One report suggests that 80% of technology will soon get built on artificial intelligence (AI). That’s astounding! Moreover, McKinsey says that AI will unlock up to $2.6 trillion in value in marketing and sales alone. Candidly, let’s face it—AI is all around us. The chances are you interact with AI in many ways during your day. For instance, do you like how you get precisely the shows and movies you want to watch on Netflix? Well, all of it is AI-driven. Moreover, the thumbnails you see versus others in your home are different and tailored to what AI learns captures your attention.
Have you ever taken a ride with Uber or Lyft? Well, in those instances, AI worked to determine the best route and price. How about Apple’s “Siri” or Amazon’s “Alexa?” If you have a digital assistant, then you know you have a relationship with artificial intelligence. In short, it’s all around us.
Then and Now: Artificial Intelligence
Remarkably, there was a time when people considered the idea of artificial intelligence as hype. What’s more, the fact that many people aren’t tech-savvy caused many to be skeptical about using AI. That includes, by the way, marketers. Although marketers have long dealt with metrics and gauging performance, AI’s a whole new thing to master. As a result, it’s a little daunting for some. Fortunately, corporations understand that marketers need easy data visualization tools to master, so excellent tools exist to help just about any marketer.
AI tools help content strategists identify SEO and keyword strategies. Because marketing professionals have to create so much content, AI’s also there to help them curate content. And because marketing in the digital world is impossible without the power of AI, you also have that technology performing SEO-related tasks such as fixing duplicate content and making mobile pages self-optimized.
What’s more, tools previously available only to enterprise companies have now become affordable. And that means that any small business team could use powerful tools to grow their efforts. Marketers know that they need to drive brand awareness. But, they also need to guide people through the sales funnel. So, let’s explore the top 3 areas where digital marketers leverage AI as part of their digital marketing strategy. As we know, leadership development means ensuring your team has what it needs for success.
1. Customer Service using Artificial Intelligence
Your marketing team probably knows that responding to lead queries could be time-consuming. Often, people are just kicking the tires and want to know about what you do. But, they’re not ready to buy. Or they might want some generic information about you, but not much else. Chatbots, which use algorithms, are AI solutions that train machines to interact with customers. For instance, chatbots could respond to frequently asked questions and inform customers of tracked orders.
Because of natural language processing (NLP), chatbots learn to use company representatives’ conversational styles. The role of chatbots in digital marketing continues to expand. Applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Slack are designed to ensure speed in response to customer service requests. Finally, chatbots offer marketers real-time 24/7 customer and prospect engagement. Moreover, it’s a cost-effective way to collect and analyze data from prospective leads.
2. Personalization in Marketing
Did you buy a product on Amazon because Amazon recommended it to you? Research shows that 35 % of what people buy on Amazon comes from AI-driven product recommendations. In short, what it means is that AI is powering personalization. Humans can’t possibly know and hope to personalize marketing and sales to the extent that AI could. However, what it means for marketing professionals is that customers and prospects expect personalization.
Moreover, because of AI’s ability to learn and track behaviors, personalization is becoming more pronounced. For example, Amazon uses deep learning to analyze past purchases and predict its customers’ behavior (and needs). In effect, if you happen to have a product used regularly, your marketing team could promote and provide offers when it’s time for customers to re-up their purchases. This action is already happening with Amazon, and predictive marketing and sales platforms are now available to small and medium-sized businesses.
3. Data Visualization is a Whole Lot More Fun
As I mentioned earlier, with the beginning of AI in our lives, many thought it was over-hyped. And still, others thought they had to have strong backgrounds in technology and the sciences. Of course, we know that AI is not hype—at all. We know that you don’t necessarily have to have a strong tech or science background to use AI well. As an example, our marketing team must continually learn new technology. But, most of them don’t have science, tech, or engineering backgrounds.
Sure, AI means everyone has to learn continuously, which is great for team dynamics, by the way. But, there’s so much power in AI that we’re mostly figuring out how to analyze the finished products. In other words, we don’t need to create reports, including data visualization tools. AI does that.
There’s so much data now that AI could capture, and it has to get presented well for it to make sense. That’s why the analytics for Facebook and Google are so powerful for marketers. Data has to be presented well for leaders and marketing pros to make smart decisions. Aside from Facebook and Google, are other products such as Funnelytics, Smaply, ExperienceFellow, or HotJar that help marketing teams understand the customer experience and journey.
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