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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new concept. The term was coined in 1956 by John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, who defined it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."
Since then, AI has made tremendous advances, and we're still seeing even more growth today. Fortune Business Insights projects the global AI market will grow from $387 billion in 2022 to $1.4 billion by 2029.
The movie iRobot was set in 2035 and told the story of a future where highly intelligent robots fill public service positions. Unfortunately, the robots in this movie turned out to be a more significant threat to humanity than expected.
Thankfully, we have a symbiotic relationship with AI in 2022. There are numerous artificial intelligence tools available today that can help simplify your life as a marketer. And if used correctly, AI can boost the output of any business or organization.
In this post, we will cover seven things you need to know about using AI to improve your marketing efforts.
1. AI is not just for big business
Just because you're a smaller company doesn't mean you can't take advantage of AI's benefits. In fact, if your small or medium-sized business is looking to gain a competitive edge, AI may be more beneficial than ever before.
Companies across industries use artificial intelligence, including retail, healthcare, and even transportation. For example, same-day courier services benefit from the AI in self-driving trucks to help improve delivery reliability, boost brand credibility, and reduce overhead costs.
2. Create more personalized customer experiences
Personalization is where AI can really shine. It can help marketers personalize content by analyzing data and determining what content, language, or tone to use with a specific person based on their past behavior.
For example, if someone has visited your website and looked at a specific product page but didn't add it to their cart, you could send them an email offer for the same product later that week. But what if they are based in Argentina? No problem. ChatGPT-powered AI chatbots can learn Spanish and make your marketing efforts in Latin America a breeze.
Netflix uses machine learning algorithms to help customers discover new movies and tv shows they might be interested in based on their previous watch history. This information helps recommend video content based on the customer's preferences rather than simply showing them everything available on the platform—which we all know can be overwhelming.
A recommendation engine enables companies to increase conversion rates and make more money by showing targeted content that speaks directly to potential buyers' interests at just the right time. It also makes shopping easier because consumers feel like companies know them personally when making suggestions that cater to their preferences.
AI is also great at facilitating customer conversations because it learns which messages resonate best with specific groups of people based on their responses (or lack thereof). That means fewer missed opportunities when selling products online; users will receive messages explicitly tailored toward them instead of generalizations across demographics like age or location.
Using AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, you can improve your customers' satisfaction, retention, and loyalty and better understand their needs and wants. Simply, learn how to improve customer engagement and conversion by leveraging ChatGPT for customer service.
3. Collect and process data with ease
AI is not just a tool for personalizing your interactions with customers and leads. You can also use AI to collect complex data sets and quickly make sense of it.
Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term for technology that allows machines to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. It's all about using the power of computers, which are fast and less error-prone than humans.
AI is a powerful tool that allows marketers to quickly collect and organize data to make quick, calculated decisions through the following process:
- Data collection: AI can collect data from multiple sources quickly and efficiently, which is especially useful if you're working with large amounts of data. This can be done through text mining, image recognition, speech processing, etc.
- Data cleaning: AI can help organize data so that it's easier for humans to understand and act on. Examples include speech recognition software that translates audio into text and video analysis tools that identify objects in videos or photos.
- Build predictive models: AI uses historical data to predict future events or outcomes.
- Data visualization: AI can take large amounts of data and turn it into easy-to-understand charts and graphs. This means less time spent on formatting and more time analyzing the data output.
- Data-driven decision making: AI can make decisions based on what it's learned from its environment or previous experiences—like whether or not someone should receive a follow-up outreach email.
4. Automate tedious tasks
Automation is arguably one of the best benefits of using AI for marketing, as it frees up your time, so you don't have to check data or perform mundane tasks manually. Its implementation can differ according to usage, such as from the automation of CRM, advertising, and marketing to content writing, social media, and lead generation automation.
For example, instead of wasting thousands of dollars and countless hours writing high-quality blog pieces, many AI article writer tools can do it for you in minutes. So now you can focus on more important things like strategy and other ways to grow your business.
Automation is an excellent way to save time and effort, not only for you but also for your customers. When someone opens their inbox, they see an email that feels personalized and relevant. With AI, you can schedule emails at ideal times of day and adapt them based on past interactions with the customer. And there is that 10% off coupon code when they need it most. Use an email finder tool to ensure you send your outreach emails to the right inbox the first time.
