific roles or functions within it will be.

As an example, if I’m managing the SEO and content marketing for an SME, I may have once needed several full-time writers and SEO strategists to fulfill a content plan that I can now do practically myself along with AI. Or if I’m in data analytics and used to have several people structuring and running analyses, I may only need a few of them that can work with AI to do it now.

You want to be one of the people who’s skilled enough to still be needed (for a job) or skilled enough to grow your business faster than the competition.

Wrap-up: Will AI Replace Digital Marketers?

No, AI won’t replace digital marketers. Certainly not ALL of them!

But marketers who use AI will replace those who don’t.

Sound grim? It’s just the reality.

Ignoring AI is like resisting the invention of the automobile and insisting that horse-drawn carriages will always be the best way to get around. 

If you’re still relying on outdated methods, NOW is the time to evolve! Specialize, leverage AI, and focus on adding real value with your work.

In the world of business, making money really comes down to how big of a problem you’re solving for others, whether that’s with a supplement, a physical gadget, a software tool, or consulting services.

For a brand, that means creating a product that’s demonstrably better, faster, or more efficient than other similar products – and if you’re an affiliate, that means cutting through the noise and pointing your audience to the very best solutions for their pain point, ideally through quality education and expertise.

By making “add value” your north star, you CAN future-proof your digital marketing job or business. Best of luck!

NOTE: If you’re not using AI in your digital marketing strategy yet – or you’ve just barely started – then I highly recommend you look at how to implement AI today.

Ember AI is actually the only AI tool specifically built for ClickBank affiliates and trained on the marketing materials for top ClickBank products. It can handle everything from ideation to script writing to AI image and video generation, and it’s available to try right now.

So if you’re in the affiliate marketing space, go find out more about Ember AI. It’s a game-changer!