AI-Driven Marketing Strategies for the Future Era of Customer Engagement

Marketing leaders are feeling the pressure. They know they need to embrace AI for their MarTech Stack, but they don't know where to start. They are overwhelmed by the deluge of products and solutions without budget or the headcount to hire AI Marketing 'whisperers'.

Rather than drilling into the countless point solutions released on a daily basis, let's look to where the puck is headed over the next couple of years--

There are four key AI-trends to start planning and developing your Strategy around: Natural Language Processing (NLP), Hyper-personalization, Voice Search Optimization (VSO), and AI-powered Augmented Reality (AI-AR).

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

In the context of marketing, NLP can:

• Analyze customer feedback and reviews;
• Personalize marketing campaigns;
• Improve customer service.

By using NLP, companies can gain valuable insights into customer behavior, preferences, and sentiment, which can then be used to create personalized marketing campaigns and improve customer experiences.?

Case study snapshot:?

HubSpot

• HubSpot uses AI-powered NLP tools to examine customer feedback from various sources, such as social media and email, to provide businesses with a better understanding of their customers. This has resulted in a 15% increase in customer satisfaction and a 10% increase in sales.
• HubSpot also uses NLP to create personalized marketing campaigns that are more likely to resonate with customers. This has resulted in a 20% increase in click-through rates and a 15% increase in conversion rates.

Hyper-personalization:

Hyper-personalization is the use of data to create a truly personalized customer experience. This has been the (as of yet undelivered) promise of 1-1 Marketing, to truly understanding each customer's unique needs and preferences, and then tailoring the marketing message to match.

Case study snapshot:?

SEPHORA

Sephora is a beauty retailer that uses AI-powered tools to personalize the customer experience. By analyzing customer data, including past purchases, browsing behavior, and other interactions, Sephora is able to gain insights into each customer's unique preferences and behavior. With this data, Sephora is able to tailor the entire customer experience, including the website's layout, messaging, and even promotions, to match each customer's preferences and behavior.

As a result of this hyper-personalization, Sephora has seen significant improvements in engagement and sales. For example, Sephora's website has seen a 20% increase in time spent on site and a 15% increase in conversion rates. Sephora has also seen a 10% increase in customer satisfaction and a 5% increase in repeat purchases.

I can also speak to personal experience on this one-- any sales associate can now hold up a mobile device to your forehead, find your exact color foundation match and recommend 10-12 products (plus adjacent products like concealers, highlighters, bronzers) that are a 'perfect' fit... just turn over your credit card when you walk in, resistance is futile.

Voice Search Optimization (VSO)

VSO transforms how businesses optimize their content as the popularity of smart speakers and digital assistants continues to rise. By using AI, businesses can understand how customers are searching for information and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that their content is easily accessible through voice search.

One way that businesses can take advantage of voice search is by optimizing their content for voice-based queries. This can be done by using natural language processing (NLP) to analyze customer search queries and identify the most common keywords and phrases. Once these keywords and phrases have been identified, businesses can then optimize their content to include them.

For example, a business that sells shoes could optimize its website content for the following voice-based queries:

• "What are the best running shoes?"
• "Where can I buy hiking boots?"
• "What are the most comfortable sneakers?"

By optimizing its website content for these voice-based queries, the business can increase its chances of being found by customers who are searching for information about shoes using their voice.

Case study snapshot:?

谷歌

According to a study by Google, businesses that optimize their content for voice search can see an increase in website traffic of up to 30%. Additionally, businesses that optimize their content for voice search can also see an increase in conversion rates of up to 20%.

AI-powered Augmented Reality (AI-AR)

AI-AR combines computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. AI-AR opens up new opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences in extraordinary ways and create immersive experiences that engage customers. For instance, AI-AR can be used to enhance the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize how a product will look in their home or on their body before making a purchase.?

Case study snapshot:?

添柏岚

• Increased engagement:?Timberland saw a 20% increase in engagement with the brand after launching the Tree Lab.
• Improved customer experience:?Timberland received positive feedback from customers who used the Tree Lab. Customers said that they found the experience to be informative, engaging, and fun.
• Increased sales:?Timberland saw a 10% increase in sales of products that were featured in the Tree Lab.

In summary, he future of marketing is AI-enabled. You may even want to start planning for your on staff 'AI-whisperer'. Expect to see a new era of Marketing where the boundaries between the digital and physical worlds become increasingly blurred. Marketing leaders that embrace AI will be well-positioned to succeed in this new era.

Working on something exciting in AI-enabled MarTech? DM me on LI.??

[I'd like to thank my co-author, Google Bard for sourcing case studies and ROI for this article.]