Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most influential technologies of the modern age. Humanity is just scratching the surface of what AI can do. However, this technology is finding its way into different industries. For example, marketing and sales rely on AI to help them offer clients an improved customer experience.
AI Makes It Easier to Understand the Customer
Researchers can use AI with machine learning (ML) to understand their customers better. Traditional data analytics are static. They only consider the information that is being presented at any given time. However, AI is constantly learning and making tweaks based on the information it analyzes. This makes it possible to not only react to customer behavior but, in some circumstances, anticipate what the customer is going to want or what the customer is going to do.
As a result, brands can create relevant content that their customers are going to want to consume. They can also increase sales opportunities using AI to help them improve their customers’ journey as they go through the buying process.
AI is making it possible for brands to connect to their customers on a personal level. When customers feel a sense of personal attachment, they have increased loyalty, increased trust, and an increased desire to purchase from a brand.
For example, when a person visits an e-commerce store, AI can make it easier for the retailer to display products that the customer might be interested in purchasing based on past searches. This benefits the retailer by increasing sales, but it benefits the customer by showing the customer products they need quickly.
Using Real-Time Decisioning and Predictive Behavior Analysis
Real-time decisioning is where a program can make decisions based on the data it is receiving in real-time. This means that websites will react to customers based on what they are doing at that moment with zero latency. One area where this facet of AI is benefiting customers is through fraud prevention.
Real-time decisioning can identify if a customer is using an ad blocker and then present them with alternative content that would engage them. It also provides the ability to offer relevant recommendations. Customers respond to hyper-personalized content that meets their needs if it doesn’t seem invasive.
AI has the power to process phenomenal amounts of information in real-time. This allows marketers to provide actionable insight to customers. Based on what the customer is doing, the website knows how to interact with the customer and what to present to a customer.
AI can analyze more than just historical data. It can dive deep into what the customer has done in the past, what the customer is currently doing, and what the customer might do next to provide a more relevant experience to the customer, thereby generating sales and building brand loyalty. Make sure you use a CRM migration tool if you are considering transferring your customer data to an AI-based, or any other, CRM software. The last thing you want is to have a breach or loss of customer data while you are actively trying to improve your customer relations.
Chatbots and AI
If you have ever interacted with a chatbot, you know how frustrating it can be. In the past, chatbots were limited in what they could say or do. You needed to present a precise query to get the answer you needed.
Thanks to artificial intelligence, this is changing. Natural language processing (NLP) makes chatbots better at understanding how people naturally express themselves and then use that knowledge to give customers the answers they require.
This is where most people have interacted with artificial intelligence. The power of AI is seen when interacting with virtual assistants, like Alexa or Siri, or interacting with a chatbot. Just think about how complicated human speech is. Even humans, at times, have difficulty understanding the meaning behind the words that other people are saying.
NLP allows a computer to take a native language, translate it into zeros and ones, understand what is being said in the native language, interpret what is being said, and then calculate the appropriate response. Once that is done, the response needs to be converted back to a natural language. All of this happens in a fraction of a second.
Conclusion
There can be no denying the power of AI. AI is influencing just about every aspect of human interaction, and marketing and sales are no different. AI allows companies to cater to the needs of their customers and allows customers to get the products and services they need when they need them.