Why Use AI in Marketing?
Marketing has always been around in one form or another. The first vendor who tried to sell his wares engaged in the earliest marketing efforts. For hundreds of years, companies marketed by building personal relationships with their customers.
Then, technology improved dramatically and rapidly; the Industrial Revolution made it possible to publish messages at scale. As the years wore on, marketing became less and less personalised.
‘Technological shifts changed customer expectations about marketing.’
Towards the end of the 20th century, technology improved yet again. Computing power significantly increased, which changed consumer expectations and demands. They were no longer happy with being just another number to companies. Customers wanted personalised marketing.
That’s where marketing AI comes in. It allows marketers to tailor their messages to customers at scale, so they can be more efficient and effective without sacrificing a personal connection.
How Can You Use AI in Marketing?
Marketers looking to incorporate AI-enabled marketing technologies have a number of options:
- Personalising communication
- Personalising customer experiences
- Predicting what customers will do next
- Improving BI tools.
Marketing AI Personalises Communication
Jack is the head of accounting at a midsize firm, and he’s decided to purchase new software. After he and his team discuss what they need out of the software, Jack does some research online. Three or four software companies offer what he’s looking for, so he emails each one for more information.
From the messages he receives in response, it doesn’t seem like most of the companies understand what Jack’s looking for at all. They send him information on software for larger firms or smaller firms, which doesn’t help. One of the software companies stands out: it emails him several blog posts about some of the very issues his firm faces.
‘Personalised marketing communications attract customers.’
The software company that actually got it right used marketing in AI. Marketing technologies learned who Jack was and what he wanted. They used AI to send Jack relevant information to him, forging a personal connection with him without utilising manual processes.
Marketing AI Personalises Customer Experiences
While it’s important to tailor communications to customers, don’t forget about your customer’s experience. The ‘customer experience’ refers to every interaction a customer has with your company, be it through your website, your social media platforms, your email, or other digital or physical properties.
We’ll go back to the example of Jack. Jack visits the website of the software company that had the most suitable accounting solution for the second time. The first time he visited, a pop-up window came up asking him to sign up for the newsletter; the second time, there was no pop-up window because the site remembered him.
‘Don’t forget about your customer’s experience.’
It might seem like a small thing that the website remembers Jack, yet think about it from his perspective. You would be annoyed to see the same pop-up window come up on the second visit to a site, especially if you already signed up for the newsletter. If you didn’t sign up for the newsletter, seeing the pop-up window again wouldn’t change your mind.
Marketing AI recognises visitors and remembers their preferences, so their customer experience on your website or other digital properties is smooth and enjoyable.
Marketing AI Can Predict What Customers Will Do Next
Wouldn’t it be great if you had a crystal ball that would tell you what your customers would do next? Marketing AI makes that dream a reality; based on what your customers have already done, it can predict what their next steps will be.
We’ll use the example of Jack again. Jack visits the accounting software vendor’s website and navigates to the blog. He finds a particularly interesting post about changing regulations and how the software can help firms without large accounting departments.
‘Marketing AI can predict what your customers’ next steps will be.’
Based on how long Jack spends reading the blog post, the marketing technologies in place understand that this topic concerns him quite a bit. They recommend he read a couple of other blog posts that deal with how the accounting software can help teams do more with fewer resources.
Marketing AI Improves BI Tools
AI in marketing also helps marketers make better decisions by improving BI tools. BI tools give business users deeper insight into operations; for marketers, they help them understand how marketing campaigns are going.
Marketing technologies with built-in AI allows marketers to analyse customer sentiment on a massive scale (think social media). AI can extract key phrases and figure out what they mean (such as, ‘The UI is terrible’). It can also examine images and detect objects, so if a customer posts a picture with your product in it, the AI in marketing technologies will let you know so you can follow up personally.
‘AI in marketing helps marketers make better decisions by improving BI tools.’
With AI in marketing, you can drill down further than ever before to understand metrics. Let’s say you want to know why customers didn’t respond much to one email campaign yet loved another. By drilling down further, you discover that you weren’t using an effective call-to-action in the first email campaign, but the CTA for the second one appealed to customers.
Enlighten Designs Can Help You Implement AI in Marketing
For over two decades, Enlighten Designs has delivered amazing digital experiences to its customers. Over the years, we’ve developed an expertise in AI; we can help marketers improve their reach through personalised content and experiences and make better decisions while remaining efficient. To learn more, Contact Us
