Artificial intelligence continues to evolve and is used in most industries nowadays. In fact, most of us use some form of AI on a daily basis. Using advanced coding and simulated learning tactics, AI can serve nearly any purpose. It’s aspects like this which make it valuable for marketing.
How often have you asked your smartphone a question or turned to Google Home or Alexa for assistance? Have you used a chatbot on a website or interacted with a text message from a bot through an app? Do you play video games in any regard? In reality, as many as 46% of adults in the United States use digital voice assistants of some kind.
These are all forms of AI performing tasks. Many of them learn from your interactions to deliver a better experience.
Now, you can use AI marketing tools to accentuate your business.
Many organizations are seeing the benefits of using AI to drive specific needs. In fact, deals to startups in AI have increased by nearly five times since 2012. In other words, there is a lot of money in developing apps that can “learn.”
Here are a few things I think you should know when considering AI for your business.
1. AI Marketing is Cost Efficient
One of the driving forces behind why people want AI in their business is because it’s cost efficient. Bots simply can handle certain jobs faster than humans, which also don’t require a regular paycheck, sick leave or vacation time.
The overhead is simply lower than a traditional employee. It requires no physical space and is capable of performing its job 24 hours a day.
This doesn’t mean all employees are in danger of losing their jobs. On the contrary, jobs requiring AI skills have grown by about 4.5 times since 2013.
Handling the Job of Many in Less Time
In the past, marketers had to endure all kinds of methods to collect data to determine what the target consumer wants. Today, a simple app can process all of that information in a fraction of the time.
Once that information is collected, the AI can then deliver an ideal experience to consumers. This eliminates an incredible amount of time freeing up employees to complete other tasks.
Instead of pouring over data, digital marketers can almost instantly pull up data to help them create marketing campaigns. Who is buying what in a specific location, shopping behavior of guests and analyzing peak purchasing times are only a few of the things AI can demonstrate.
Improves Personal Performance
Although some believe AI will remove the need for a human presence, about 80% of executives believe it will improve personal performance. The more productive a marketer is, the better. And if AI can help someone achieve specific goals in a short amount of time, the entire process becomes cost efficient.
In many instances, AI is nothing more than a tool that has potential to deliver superior results. It’s all about productivity and how much you can get done today. As many reports are accessible in real-time, employees can stay on task with less down-time.
Because of the capabilities behind AI, it’s believed that 30% of all companies will have AI to enhance at least one primary sales process by 2020. Many of these do nothing more than help an employee do his or her job.
2. Data Continues to Improve
As developers put more effort into AI, the data collected continues to improve. This often includes integrating more than one system to provide superior results. Data is collected from various points and combined to deliver an in-depth report regarding traits and behaviors of consumers.
Think of how Google delivers ads to people on its search engine. Based on what information the person is looking for, ads appear which are relevant to the individual’s behavior. Some even think it’s creepy how Google knows what they want to see before they do.
There’s really nothing creepy about it, honestly. It’s all about behaviors and patterns for many forms of AI. If you perform a certain action so many times in a row, the system will learn what you’re looking for.
Details to Engage the Target Consumer
Data is a vital element to any strategy. The more you know, the more likely you can make an informed decision. Thanks to the processing power of AI, you can get a great deal of this data in a very short amount of time. The result is creating marketing strategies that are most likely to work and deliver a higher return-on-investment ratio.
Personalizing the experience, especially when marketing on a website, is important to pique the interest of visitors. Take marketing to millennials, for example. As many as 63% of this generation is willing to share data for personalized offers and discounts. This data is cultivated mostly by artificial intelligence.
Cross-Analyzing and Discovering Trends
Integrations are becoming more popular as technology advances. More organizations are willing to share data with those who reciprocate. This process helps discover purchasing trends and habits. By staying ahead of these trends, your business could easily capitalize by immediately engaging the target consumer.
In today’s market, part of staying ahead of the trends is determining what they are before they happen. Enter predictive analytics. Through data mining, analyzing statistics and models, systems often “predict” certain unknown behaviors before they actually become a thing. As the AI for these systems evolve, so does the demand from marketers.
3. AI is Used in Content Marketing
Creating content is one of the most important aspects of marketing. It’s content that will drive people to trust, follow and purchase from a brand. Although ads still play an important role, people are more likely to trust actual content.
Artificial intelligence is used in a variety of ways when it comes to content marketing. While bots are still in development to author content on their own, AI is often used to improve online visibility from the human element.
This is aside from automated ads in pay-per-click campaigns which target a specific audience.
