HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS TRANSFORMING THE DIGITAL MARKETING LANDSCAPE

While the idea of AI may bring to mind Hollywood sci-fi movies with futuristic robots, it’s about a lot more than what we usually imagine. Artificial intelligence is a hot buzzword that has lingered around for many years now, and for good reason. It has changed the way we live, learn, work, shop and entertain ourselves. There is hardly any industry that has been left untouched by AI and we can see its usage across retail, medical, finance and banking sectors. Artificial intelligence has become central to the digital world and the marketing world is no exception. Advancements in AI is helping companies to improve digital marketing strategies and to derive valuable insights from customer behavior. It is transforming digital strategies by providing the ability to collect, apply, and then learn from data. AI will become an indispensable part of future digital projects as it can be used to optimize different marketing tasks and drive conversions more efficiently.

WHAT IS AI?

The term is used to describe computers and machines that possess human-like cognitive functions that can learn and solve problems. It is the branch of computer science that tries to understand the functioning of human intelligence and then incorporate them into new intelligent machines that can perform tasks just like humans do. Some activities associated with AI are natural language processing, image and speech recognition, problem-solving etc. AI systems are becoming more efficient and big strides are being made in its research and development.

AI IS TRANSFORMING DIGITAL MARKETING

Due to the ability to analyze, apply, and react to data, AI is transforming and revolutionizing digital marketing. The importance of AI will increase with the increase in the information received from potential consumers and due to its ability to make data-based decisions accurately. Here are some facets of AI that are changing digital marketing.

MACHINE LEARNING

Machine learning is a type of AI technology in which machines are able to determine how problems need to be solved on their own by relying on previous data. It can be applied to various applications like ad-targeting, SEO etc. Machines will inadvertently start making more of the various business decisions which will help business owners free up some time to focus on more human and creative facets of marketing activities. Digital personal assistants are examples of such an application.

BMW’s AI-enhanced sports car has the technology to learn about its drivers and to adjust the cabin experience accordingly. It has an intelligent personal assistant that is used in order to communicate with the car like one does on a smartphone.

Chinese search engine Baidu is also investing heavily into AI and there have been some interesting developments in Baidu’s R&D lab. One such development is called Deep Voice, a neural network that can generate synthetic human voices that are almost indistinguishable from human speech. The network learns the subtleties in the accent and pitch of users to create an accurate recreation of speakers’ voices.

Source: Wordstream

You can read more on this here:

AI CHATBOTS

The development of AI semantic recognition and voice conversion technology has helped develop AI chatbots significantly in the past few years. AI customer service is easy to use and can have various advantages compared to manual customer service. AI chatbots have helped businesses to go from a one-to-one form of customer service to a one-to-man model in which support can be provided to a number of consumers at the same time. AI chatbots don’t need any rest. They can respond to all the queries in real-time. Customers can easily choose the language that they prefer based on their convenience which helps in providing localized service. Many brands in recent times have begun using apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, etc. to respond to consumers in which AI bots have helped to streamline the process.

Beauty brand Sephora began using chatbots to provide beauty advice to its customers in 2017. It helped consumers narrow down their choices using a quiz regarding their preferences. The implementation was a success and Sephora has launched more chatbots since then.

Source: Clikz

You can read further about some successful implementations of Chatbots here:

IMPROVEMENTS IN PERSONALIZATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Traditional methods of marketing such as media advertising and e-mail marketing are not as effective as they once were. Today’s consumers want brands to curate and tailor their offerings and brand message to their location and based on demographics and interests. Consumers tend to ignore non-personalized messages. AI helps marketers personalize their messages on an individual level rather than relying on the generic groups that used to exist in the past. The technology can predict consumer behaviour based on past brand interactions. Hence this leads to a higher chance of lead conversion from marketing communications.

Starbucks is one such example where they used loyalty cards and their mobile apps to collect and analyze consumer data. They used predictive analytics to process the data and to serve consumers with personalized and curated marketing messages. It led to an increase in customer average order value.

Source: Geekwire

The application of such technology can be seen in the recommendations that are offered on sites such as Netflix or Amazon.

For example, Amazon keeps a record of:

1.    All of your purchases

2.    Your browsing history

3.    All devices used

4.    All apps downloaded

5.    Items on the wishlist

6.    Product reviews and ratings

7.    Everything asked on Alexa

This information can be used to deliver recommendations based on interest and past purchases as well as what other people with a similar profile have purchased in the past. All this is possible due to the DSSTNE( AI framework ) that is an open-source software to improve learning capabilities.

DYNAMIC PRICING

Providing discounts helps accelerate sales, but not all consumers want the same level of discounts. This is where AI can be used to price products dynamically based on customer profile and other factors. You would have such dynamic pricing in action on various websites, primarily on e-commerce sites and sites for booking airline tickets.

Here is a tutorial on Dynamic pricing and demand prediction using Artificial Intelligence by Optimus Price:

CONCLUSION

AI is getting more accessible for businesses since it is an important tool for digital marketers. AI influences consumer choice in a big way by helping to provide accurate and relevant recommendations and prompt customer service. It is evident that organizations would be making a mistake if they do not acknowledge the benefits and possibilities of AI in marketing, especially in a world that is increasingly becoming increasingly reliant on technology. AI sure does seem intimidating at the very onset, it does make marketing technology very simple and easy to use. AI isn’t here to take away the jobs of marketers. It’s here to unlock their true creative and strategic potential. If you haven’t yet ventured into the world of AI yet, it is high time to do so.