The role of marketers keeps growing adequately year after year. And after a year like 2020, the expectation to drive demand, elevate brands, anticipate shifts in markets, provide strategic counsel, etc are all pounding on the CMOs and marketing teams. The markets flipped upside down and customer demands became absolutely uncertain. This is when the marketing budget declined and the jobs of marketers got complex.

And although most years don’t encounter such dramatic twists and turns, it still goes without saying that marketers must understand the strength of data and models that can help make predictions about the future. Yes, it sounds unachievable. But, with the use of AI and ML, this task is achievable.

Artificial Intelligence in Marketing is an efficient strategy of leveraging data and ML to deliver campaigns that help in achieving a brand’s goals effectively. Having said that, there’s no doubt that marketers need to start utilizing AI for market research, data science, and real-time campaign analysis.

As for a few more quick facts:
– Over 50% of marketers use some or the other form of AI.
– Experts have predicted that AI will generate nearly 2.3 million new employment opportunities in the near future.
– AI is predicted to handle nearly 85% of all customer queries by the end of 2021.
– 3 out of 4 companies that implement AI achieve a 10% or more boost in sales.
– All-time instant support.

Now, let’s understand the crux of how AI is set to impact the life of marketers from hereon.

Identify Patterns in Customer Behaviour
It’s a simple explanation, having data is not as valuable as having its analysis. There’s no questioning the fact that past customer data is a treasure of insight. But, it is important to note that such data must be collected in order to analyze it, identify patterns in customer behavior, and put it to use.

And to achieve this purpose efficiently, data requires to be paired up with AI and ML which effectively catches all customer behaviors so as to shape the strategies of how to reach audiences, tailor content, and offers, etc.

Real-Time Audience Behaviour
For marketers, the first thing to catch hold of right now is that their audience is constantly evolving. A person who once preferred fancy dine out is now cooking at home, and those who preferred window shopping on weekends might now be hiking with their pets. This gives brands all the more reason to understand and act on change quickly. Using real-time data to find what consumers are looking for and where to reach them is going to be brilliant for your brand and for customer experiences.

Predictions
Without the use of smart solutions like AI and ML, a marketer largely leaves it onto his/her gut instincts to predict the future. And although sometimes your gut can prove valuable, it is not necessary for you to risk it all. AI helps in augmenting your intelligence and this is why with its use, all risk is demolished. It definitely makes stronger predictions than any humans and this is why a marketer must indulge in using it.

Data: Customer, Revenue, Social, Digital, and Sentimental
Yes, technology is great. But where would it be without Data? You’ll be surprised to know that AI and ML act on data from a wide range of marketing and business data sources. This includes not only customer, revenue, and digital data but also social, sentimental, and external data. Most of us tend to be tired after a day full of data bundling but it’s not the same with AI. While our tiredness may have an impact on the quality of data we collect, AI ensures crisp information that only benefits us.

People to operate AI and ML platforms
Having tech-savvy business analysts and marketing teams is most probably a good start. That’s because you need someone who understands the right questions and who can actually use AI/ML platforms or technologies. There’s no reason for this person to specifically be a data scientist but a lot of companies have central data science teams from which their marketing departments can use some help.

Embracing the culture of AI
AI is the future. The sooner we adapt to it, the better outcome we’re supposed to yield. It is all about embracing rethinking, investing in technologies, and ultimately determining our decision-making.

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