Ready or not, artificial intelligence is priming for a paradigm shift in the marketing landscape. Technology for data storage, linguistic analysis, and image processing is changing the way we study and adapt to trends. Experiments that may have taken dozens of scientists years to complete can be iterated and improved upon overnight. As an industry expert, my agency is at the forefront of innovation as C-suite executives and leadership teams demand increasingly effective results. Here’s three ways that agencies can adapt to artificial intelligence in marketing.
Stay Ahead of the Curve
Whether you’re a full-stack firm or boutique agency, staying on top of marketing trends will keep you competitive. Trade publications, industry conferences, and special events can help you learn about new ideas and technologies that could help your clients. And those same tools could even automate part of the way you market your agency, qualify leads, and onboard new prospects. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix use artificial intelligence every day as a crucial part of operations to provide better service and increase sales.
Be an Early Adopter
Ultimately, it will be the early adopters who redefine digital marketing in the next decade. Just like the first users and investors of Google pioneered a more searchable web, marketers using artificial intelligence today set themselves up for a successful future. That doesn’t mean taking risks with new technology, but gradually incorporating new software into existing services and deliverables.
Marketing has always been about captivating stories, but technology has changed the way they are told. Similarly, sales have always been driven by trust and relationships, and artificial intelligence is changing the way those are built. A great example is ThirdLove—an online retailer of bras and underwear. Their “Fit Finder” is an online quiz that uses logic chains and personalized copywriting to guide their users through a custom experience to find clothes just for them.
ThirdLove isn’t the only online retailer harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. Automatically generated “Recommended Items” lists are regularly searching for newer, better, or more relevant offers for higher conversion. Chatbots and artificially intelligent auto responders are the future of the marketing conversation, and eventually algorithm development will be a key differentiating factor in matching consumer demand with an appropriate service provider.
Innovate and Improve
“If only I could go back in time and buy Google stock when it was $85.” With share price towering over $945 after multiple stock splits, 1,700% ROI is a tale of 20/20 hindsight. Getting in on the ground floor for emerging technology gives marketing agencies a competitive advantage, but it also lets them invest in the tools of the future. Beta testers and early adopters have the chance to work with developers on feature requests and functionality improvements that can deliver promising results for clients.
Marketing analytics is just one front for the AI revolution, and with machines to learn the repetitive tasks human beings are free to drive economic growth with critical thinking. Machine learning and artificial intelligence is changing the way we learn and interact with information, from sales catalogues of eye-catching clothing to personal stories of sun-roasted coffee beans.
