Every one of us might not be aware of this but Artificial Intelligence might already be selecting our next movie on Netflix, our next track on Spotify, or our next meal out based on Siri’s recommendations.
Modern marketing has been widely adopted over the past decade by B2B brands and agencies. It is a paradigm of programs of inbound marketing where data analysis is the King. But as this becomes pervasive, it is increasingly evident that AI can become the next giant step in the marketing stack.
Artificial Intelligence is grabbing a lot of attention in marketing circles. It promises to transform marketing. In spite of the fact that AI is still a relatively new technology, it has turned out to be a transformational force in B2B marketing.
One of the best features of AI is how it can make real sense of data and give accurate and organized insights.
Organize the data
In B2B marketing, it is well evident that brands collect huge volumes of data from a variety of channels and other sources on a daily basis. Marketers often spend hours at a time manually pairing and organization of data. Thanks to artificial intelligence, marketers instead of playing the organization to focus on actually using the data.
Artificial Intelligence is aligned and primed for analysis. AI can sort, connect, and organize data. AI synchronizes related data sets using pattern recognition, so the insights are informed by all data points available and relevant. This means the online and offline customer data can finally come together for a unified view of the customers.
Most B2B marketing teams are already utilizing this key feature of AI. AI is being used by approximately 61% of B2B marketers for facilitating online experiences with offline customer data.
A great example of facilitating online experiences with offline customer data is using Einstein Behavior Scoring.
Einstein Behavior Scoring is an offline data point that measures buying intent to trigger an automated follow-up email in response from a sales rep, thereby creating a personalized online customer experience.
From offline behavior to online behavior, past behavior to current behavior, AI can give marketers a 360-degree view of every prospect in the pipeline along with every active business buyer.
Track campaigns in real-time
A marketing strategy is only as good and timely as the data informing it. With AI solutions like Einstein that feature always-on reporting capabilities, each and every data insight received will be up-to-date and accurate, thereby smart decisions can be made in real-time.
Current campaign performance metrics allow strategic pivots being made during live campaigns. Unlike the previous tech, teams with AI can stay agile and see maximum results, knowing what’s going on down to the minute.
Anticipate & Understand Behaviors
It is a well-known fact that AI helps in organizing data and keeping track of what’s going on in the marketing universe. But is that the start and the end of it? No! There’s more! Artificial intelligence through predictive analytics, turns data into a crystal ball, offering smart customer behavior predictions.
To keep oneself at par with the competition, he or she is expected to know what customers need before they need it. 69% of business buyers expect personalized customer experiences like Amazon thanks to AI, which brings behavioral forecasting to reach easily unlike the traditional way. With AI, buyers’ actions can be anticipated as their past behaviors are analyzed to predict future ones, and they can be communicated accordingly.
The power of data empowers teams to remain one step ahead of their leads, guiding them along the customer journey and being ready for greeting them at conversion points.
Let us understand a clearer picture by considering the example of mobile marketing. It is well evident that users spend long hours on their mobile devices which means large volumes of user-specific data generated on a daily basis. AI here plays a more prominent role in empowering mobile marketers.
Key Applications of AI
1. AI-Powered Content Creation
Marketers often get stuck coming up with effective and creative content ideas. With B2B businesses that are heavily dependent on content for driving their digital marketing efforts writing content that resonates with their customers can become even tougher.
But with the aid of AI by automating the process of content creation, marketers can now optimize their productivity. It empowers marketers with the science of content strategy equation making it much easier to craft hyper-personalized and more targeted multi-channel messages.
2. Optimized Content Delivery
In present times, customers have considerably short attention spans. Making the most of the few seconds not just grab the customers’ attention but also guide them towards a conversion action requires strategic targeting.
Timing is a very critical element of content delivery. AI empowers marketers to analyze behavioral trends and patterns and provides consumer preferences insights and the best time to reach them across multiple channels.
Right, Message at the Right Time, through the Right Channel is key to the success of a marketing campaign. Through AI, one by identifying the best timing to send or trigger a campaign can not only get higher CTRs but also improve their conversion rates.
3. Enhanced Ad Performance with Intelligent Targeting
The foundation of an effective ad campaign is Intelligent user segmentation and targeting. With intelligent targeting based on past user behavior data, the most likely behavior at an individual user level can be predicted.
Five aspects with the help of AI for more accurate targeting of the audience:
Ad Objective
Knowing the audience
Understanding what the target audience is looking for
Reaching where the target audience lies
On-demand delivery & optimizing Ad campaign
4. Chatbots for Seamless Customer Experience
The concept of conversing with brands has proven out to be a cardinal change in the customer support function. Chatbots have emerged as an integral part of the modern marketing strategy. They are no longer just a programmed monotonous bot, rather they have evolved as AI conversational bots that are capable of responding and conversing with prospects and customers as humanely as possible.
Uses of Chatbots:
- Beat app fatigue
- Based on past interactions, gain valuable insights on customer behavior
- Personalize customer communication
- Deepen relationships with customers
- Qualify leads way more accurately
- Provide greater customer satisfaction
NOTE: While chatbots use AI and deep learning, human intervention is still required to strike the right balance between technical and manual intervention, and drive efforts to personalize at scale.
5. Voice Search Recognition
Voice assistants are omnipresent. We all have at least heard about if not used — Alexa, Google Mini, Siri, and Cortana. They have revolutionized the way customers interact with media and utility apps. Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Prime Music are already helping us search for content with voice commands.
Voice Search Recognition is cost-effective, portable and versatile, and thus over the coming years, it is the most sought-after technology. It brings a lot to the marketers on the table, giving them more data for user profiling and target segmentation with relevant messages at the relevant time.
Summing up, Artificial Intelligence allows computers and machines through deep learning the capability to show human-like, intelligent behavior. At present, AI is allowing marketers to anticipate a customer’s needs better than ever, leaving the customer feeling valued as an appreciated individual. It is also improving engagement and brand loyalty for businesses across the world. By leveraging AI in a judicious manner, a marketer can free up more time to focus on the creative and strategic aspects of marketing.
AI has gone from being just a futuristic tech trend to a realistic component of modern marketing strategy redefining precision and accuracy to new heights.
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