How AI is Currently Used As a Marketing Mechanism

This article will explore how AI is being used as a marketing mechanism by businesses.

05:47 20 September 2021

AI is one of the new technologies which is currently taking the world by storm. Businesses across the globe have adopted AI technology to reduce operational costs, increase efficiency, grow revenue and improve their customers’ experience. In a survey conducted by PWC, they found that a quarter of the companies which were surveyed had reported a widespread adoption of AI. AI is not only accessible to large, established businesses. Newer and smaller businesses also have access to AI to assist them in reaching goals and larger amounts of revenue. This article will explore how AI is being used as a marketing mechanism by businesses.

 

What Is AI?

AI, stands for artificial intelligence, is defined as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs” by John McCarthy. In simple terms, AI is the creation of systems and software that can act and think in the same way humans can. There are four types of AI, namely reactive machines, limited memory, theory of mind, and self-awareness. Examples of AI in everyday life are Siri, Alexa and other smart assistants, self-driving cars, chatbots, email spam filters and Netflix's recommendations. From these examples, it is clear that AI analyzes data but does not make decisions for a user. This shows that AI is autonomous, without human intervention.

 

AI improves customer communications and saves costs

Chatbots have been projected to surpass all other customer service platforms by 2021. Chatbots, which are AI-powered, allow businesses to provide customer support at any time by automating customer communications. This is also beneficial because it personalizes the experience for the client. Natural language processing has also improved which has allowed chatbots to understand conversation nuances better, which leads to them being able to mimic human speech even better.

 

Large businesses, such as banks, have implemented chatbots which has led to a reduction in salary and benefit costs. It has also improved back-office efficiency. Chatbots have also been able to largely benefit small businesses. Entrepreneurs who have a restricted budget would be able to fill customer service gaps by using chatbots. These advances in chatbots serve to improve the customer's experience and this leads to an increase in satisfaction and, in turn, more revenue. 

 

AI strengthens brand loyalty

AI offers personalization for customers. Seeing that over 60% of customers expect a customized experience, this should be a priority for all businesses. But seeing that personalization, without the use of AI, takes large amounts of time, effort and money, AI is a very important tool. By doing this, businesses will ensure increased engagement and sales. 

 

AI is also able to improve a business’ marketing strategy by automating current processes. Currently, businesses use data they have collected from previous purchases and social media activity. This data is used to predict the type of products consumers will likely purchase and allows the business to deliver tailored content and messages to their potential customers. AI is able to automate this by identifying decision-making patterns and creating personas based on it. Studies have shown that using AI for the personalization of customer communications increases click-through rates by 14%. By offering customers personalised marketing, engagement is ensured to be increased, customer loyalty is sttenghented and sales is ensured to increase. 

 

Entrepreneurs who own DBAs are able to take advantage of these benefits more so than others. A DBA, which stands for “doing business as”, is a business form often used by sole proprietors who would like to use a business name different to their individual name. Incorporation Rocket offers information to business owners who are interested in forming a DBA in their specific state. Obtaining DBAs allow business owners to brand in different target markets. Businesses which have different lines of business are able to use DBAs to create multiple brand names to target their specific markets. By automating processes in DBAs, the business owner would be able to combine the benefits of AI and DBAs to strengthen brand loyalty and a strong customer base.

 

AI is able to streamline the hiring process

AI is able to speed up the candidate review process by automating screening calls and the analysis of candidate applications. This form of recruitment also cancels out human bias from preliminary screenings which can work towards achieving workplace diversity. This technique also saves time and hiring costs. 

 

This form of AI integration acts as a marketing mechanism by ensuring that the best candidates are selected. By doing this, the business will be better equipped to offer the best experience for their customers, which would secure customer loyalty. 

 

AI is able to increase forecasting accuracy

AI ensures a reduction in human error, which is inevitable. A process which is often prone to human error, and which is generally time consuming, is the forecasting of cash flow. AI serves to automate objective forecasting without manual intervention for businesses. This form of AI integration acts as a marketing mechanism because it offers businesses an insight into their future finances, which allows them to make informed decisions and to put plans in place to achieve goals. 

 

The takeaway

AI has proven to be the future of business by being able to improve almost all aspects of the business. To reap the most benefits, businesses should consider incorporating the full range of smart technologies into their processes and products. These would include machine learning, natural language processing and more.