Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) — these aren’t terms to describe futuristic trends but instead, ongoing strategies marketing innovators are adopting to connect and resonate more deeply today’s customers. Thinking beyond the hype to effectively utilize Big Data and AI can be one of the most important decisions marketers can make in establishing industry authority. The following are three ways your marketing strategy can benefit from the creative implementation of AI.
Understanding the Customer
Gartner recently predicted that by 2020, the customer will manage 85 percent of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with humans. With so much data at a brand’s disposal, this forecast is not far out of reach.
Every smart device, wearable and home assistant constantly grabbing all sorts of user preference points imaginable, making the possibilities for extraction and synthesis of user habits endless. Big Data and AI work hand in hand to construct a formulaic way to utilize what matters to customers not only at a holistic level, but in the context of their everyday lives.
Aside from user profiling, understanding the customer requires that technologies are constantly improving themselves to keep up with individual users. This process, known as cognitive or semantic learning, is how technologies like Alexa and Google Home are able to form “relationships” with their owners and streamline the way they lead their daily lives.
Delivering in Context
Based on the Big Data used for AI profiling, marketers are able to work with in-house or contracted innovation teams to construct tailored strategies for individual user profiles. AI makes this process scalable, altering algorithms per user profile and automating current norms in brand outreach like contextual bidding for display advertising.
One particular factor in offering the most intelligent, relevant content in the moment for users is by utilizing proximity. Artificial intelligence allows marketers to understand more clearly what specific people want, but proximity defines where these users can deeply engage with brands.
Improving the User Experience
The idea of leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance the user experience is not new, but certainly has different schools of thought. One downplayed aspect of AI for UI, Marketingland contributor Tamer Noveh hints at the need to utilize AI to enhance the way users live, not replace or overtake.
“A human in this position would want to understand the market conditions surrounding the suggestion, as well as the potential outcomes, so this layer of human precaution must be reflected in the machine, too.”
A marketer’s main consideration when implementing AI technologies into their marketing innovation strategies should be how to best service the user, help them do what they do, and assist when and where they need it. Creating this definition alleviates the friction many users face of being “overthrown” by technology or being breached by the invasiveness of robots.
Flickr / Photo by KamiPhuc.
