Recently, digital marketers have successfully deployed AI in their marketing campaigns. A survey conducted by Adobe revealed that 15% of marketers are using AI with another 31% having it on the agenda for 2019. Many more companies are turning to AI to keep up. Below are 5 exciting new uses of AI in digital marketing.
1) Content Creation and Curation
Even the most experienced SEO copywriters occasionally resort to a little ‘guesswork’. AI can analyze consumer trends like buying habits and online interactions. The AI then generates content that has the best combination of words that are guaranteed to pique the consumer’s interest. Machine generated content are mostly used on email subject heads, social media posts, and Facebook ads. This is made possible by tools like Quill and Wordsmith.
News outlets such as Forbes, BBC, and the New York Times occasionally publish machine generated content. Amazon uses content curation to suggest items that go together. Netflix, a popular media service provider, also uses AI to make a recommendation on videos that a particular customer might enjoy. Up to 80% of content consumed on Netflix is AI-recommended.
2) Chatbot
Nobody likes queues or wait forever for a response. Chatbot provide unmanned customer support services ensuring that customers are attended to swiftly. Since most of the target audience is already using various social media platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, chatbot provide an automated response to commonly asked questions.
Through machine learning, chatbot are able to give replies to complex and open-ended questions. Unlike humans, they can’t be impatient or be rude to a customer. This improves brand interaction and consumer engagement.
Many popular brands like Dominoes Pizza and Starbucks are already using chatbot on Facebook Messenger take orders from customers. These chatbot can also influence buying decisions by suggesting menu pairing. It is predicted that chatbot will power 85% of customer service by 2020.
3) Voice Searches and Speech Recognition
Marketing automation has been instrumental in revolutionizing how online searches are done. Before, you had to string a long line of keywords to get relevant results. It now possible to use search engines using natural language thanks to semantic search and language processing technology. This technology makes it possible to autocorrect spelling mistakes and yield more accurate results.
The integration of virtual assistants like Cortana, Siri, Alexa has made voice searches more popular. This migration from traditional text input searches means that you should tailor your content for voice search. Amazon is once again leading the pack with Echo, an AI that allows online customers to make voice searches.
4) Predictive Analysis
AI has the ability to combine both data history and sales model to make predictions on consumer trends. This valuable tool makes companies proactive rather than reactive. Through prospect ranking, the AI is able to identify potential clients. The sales teams can then focus on this customer segment. This saves time and resource that would have used. Predictive analytics is also able to identify customers with a higher potential for repeat purchase.
Walmart is making a fortune by exploiting predictive analytics and sales forecasting. Other companies like FedEx utilizes the same technology to identify unsatisfied customers that are likely to defect to competitors.
5) Image Recognition and Visual Search
Although image recognition has been around for a while, its use in marketing automation is relatively new. Its use was previously limited to tagging friends on social media. Visual search works in the same way text search or voice search works, with the only difference being the mode of input.
Companies can use the AI image recognition to identify the images that pique customers interest. Alternatively, customers can snap a picture of an item and use it to find similar products. This is made possible by apps like the Google lens and Pinterest lens.
Several companies are already reaping the benefits of image recognition AI. Target, Asos and Macy’s allow customers to find similar or complimenting products. You snap a wine label and find a similar bottle on Vivino.
AIs have the ability to identify consumer patterns in a way that humans can’t. This results in fewer mistakes, better conversion, improved customer experience and a higher return on investment. Contrary to conspiracy theories about marketing automation taking over, it has proven to be a valuable asset. According to research by Deloitte, 83% of early AI adopters have achieved 30%-53% economic growth. Don’t be left behind.
Image credit: Photo by George Morina from Pexels
