AI in Marketing

Artificial Intelligence is many things. “Easy to define” is not one of them. While there are many applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is one trait that defines the concept: AI is a series of computer systems able to perform functions that normally require human intelligence. Simply put, AI enables technology to act human.

AI is prevalent in our daily lives through the technology we use, the devices we carry, and the algorithms we refine. Voice assistants like Siri or Alexa, search engines like Google, navigation apps, and recommended YouTube videos are just a few of the ways we might interact with AI software every day. AI is what makes smart devices and wearable tech, well, smart.

But beyond simple consumer-focused use cases, AI is used to generate opportunities for revenue teams. In a way, Artificial Intelligence is a Swiss Army knife for Marketers.

What Does AI in Marketing Mean?

AI makes your business’s marketing smarter. Because AI is used to analyze large, disparate sets of data, it identifies patterns, correlations, and trends that can inform business decisions. It’s also a versatile tool for engaging with customers. Let’s explore four key areas where artificial intelligence can be used in your business’s digital marketing practices:

1. Make Marketing Smarter: AI can analyze data and identify trends faster than humans. Think about the information you can garner from marketing campaigns, such as cost-per-click, click-through rates, and call-to-action effectiveness. This information can allow you to A/B test creative messaging and allocate your marketing budget accordingly. Using AI to better understand your ad effectiveness allows you to better target your ads.
2. Optimize Recommendations: AI analyzes customers’ search patterns and behaviors to create more relevant results. By scrutinizing keywords, search terms, and traffic sources, AI can help your company’s website attract new customers into the funnel through effective ad targeting and search engine optimization (SEO). AI programming is also used for product recommendations, content suggestions, and targeted promotions, furthering customers down the sales funnel.
3. Personalize Communications: Research shows that 80% of customers are more likely to buy when brands offer personalized experiences. Technologies like Conversation Automation or Conversational AI enable Marketers to meet customers where they are in the sales journey, whether it be offering personalized promotions, relevant content, first-time customer coupons, or loyalty program rewards. With AI-driven Conversation Automation solutions, savvy Marketing teams can scale personalized engagements with leads that help drive conversation-qualified opportunities for their Sales teams.
4. Enhance Customer Engagement: The potential for enhancing your customer’s experience through AI programming is exponential. For instance, a digital assistant can facilitate around-the-clock customer service while also directing customers to self-service tools. Not only does a digital assistant resolve customer queries faster, but its design reinforces customer loyalty through its utility.

How Is AI Used in Marketing?

AI fuels what we call omnichannel conversational marketing. Now that we’ve looked broadly at AI’s capabilities within digital marketing practices, let’s dive deeper into Conversation Automation marketing tactics and AI use cases for driving ROI. While your business model and sales strategy will ultimately inform your unique approach to AI, it never hurts to look at the tried and tested tactics.

1. Customer Engagement: First impressions make a difference! Leverage conversational marketing to greet your website visitors and point them to the information they want. Website chat powered by an AI Assistant sees a 40% engagement rate. Answer questions, capture contact information, and pass hot leads to your Sales team.
2. Customer Service: A customer experiencing navigation challenges or roadblocks on your business’ website can benefit from an AI Assistant guiding them to self-service solutions. Engage visitors via website chat to connect them to the information they seek, answer general questions, or contact a rep through the website. As Machine Learning becomes more sophisticated, AI Assistants are able to have more detailed conversations with customers, resolve queries, and help them down the sales funnel.
3. Customer Acquisition: When inbound leads go untouched, unnoticed, and unengaged, your marketing investments fall flat. Effective AI solutions engage buyers at the top of the funnel with human-like, two-way conversations across platforms. AI also identifies sales-ready leads earlier in the funnel. Let’s say you have tens of thousands of leads pouring in, but they haven’t MQLed. AI Assistants can ask qualification questions in a two-way, human-like exchange to determine if they fit your ideal customer profile. Based on their response, the AI Assistant will take the next best action, either fast-tracking them to Sales or sending them the most relevant piece of content. This is where compelling inbound sales content comes into play.
4. Relationship Management:By providing actionable recommendations for managing relationships, AI empowers account-based marketers (ABMs) to effectively serve their biggest clients. Additionally, AI can generate customer profiles so that decision-makers can understand what drives their customers’ choices and recommend their next best action.
5. Account-Based Marketing Support: Building on that relationship management, AI enables you to get more out of your ABM with persistent outreach that takes personalized to another level by using firmographic, segmentation, and intent data. AI Assistants autonomously deliver high-quality outreach by addressing challenges, providing solutions, and sharing customer testimonials.
6. Event Outreach: Make the most of in-person and virtual events. AI Assistants can perform pre-event outreach by reaching out to generate interest and set meetings for attendees in advance of an event. After the event, AI Assistants can follow up with leads generated within an hour of the event to secure 7x response rates.
7. Customer Re-Engagement: Proactively initiate contact with prospects that previously expressed interest or have gone cold. Generate incremental revenue out of your aged and dormant leads by asking “are you interested?” at scale. You’ll find 1 in 20 is likely to book a meeting.

How to Design an AI Marketing Strategy

An effective omnichannel conversational marketing strategy is designed to be engaging and resourceful for customers, as well as insightful and actionable for Marketing teams. The tactics outlined above demonstrate the breadth and depth of AI programming’s potential, but ultimately your digital marketing solutions will be as unique as your business.

Make every interaction with your customer personal and powerful. Drive a personalized dialogue with leads at the top of the funnel to pre-qualify opportunities, deliver the right content at the right time, and find sales-ready leads earlier in the funnel.

AI Marketing Platforms Can Help You Succeed

Conversica AI Assistants engage buyers at the top of the funnel with human-like, two-way conversations across email, SMS, and website chat, to attract higher quality leads, drive pipeline, and find more sales-ready leads.

Adding a Conversica AI Assistant to your Sales team increases capacity, drives higher engagement rates, and ultimately generates more revenue for your business.

Interested in learning even more about what Conversation Automation can do for your Marketing team? Read the 451 Research Report: Bridging Marketing and Sales With Intelligent Virtual Assistants.