Shaping the Future: How Digital Marketing Is Making the Most of AI Capabilities
Artificial Intelligence [AI] is the ultimate alchemy that has turned the way we live our present and envision our future. This statement resonates more so when we debate AI and its capabilities in the world of digital marketing where customer behavior, and buying pattern is changing in the blink of an eye. There is a steady rise in the number of organizations that are working with AI and ML technology. Gartner reports that 75% of organizations will graduate to operational AI from piloting, resulting in 5 times the increase in data streaming and analytics. In fact, a survey by Gartner also predicted that organizations had roughly about 35 AI-powered software and applications in 2022. Jim Hare, research vice president at Gartner stated that there’s been a steady acceleration in AI adoption.
“The rising number of AI projects means that organizations may need to reorganize internally to make sure that AI projects are properly staffed and funded. It is a best practice to establish an AI Centre of Excellence to distribute skills, obtain funding, set priorities and share best practices in the best possible way.”
If you are a digital marketer, you would agree that AI has gradually streamlined the way organizations strategize, design their websites, navigate better, create ad and sales copy, and showcase products and services in front of potential customers.
What the Insights Say
A survey by Statista revealed that 3.9% of users who visit e-commerce websites end up purchasing the product as compared to the same % on desktop. Another survey by Statista stated that almost 39% of B2B customers prefer self-serve options.
In the last few years, AI has constantly redefined the process of predictions, personalization, decision-making, customer interaction, and communication and it’s just getting better.
Mckinsey reported that between March and August 2020, 7 out of 10 users explored new digital shopping channels while 1 out of 5 customers changed brands. It will not be an exaggeration to state that the retail sector went through 10 years of growth in a span of a few months.
In this article, we glimpse through the scope of AI in the realm of digital marketing and the various techniques marketers are heavily relying on.
The Basic Functions of AI in Marketing are:
- Improve customer experience and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
- Enhance decision-making.
- Automate repetitive or manual tasks.
- Keep a tab on social media influencer messaging and the scope of brand partnership.
- Create a marketing strategy.
How AI is Transforming Digital Marketing
Be it the personalized recommendation by Amazon and Netflix’s suggestions based on your watch history to Google’s Rankbrain and CRMs, AI has made the digital marketing journey a smooth ride for brands and marketers.
Product recommendation
In the ever-changing digital landscape, customers have a plethora of websites to choose from, infinite product options,s and more importantly, they are self-aware, and like a more personalized experience than ever. Product recommendation and personalized content form an integral part of marketing strategy. With the use of AI, brands can now have a deeper understanding of their target audience and hence, enabling them to send relevant messages.
- Observe and use insights on customer behavior and intent.
- Deliver personalized messages consistently on various platforms.
- Reduce costs and manual errors while enhancing productivity. Around 70% of organizations that have an AI-backed workflow have reduced costs.
Oracle is strongly of the opinion that 84% of digital marketing leaders believe that AI helps them deliver consistent real-time, personalized experiences to customers.
Starbucks is a global favorite. Customers love this coffee brand’s consistency in taste across all of its outlets, whether it is in Mumbai or Massachusetts. The company, with its app and the use of AI technology, can now predict when a customer is going to place his next order. The app keeps a record of orders, store location, time, and that particular order details. With all of this information, Starbucks’ marketing team can create more personalized messages for customers. It will also include other exciting offers and deals.
Recommended: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Email Customer Service
Content Marketing
Content marketing is voracious and consumers have a huge appetite for the same. Today, content-based marketing has become the cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy and AI is helping out with the details like what content customers like, and what could be the best practices to distribute customized content to them. AI has also remarkably taken over the field of advertising creatives that customers shared within their circle. For instance, AI’s headline-generation algorithms keep a hawk’s eye on the success rate and edit the same to accomplish enhanced metrics like the open rate of emails or how many times it is shared on social media. In fact, AI is also working on simplifying content generation by developing tools that can create content and supporting images that will be received well by the audience. Some of the content marketing examples include podcasts, social media posts, videos, and newsletters. For example, let’s discuss Amazon Prime’s Anime club. Anime is more popular than ever, and all platforms are making the most of it. To compete with the strong competition posed by Netflix, Prime decided to partner with content creator and actress, Cheyenne The Geek to create The Anime Club. The web series throws genre-based recommendations that are often referenced in anime. Furthermore, these are available on Prime, inviting users to subscribe.
On the other hand, the American beauty brand, Sephora is carefully working on every customer’s cosmetic choices. In 2017, Sephora opted for chatbot technology to reach out to more customers and answer their queries in real time. The chatbot provided specific recommendations to each individual and based on these, Sephora sent out personalized emails to interested customers.
Unleashing the Power of Micro-influencers
In the marketing world, another feature that is taking the cake away is the micro-influencer. AI is deeply invested in the micro-influencer trends where you are more likely to see your preferred personalities in your social feeds and search results. In the coming future, advertisers are prone to identify small influencers who can blend well with their brand and audience. In simple terms, micro-influencers are not big-time celebrities, instead, they are common, regular people who have expertise in a particular field and have a dedicated audience that values their inputs and opinions. Companies use AI to identify these influencers to talk about their product or service and reduce costs. For example, it will make sense for a company to pay $1000 instead of $100 to an influencer instead of shelling out $1,00,000 to Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber to talk about the same. Data is the prime focus here and depending on it will always be a wise choice.
Recommended: What is Programmatic Advertising and How it is Changing the AdTech Domain
The vital key called CRM
So, you identified your potential target audience using data and analytics, but how do you ensure that these customers remain a loyal customers? With behavior identification, you can now predict if a customer is ready to head elsewhere. These customers can be targeted and enticed with incentives, personalized offers, and promotions, to reinstate their loyalty to the brand or product. Chatbot technology, powered by natural language processing, also comes in handy here when customers demand immediate assistance or instant responses and therefore can be immediately catered to. An AI-driven CRM enables businesses to know about forecast sales across all markets wherever a company operates, enabling efficient distribution of stock and resources.
In a nutshell
The digital marketing universe is ginormous and dynamic and AI, with its army of interesting software and tools, is just cementing the very scaffolding of this industry. To summarise, AI will continue to influence businesses and marketers should be eager to make the most of these AI-empowered tools and techniques to maximize the chances of customer success.
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