Instead of looking at near-term goals, both business owners and marketers will need to consider the different uses and possibilities of AI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of any business structure regardless of which level of business it has been implemented. The reason for AI’s success is that it’s both scalable and practical, offering business owners and marketers a better opportunity to leverage digital technologies that will help catapult them into the next generation of the business ecosystem.
Throughout much of the value chain, we see how AI, with the use of other software capabilities, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), have now surpassed traditional application in recent years.
AI Infused Into Customer Interactions
Blake Morgan, the renowned published author and customer experience futurist, has weighed in on the possibilities of AI, stating that she estimates that by 2025, around 95% of customer interactions will be supported and controlled by artificial intelligence. The versatility of AI has equipped many people with the tools they require to help understand their business needs and those of their customers or target audience.
For marketers, AI has opened a whole new world of possibilities, and while AI is already present throughout much of the contemporary digital marketing ecosystem, the years to come will only help businesses further increase their brand influence and marketplace dominance.
Mass adoption has already proven successful, especially among those working in the field of marketing and sales according to recent findings by McKinsey. Their 2020 survey found that marketing and sales departments have the third-highest adoption of AI, with some organizations attributing at least 20% of their earnings before tax to AI-related tools and resources.
From the brands we work with, and the content we read and interact with on social networks and online, all of this stems from the back of artificial intelligence, tailored toward us as consumers.
Various complex layers make up branding, company reputation and marketing. Tying this together with artificial intelligence, it’s important that you as a prominent business owner understand what the future of marketing will look like, and how it’s driving your company’s brand.
Here’s a quick review of what AI can do for your company’s brand.
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Using AI in Company SEO
With artificial intelligence, companies can automate content, helping to deliver more relatable and engaging content that helps to drive better interaction that can be turned into leads.
The use of AI in SEO means that those building the company’s marketing strategy will have better access to tools and resources that are tailored to their direct needs. From a range of keyword ranking tools to paraphrasing digital content, to scanning the internet for relatable markets, all of this is done through the power and dominance of AI. In this light, we see how AI has helped many businesses leverage the possibilities of voice search through applications such as Amazon Alexa and Siri on iPhone devices.
AI helps to augment the search results on the web through voice search, while at the same time helping business owners resolve issues related to trigger words and phrases such as “near me,” “where,” “how far” “when” etc.
On the business front, having these tools can mean that customers and potential clients will have more customized news feeds, interactive content related to searches and automatically generated content.
Using AI for Digital Advertising
Digital advertising has always been important; ever since the birth of the internet, mobile phones, and social networks, digital ads have helped connect brands with consumers. In this day and age, where consumers are constantly exposed to millions of online ads and promotions, standing out in the crowd is not as easy as it used to be.
To help promote organic business growth, and online visibility, marketers and business owners are using tools that can help them direct their messages or ads directly to the markets from where they are looking to generate leads.
AI is being trained to follow and observe consumer behavior, and return information to end-users in the form of analytical data points. With this marketers are then able to better understand how they can generate a message directed at their desired target audience.
A best case of use for this is Albert, an AI-driven software marketing tool that helps businesses and marketers plan and execute paid search, social and programmatic campaigns. Albert has been so successful, that back in 2017, Harley-Davidson was able to increase its sales leads by 2,930% in the state of New York. What’s more, Albert was able to help Harley-Davidson increase its ad wording performance by 450%, leading to marketers’ better understanding of which words drove more leads and generated better calls to action. The results are self-explanatory, yet it proves to be a scalable way in which businesses can drive better online traffic.
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Using AI in Branding and Design
For novice designers, and unskilled business owners who aren’t equipped with the necessary knowledge to design interactive tools such as websites, apps, or online stores to drive customers and sales, AI can now take charge. More so, in this case, AI is not only making the design process more streamlined, but it’s also making it easier for business owners to design their brands with the plethora of tools and resources available for free.
Aside from these traditional applications, AI will also enable businesses to take better control of Web 3.0 possibilities and the Metaverse. While augmented reality is still somewhat in its infancy, there’s already a growing marketplace for many startups and established brands that will move onto the Metaverse in the next few years.
Although this might still take some time, and require further development in the field, businesses will continue to enjoy their dependency on AI as a beacon of design and advertising, even if it’s on a small scale.
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Using AI to Tell a Story
For many small businesses, as far as capturing the attention of their target audience in the hopes of turning them into paying customers, they need to share a story that resonates with their customers’ ideology. Telling a story through AI means that instead of selling key aspects of the business, entrepreneurs and business owners look to deliver an engaging experience.
On top of our current understanding, we should also consider how important AI will become in the marketing funnel during a changing economic cycle. As more and more Americans struggle to keep up with soaring inflation, and grapple with the high cost of living, AI will be a crucial way to help connect the right set of products with the consumers who require them the most. This could be to help provide more open-ended messages that are specifically directed to the right crowd of people, while at the same time ensuring interaction with digital tools is prioritized such as online shopping, CTAs or social media posts.
More so, AI can be seen as a way to enhance the digital experience through multimedia applications and online content. This enables businesses to deliver more meaningful messages that are specifically tailored to the right set of customers almost all of the time.
Using AI for Customer Service
Another facet that has helped improve brand identity and influence within the business marketplace is the adoption of AI in customer service. As a consumer, it’s become almost impossible to differentiate when you’re interacting with a human or artificial intelligence whilst using online portals or browsing the internet. When we remove the veil, we tend to pick up how businesses are more and more becoming open to the idea of utilizing AI tools to take over the customer service experience.
The use case of this is plentiful, and AI is making customer service faster, more streamlined and more convenient for not only the business but more importantly for the customers as well. Instead of directing customers to FAQ pages as a possible resolution to their problems, artificial intelligence is making it easier to find scalable solutions right from the very first point of entry.
In the early years of AI development, bots were seen as the most approachable solution, yet today this concept has taken the backseat as conversational AI, natural language protocols (NLPs) and deep machine learning (DML) protocols have become the building blocks of digital customer service solutions.
Customer service is a crucial part of any business and ensuring that the right methods are used to help resolve any possible queries or customer issues, AI must be designed to fit the needs of both the business, more importantly, that of potential clients.
The Necessity of AI
Artificial intelligence can be found throughout the contemporary business model, in some shape or form. Whether we oppose or welcome the use of AI, in whatever capacity, it’s clear that without it, businesses would find it difficult to understand and monitor their target audience behavior while also developing strategies to drive company brand in the marketplace.
While there are multiple uses of AI available, more than traditional applications, it’s clear that marketers and business owners will need to develop and implement the right set of strategies that will help build better online and digital reputations. The necessity of AI is only now being realized, as more businesses transition online, and marketers can develop instruments tailored to their direct target audience.
Instead of looking at near-term goals, both business owners and marketers will need to consider the different uses and possibilities of AI, ensuring they apply the right set of tools and instruments that looks to bring them closer to their customers and broader marketplace dominance.
