April 10, 2018
The time is now. Commercial applications for artificial intelligence (AI) are just beginning to show their worth. Enormous volumes of structured social data can be analyzed to discover deep insight into consumer trends. AI may be a buzzword, but the idea earns it. There is a revolution happening in marketing and it has a lot to do with robots.
The artificial intelligence industry is set to surpass over $47 Billion by the year 2020. Therefore, automation and business intelligence should never be underestimated in today’s market. AI is embedded not only in customer relationship management, but in all digital commerce. The first step to using AI to power your business is understanding how it operates and the ways in which it can benefit a bottom line.
This is all about dramatic computing power. The development of computer systems that can “think for themselves” is what forms the cruxes of artificial intelligence. AI makes it possible for a machine to learn from experience. This allows it to not only adjust to new inputs, but perform tasks just like a human.
AI can be very simple or quite complex. You can program a computer to play out a chess game or empower it to use machine learning. This is what produces deep insight into your business. Despite these benefits, only 15% of enterprises report using AI, with 31% stating it’s on their agenda in the next twelve months.
Considering how useful this technology can be, those numbers are still quite low. Perhaps it’s because businesses don’t realize how to unlock the true power of automation. But, once you have the conceptual framework down, it’s easy to explore exactly what this process can reveal about your customers.
Research firm Accenture predicts that AI could double economic growth in 12 countries by the year 2035. As marketers gain more insight-related tools online, there becomes a need for a system to integrate everything into one simple task. A customer relationship management tool (CRM) creates a space to collect customer intelligence by sourcing it from AI interactions.
Once a chatbot networks with your customer, the data can then be integrated into a CRM to form more structured insights and aid in decision making. AI allows you to collect and integrate data in a way that will help you predict future outcomes. The numbers can show you the way.
The fusion of AI into daily marketing strategies can aid in the decision-making process. Data-driven decision making is the way in which your competitors are doing business, so it’s imperative that everyone gets on board with the latest tech. Otherwise, how will you ever gain a competitive edge?
Additionally, AI-empowered software can be used to gather the outputs of various tools and social platforms to glean greater insight. This is often referred to as “meta analysis.” It involves integrating multiple channels using artificial intelligence to establish greater marketing analytics. It’s allowing the robot to collect all the data, analyze it, and spit out an educated guess on where you move next.
AI can power social insights by influencing consumer behavior. Although handing over decision-making tasks to a robot might make some companies a tad uncomfortable, it’s a process that consumers are already starting to recognize and expect.
For example, consider the video streaming site Netflix. Their artificial intelligence personalizes every experience for a customer through recommendations. These customized offerings are the result of deep analytics derived from an automated process Netflix has installed. The result is a higher rate of engagement, active participation, and an overall return on investment.
Outsourcing consumer searches and choice set construction tasks is the direction business is going. The more customized you can make a consumer experience, the more likely you are to nurture them throughout their buying cycle. Why would a customer spend hours searching if your software can suggest things for them based on personal preferences? The convenience never goes unnoticed. People are appreciative, and it introduces them to new products, services, and concepts in general.
AI powers customer insights because the computer takes the time to study people. It’s “getting to know” your customers without you having to be present. The convenience is two-fold. You get to focus on what you do best in your company, and the customers feel like they are being attended to. As long as you can smoothly pick up where AI leaves off, you’re already a step ahead of the game.