Lead generation is often cited as the top challenge by marketers. However, things are changing thanks to the infiltration of AI-technology into evermore aspects of marketing. In one survey, 80% of respondents said that AI would revolutionize marketing by 2020.
The same report also stated that businesses implementing AI close 59% more sales, report 58% more revenue, generate 54% more traffic and engagement, and experience 52% higher conversion.
No wonder AI is being swiftly integrated into the workflows of both B2B and B2C marketers to automate lead generation and client segmentation activities. According to Salesforce, automated lead generation can improve sales productivity by up to 14.5%.
AI and the changing world of digital marketing
AI is all around us. From chatbots to personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, AI technology is increasingly commonplace. Applications can be found in various industries, especially digital marketing.
Here are four ways AI-based applications are transforming the core aspects of marketing, including generating and nurturing leads:
1. Intelligent chatbots are facilitating real-time communication
Hiring human agents to respond to individual emails and queries is cost-intensive and time-consuming.
Thankfully, conversational chatbots can take on the task of answering frequently asked questions, round the clock, while drastically reducing response times and the overall cost of engaging each lead.
Here are some top benefits of integrating chatbots in your workflow:
- Reducing wait times. You lose your customers’ interest when they are forced to wait. With a chatbot, you can enable customer support 24/7, slashing the time it takes to get in touch. A high volume of inquiries can impair the efficiency of your support team and create a backlog. However, chatbots are machines, equipped to converse with multiple customers at a time. They never get tired or frustrated – and that leads to faster and better service. Chatbots can handle up to 80% of customer inquiries and work alongside your sales and services teams to interpret and answer questions while learning from any new interactions.
- Moving customers down the sales funnel. Besides engaging users by contextually interpreting their queries through semantic analysis and sharing an appropriate response, chatbots can also be employed to guide your customers to the next step in the sales funnel. They do so by mimicking human conversation, based on an IFTTT procedure, and offering clients what they want without delay.
- Personalizing content. Chatbots can help personalize on-site content and increase customer engagement, leading to a higher conversion rate. Some virtual assistants also employ predictive modeling to gauge what kind of offers or content might interest a user. Consequently, they can anticipate the requirements of your users and offer them what they want even before they ask for it, moving them efficiently down the sales funnel.
- Integrating with other software. Most chatbot platforms can be integrated with your existing CRM, email provider, and other data sources for highly personalized and automated customer service. You can also use a chatbot to qualify your leads by asking a set of predetermined questions. Not only does this create better client segmentation but also saves time for everyone involved in the process – including your customers.
2. Personalized customer experience with machine learning (ML)
ML technology enables machines to learn and evolve based on past processes and actions, helping marketers to personalize the customer experience. Marketers can use ML to automate processes such as lead generation and ad targeting, freeing up their valuable time to focus on the more creative aspects of the business.
Here’s how ML can transform your digital marketing process.
Users expect highly customized information and experiences from the brands they interact with. Consequently, marketers must base their ads and other campaigns on buyer personas created on the back of data collected from every visitor.
AI-analysis using machine learning algorithms makes this process faster and more accurate by spotting behavioral patterns far better than humans ever could. Soon, it is expected that such systems will handle large datasets to create highly accurate buyer personas while also generating customized copy to match the preferences of users in various profiles.
3. Creating personalized content with AI
Wordsmith is a new AI-enabled program businesses are using to generate automatic content. In a news article, Wired.com reported that media companies, such as Associated Press, use “software to generate news stories on corporate earnings reports.”
Even Fox auto-generates various sports recaps on its site and Yahoo uses similar technology to create customized sports reports for its users. This works by feeding the AI program data from a CSV file and filling up pre-set templates with text according to IFTTT procedure.
For marketers, this saves time and money when creating and distributing highly personalized content.
4. Employing AI for lead generation
Today, AI-technology has been proven to help engage and nurture leads. Sophisticated AI-based programs are also capable of generating leads for your business based on your previous preferences and data.
For example, AI can quickly sift through large volumes of transactional and user data collected from various sources to identify your ideal customers, as well as employees. Such software can also send emails and fix meetings automatically to streamline your schedule and save time for everyone.
The power of AI
Intelligent and innovative use of AI technology has the power to transform your lead generation process and significantly impact your profit.
In addition to cutting down response times and offering personalized content to visitors, marketers can also leverage behavioral insights derived from AI applications, and based on predictive analytics, to build effective digital marketing campaigns and support the lead generation process.
What do you think about the future of AI in digital marketing? Share your views in the comments section below; we’d love to hear from you.