Artificial Intelligence Marketing

From performing medical diagnoses to creating musical harmonies, artificial intelligence is becoming ever more intertwined with our daily lives. According to a 2017 survey by HubSpot, 63 percent of people who said they had never used technology powered by AI were mistaken.

It probably should come as no surprise then, that companies are already bringing AI onboard to help with crucial tasks in sales and marketing. Although AI has the power to revolutionize the field of marketing (like with so many other industries), it will probably take a while before its uses hit the mainstream. Here’s my take on AI marketing and a sneak peek of what lies ahead.

What Is Artificial Intelligence Marketing?

AI marketing is exactly what its name implies; the use of artificial intelligence to assist in a company’s marketing efforts. Any technology that attempts to replicate human intelligence or perform the job of a human can be given the label of “AI.”

AI marketing techniques can generally be subdivided into three different categories.

Databases: Mature businesses already have databases that contain a wealth of information about their customers and prospective customers. AI marketing tools can help these businesses search for and retrieve data more efficiently and better identify targets for a particular marketing campaign.
Machine learning: A critical tool for AI, machine learning allows computers to “learn” by receiving feedback about their decisions and improving their accuracy over time without receiving explicit instructions. Machine learning can provide valuable insights into which marketing campaigns are likely to be the most effective for a given audience, or which audience is best suited for a particular campaign.
Bayesian networks: Another key AI concept, Bayesian networks are graphs that are used to represent the probabilistic relationships between states or events. For example, Bayesian networks can be used to model the likelihood of how each person on a list will respond to a direct marketing campaign and you can therefore target the most promising prospects, helping to increase your return on investment.

How Can Businesses Use AI Marketing?

From these essential building blocks organizations are using AI marketing in a number of innovative fashions. The examples below are just a sample of what’s now possible.

Copywriting: Although AI can’t yet write a novel (not one that’s worth the effort of reading, anyway), it can certainly create shorter, more straightforward content. Many media organizations are now using AI to write short articles for them. These tools can take data and a template and generate relevant, natural-sounding text, that can be edited by a human if necessary.
Emails: With today’s atomized internet full of niche markets, sending the same marketing emails to all your subscribers is a failure of opportunity. AI marketing platforms can divide your customers into a number of demographics and then tailor your messages to each specific group, based on their behavior and preferences.
Chatbots: Tools like Facebook’s AI assistant, M, can already respond to a variety of queries and perform simple tasks. Prospects who visit your website can interact with a chatbot that can answer questions, collect their information, and provide relevant content (perhaps also created by AI).
Curation: Getting the right information in front of the correct audience is one of marketers key functions. Many online retailers already show recommended items to returning customers. Similarly, AI tools can determine the identity of visitors to your website and display content that’s perfectly suited to their situation.

Final Thoughts

AI marketing represents a valuable opportunity for so many businesses and those companies who use it are poised to gain a massive competitive advantage. Tools like AdTopus and Infer can assist your organization’s marketing efforts through the power of predictive analytics; converting more customers and building stronger relationships.