The automated nature of AI systems helps reduce human error, which has grown increasingly important as businesses become more complex and manage higher volumes of data. For example, if there's something wrong with any automation, like if the wrong people are getting emails from your newsletter, AI will let you know about it so that no mistakes go unnoticed.
You can create and implement AI chatbots for marketing automation. By utilizing chatbot marketing, you can achieve more with less:
- Collect data from your website and social media channels and use it to personalize the customer experience on your site, in emails, and in ads at the touch of a button.
- Use machine learning algorithms to analyze customer data and understand customers' actions at different stages of their purchase journey.
- Analyze past customer interactions with each other to recommend products based on consumer preferences.
5. Facilitate conversations with customers
Another way to use AI for marketing is to facilitate conversations with customers and improve the overall customer experience (CX).
Chatbots are all the rage. They're making their way into customer service spaces, and it's not just about the technology anymore—it's about how to make them work for you and your customers.
If you haven't yet heard about chatbots, they are computer applications that use artificial intelligence to interact with human beings through natural language conversations.
They can be used to answer questions and perform simple tasks, like giving directions or booking a flight. Chatbots can also handle more complex tasks like completing an application or providing product recommendations.
Chatbots are increasingly popular because they offer impressive gains in efficiency over traditional customer service channels such as phone conversations or email inquiries. Chatbots can answer customer questions faster than humans and provide higher satisfaction levels.
They also save companies money because there are no salaries associated with managing them—they are automated systems that work 24/7 without needing any human intervention.
6. Optimize your ad campaigns and targeting efforts
When it comes to ad campaigns and targeting efforts, AI can help you make the best decisions backed by data.
AI can tailor your message to each customer with its advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities. It uses data about their history with your brand—including the products they've purchased, the brands they've interacted with, and more—to determine what type of offer will be most appealing to them.
This improved targeting means that you're reaching customers based on their preferences rather than just their demographic information, which means a higher ROI for every dollar spent on advertising.
Additionally, you can create hundreds of personalized ads with a simple click of a button. Talk about efficiency.
Because these personalized messages are more likely to resonate with each customer's unique needs or preferences, AI allows you to reach your targeted audience and reduce costs per click (CPC).
In other words: better results at a lower cost. Many companies are turning toward artificial intelligence when developing their marketing strategies; after all, there's no point in spending money if it isn't going towards something worthwhile like increased ROI or improved CX.
AI can analyze data and help you determine what is working. With the ability to aggregate data from multiple sources, artificial intelligence can provide marketers with a holistic view of their customers' past behavior. This allows them to identify what parts of their marketing are most effective and adjust accordingly.
7. Understand your marketing ROI more effectively
A study by McKinsey & Company found that revenue increases from adopting AI are reported most often in marketing and sales companies, with 40% of respondents showing a greater than 5% increase in revenue.
It's essential to measure your marketing campaign’s return on investment (ROI). After all, why throw money at a strategy that isn't performing well. Or perhaps you are underspending on a campaign that is crushing it and could easily double or triple leads with some extra funding.
But how do you go about this? It's not easy to determine the proper budget at the campaign level because there are so many variables involved—the size and quality of each audience, the campaign type (PPC vs. SEO), etc.
But with AI, you can use historical data about your campaigns to identify the specific success or failures at the most granular level.
Use this information to set budgets based on performance rather than time or cost: if one channel has consistently outperformed another in terms of return on ad spend (ROAS), why not allocate more funds toward it.
Wrapping Up
Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and it's not just for big business. As AI becomes more accessible, smaller companies can use the technology to create more personalized customer experiences, automate tasks, and drive growth.
However, like any new technology, there are some things you should be aware of before jumping into the deep end:
- AI isn't perfect—yet. It can generate a ton of data that needs to be analyzed and understood before it can be put into use for marketing purposes;
- There are many tools available for businesses seeking to deploy artificial intelligence;
- The right resources will help you streamline your marketing efforts;
Artificial intelligence is a robust tool for marketers and entrepreneurs alike. It is the way of the future.
So don't get left behind. Start leveraging artificial intelligence tools to help improve your marketing efforts today.
About The Author
Sarang is a passionate Content marketer and Account Manager at uSERP. He loves creating content and runs a successful blog on filmmaking and advertising.