Artificial intelligence (AI) is making waves in nearly every industry. As it becomes more accessible for everyday use, this technology is beginning to be integrated in modern marketing efforts.
While AI has huge potential to help your brand connect with consumers, it must be leveraged in the right ways to be effective. We asked a panel of Forbes Agency Council members to weigh in on the best way to use AI in marketing efforts. Their answers are below.
1. Improved Customer Journeys
We will continue to use machine learning and predictive analytics to enhance and automate our ability to deliver the most relevant content to our various audience segments, across web, mobile and email channels. This should help us move our prospects through the customer journey faster and with better results. - Chris Cavanaugh, Freeman
2. Content Curation
Artificial intelligence is artificial. If used properly, we can redefine routine processes to set up curated content posting from trusted sources that match our content mix criteria seamlessly. While these options are readily becoming more usable, they can easily cloud up your company newsfeed. Make your AI work for you by limiting the number of posts and specifying exact topics. - Evangeline Sutton, Regenerative Marketing LLC
3. Customer Service Chatbots
When we have a problem with a product or service, we call the company for help. Too often, the customer service rep is reading off a script with canned responses to our very different and very human situations, creating a bad experience. Chatbots, programmed by humans, can improve the customer experience, fix the gaps in those interactions and provide a more human experience. - Lori Paikin, NaviStone®
4. Interpretation Of Human Trends
One way marketers can harness AI is to better interpret human trends as they emerge. Whether it’s about crisis response or their reaction to marketing messages, no longer will marketers need to wait for time-consuming focus groups as a way to predict human behavior. This can help create efficiency in some of the more “always-on” parts of marketing like digital, social, traditional and public relations. - Jessica Reznick, We’re Magnetic
5. FAQ Moderation
AI is a huge boon for handling some of the most common tasks that have to be taken care of every day. Some of those can be answering frequently asked questions in the form of a chatbot or providing any information that does not have to be relayed by a person. There are many options out there to allow for quick communication and ensure success utilizing AI. - Jon James, Ignited Results
6. Clearer Communication
With the advance of AI, there’s a growing fear that human connection may be lost. However, the ironic twist here is that with more technology, we have more time for interpersonal connection and engagement. For marketing purposes, we can optimize analytics, behavioral studies, data and insights to make prescriptive decisions for campaigns, allowing us to communicate more clearly and authentically! - Fiona Bruder, George P. Johnson (GPJ) Experience Marketing
7. The Right Offer At The Right Time
Having data on consumer habits is an incredible tool. AI can be distasteful when used to push sales but is beneficial when used to make life easier for the consumer. AI can help marketers serve up the right offer at the right time, but the intention must be rooted in making a positive impact on the audience. - Danny Fritz, SBX Group
8. Instant Attention And Personal Connections
One of the most effective ways to engage and keep customers is to make them feel heard. This can prove difficult and costly due to the manpower required to staff customer service departments 24/7. The smartest companies are utilizing AI tools that employ natural language processing that can simulate the experience of a personal connection and provide the immediacy of instant attention. - Keri Witman, Cleriti
9. Improved And Increased Customer Reach
At Search Optics, we leverage AI to create more intelligent retail opportunities for our clients. From the ability to quickly and effectively direct leads toward the information they’re looking for to increasing personalization and relevance through chat and follow-ups, AI helps our clients reach customers more efficiently and on a larger scale. - Troy Smith, Search Optics
10. Automated, Real-Time Personalized Experiences
AI applications like chatbots are a great way to converse with users who land in your sales funnel and gather more information about them to use in your own personalized marketing strategy. The biggest value that AI can deliver to a business is the ability to personalize experiences in real time based on the data sets presented to it. - Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com