Content Authoring by Bots
In a study comparing content created by a bot and a journalist, it was discovered readers were not able to tell which article was written by a human. While the article created by a bot was more informative according to readers, the human element was clearly more pleasant to read.
Content generated by AI is already visible on the Internet. In fact, the Associated Press uses AI to publish more than 3,000 stories every quarter. These articles usually center strictly around facts and easy to crawl elements.
It could be more than five years before we see mass articles produced for every industry by AI. And it could be even longer before we see artificial intelligence delivering more of a creative piece.
Using AI to Improve Content
Perhaps the most common method of using AI to improve content creation is through search engine algorithms. For instance, Google’s RankBrain is an AI-driven property that constantly scrutinizes content for quality. Most SEO practices center around content that appears well according to this application.
What about something smaller and more accessible? If you use WordPress and have Yoast SEO installed, part of its platform is to determine if your content is easy to read. While this algorithm isn’t on the same level as RankBrain, it can still serve as a type of AI to improve content development.
Using Grammarly is another method in fine-tuning content for many. This system analyzes spelling, grammar and style through the use of an advanced AI.
4. AI Assistance Saves Time
Another highly important aspect of using AI is to save time. This goes along with improving efficiency in the workplace. Having immediate access to data helps marketers engage the audience when it’s the most opportune moment.
The data collected by AI also helps reduce the amount of time it takes to create an effective campaign. By having immediate access to information in real-time, you can create ads and social engagements to better connect with the target consumer.
The bottom line is you need to act fast if you want to engage consumers before the competition. It’s safe to assume they’re going to use AI to boost their own marketing strategies, and you need a way to keep your foot in the door.
Automating Tasks
As the Internet of Things continues to evolve, you need to consider marketing to more and more platforms. In the early 2000s, people were interested in email campaigns to drive sales. Now it includes search engines, social media sites, smartphones and pay-per-click campaigns to be efficient.
Using AI helps automate many of these tasks reducing the workload on the marketer. For instance, automating a personalized email response gives the marketer a chance to effectively promote on social media without worrying about sending messages.
When it comes to social media marketing tools, a lot of them utilize some form of AI for automation. If you use sharing apps like Buffer or Sprout Social, you can set updates to happen at the peak times people engage your content.
Engaging Customers at Just the Right Time
Being able to deliver the right message at just the right time takes split second decisions. It’s speed that makes an impact in many situations, and artificial intelligence is capable of making these decisions faster than humans.
Through the use of insights, data and overall engagement, it’s easier to reach a specific audience with pinpoint accuracy. And because the competition is great on the Internet, having strong artificial intelligence marketing strategies helps surpass others.
This allows small and large businesses alike to compete on near-equal ground for the same customer.
5. Many Consumers Still Need that Personal Touch
According to a poll by Vanity Fair and 60 Minutes, 53% of people believe AI is important. Although artificial intelligence vastly improves some aspects of marketing, the human touch is still often sought after by consumers.
It’s not that AI is incapable of performing certain tasks. Much of it has to do with adding the “human” element. It’s one of the biggest reasons why many businesses put effort into being more social in sites like Facebook and delivering clarity in business practices.
Adding Empathy and Personal Experience
One of the reasons why many blog posts perform well on the Internet is because of personal experience. This process has grown into a common practice as storytelling and sharing helps build trust as well as demonstrate authenticity. This is one thing AI is far from doing on its own.
Adding that personal touch is how many businesses and personal bloggers engage the audience. It’s also why many content marketers are turning more towards first-person articles as opposed to third-person pieces which often read more like an instruction manual for a manufactured dining room set.
For apps, it’s all about creating a response from input. Unfortunately, algorithms still fail when trying to create these elements for human readers.
Emotional Connections
One of the methods for writing catchy headlines is invoking an emotional response from readers. This encourages people to click or otherwise interact with the marketing campaign. It’s also something AI isn’t currently capable of delivering like humans can.
Consider how interpersonal Generation Z is compared to others. If you want to improve your marketing to Generation Z, it’s going to require more human engagement as opposed to AI. And this goes along with AI in the workplace. As many as 74% of Generation Z prefer face-to-face interactions as opposed to digital methods.
AI Continues to Evolve
Artificial intelligence will continue to evolve. From saving time to saving money, it’s often vital to help businesses remain competitive while improving overhead costs. Even the smallest of businesses can benefit from minor applications of AI. Explore what apps would benefit your marketing campaigns and how you can connect with a wider range of consumers.