The progress of technology this century has been nothing short of remarkable. In less than two decades, we’ve seen the Internet become the world’s primary medium, cellphones evolve from simple mobile telephones into handheld mega-computers and online social networking become a driving force in all walks of life.
While the progress made in the new millennium has indeed been astounding, the next step in technology’s evolution could very well prove to be its biggest yet.
The concept of “Artificial Intelligence” has been around as a legitimate entity and academic discipline since at least the 1940s and has been interpreted in dozens of different ways by some of the smartest people on the planet. Computers being able to think for themselves is often portrayed as a frightening proposition in pop culture but, in reality, the concept is much more exciting than scary.
As of mid-2018, “A.I.” is already being widely used in several prominent industries, including healthcare, insurance, auto manufacturing and marketing.
Marketing has indeed become increasingly-sophisticated in recent years as the influx of ever-advanced algorithms has made the audience targeting process much more precise. The “big data” revolution, meanwhile, has taken marketing analytics to a whole new level and led to a new industry paradigm in the form of “Artificial Intelligence Marketing”.
Artificial Intelligence Marketing (aka A.I.M.) is comprised of three primary components as part of its dynamic customer engagement cycle – collection, reasoning and action. Collection involves everything pertaining to the data capture process while reasoning is the conversation of information to “actionable data” via A.I.-infused algorithms.
The action that is then performed or recommended by a given A.I.M. program will typically include incentive-driven messaging that can be used across your various digital marketing platforms.
Digital marketing campaigns that utilize A.I.M. have been proven to produce a much better R.O.I. than those that don’t. While “old school” methods of marketing like radio ads or handing out fliers adapt more of a shotgun approach to hunting for customers, with A.I.M. you’re using a laser scope-equipped sniper rifle.
Effectively collecting info and leveraging customer data is the first step in incorporating A.I.M. into your business plan. Knowledge is power and the more knowledgeable you are about your customers – where they live, what they drive, how many kids they have, what their hobbies are – the more you’ll be able to infiltrate various demographics within your marketplace and expand your customer base.
Personalizing customer communication channels is much easier with A.I.M. Instead of sending out blanket emails to everyone who’s ever been to your business, A.I. can analyze individual customers’ reading patterns, topics of interest (ie. what links they tend to click on, which subject lines they respond to more, etc.) so as to better compose and structure your electronic communications to increase open/click rates and engagement.
Content is another increasingly-important aspect of marketing, and Artificial Intelligence has infiltrated this as well. Blogs, social media posts, website articles and so on can all be augmented with A.I. to help drive traffic to your site via S.E.O. and optimize all elements of your branded content.
You’ll also be able to customize promotional campaigns with A.I.M., helping to ensure their success. Search engines and social media platforms’ pay-per-click model, for example, are already capable of being optimized in terms of the users they reach vis-à-vis smart algorithms. Instead of showing up on random timelines, you can target potential customers by living area, household income, interests and so on. This concept is quickly being applied to all digital marketing outlets and will soon become standard.
With so many evolving technologies at play in the marketing world nowadays, it makes sense now more than ever to rely on professionals to handle your digital marketing efforts. At AMG, we’re well-versed in both the nuances and big picture components of small business marketing, have expert creative mavens on staff and specialize in developing sustainable and affordable integrated marketing strategies that provide small businesses with the solutions they need to reach high-quality customers. Click HERE to request a FREE marketing assessment of your business from our team!
