Seth Redmore, CMO, Lexalytics, writes on how AI is transforming and helping people salespeople to do their day to day jobÂ
Marketers are well aware that AI is going to disrupt both how we do business and how we get the word out about it. We’ve seen it in user targeting, programmatic ad creation and automation. And yet, while most industries are dipping their toes into the waters of AI marketing, no one is visibly leading the way.
At some point, we’re going to stop worrying about whether something is “AI†or not, and just bask in the improved functions of familiar processes. (Does it really matter if Pandora is using AI or hundreds of thousands of people? Nope, not to me.) Until that day comes, we do need to think about it and ask for the benefits. Even in these early days, AI can help you find, court, convert and retain passionate fans of what you do. And AI can find them dynamically, precisely and without the manual tweaking and optimization that eats up your valuable working hours – as much as 54% of themOpens a new window , according to research.
Let’s take a look at just how AI can do the tedious parts of your job for you so that you can focus on the fun parts.
AI can determine where prospects are in the sales funnel
It’s hard to gauge intent without action. If a prospect hasn’t clicked something on your website or filled in a form, how can you know whether they’re just a tire kicker or whether they’re ready to hand over their money? How do you even know that they’re a prospect in the first place?
AI can pre-qualify prospects based on behavior rather than input. It can automatically scour internet forums or social media to identify where someone is in the sales process based on what they’re saying. If a consumer is already on your site AI can identify certain patterns of behavior, such as time spent or pages visited, to determine where they land in the funnel.
With this information, a company can dynamically serve up information that best serves a consumer’s needs at that stage in the funnel. They can also gauge overall familiarity with and interest in a product and tailor their communications and offerings accordingly.
AI can be used to deliver real-time sales and predictive marketing data. The results can move users from awareness through to conversion at speed. It’s lead scoring taken to a whole new level. Â
AI can serve up targeted product packages
By necessity, most companies serve up a series of pre-packaged, pre-priced options for consumers to browse through and pick from. But this is a poorly optimized experience for both vendor and consumer. Companies are limited in what they can deliver and how, and consumers are tasked with browsing through the options to make a decision.
The experience is time-consuming and impersonal. Consumers experience friction during the decision-making process and vendors are struck providing solutions that serve the median, not the long tail.
AI and ML allow businesses to dynamically target their offerings, plans and pricing to suit specific individuals. A software company can use your browsing footprint to determine whether you’re a casual user or a developer and serve up a targeted offer accordingly. Banks and financial services companies can use your credit score to serve up only the products you qualify for.
The end result is personalized, relevant and friction-free – and more likely to result in conversions.
AI lets you optimize for urgency and loyalty
If you’re looking to convert or retain customers, AI can deliver the goods. It can dynamically adjust when an offer is made, as well as the terms around that offer. A percentage discount may drive conversions for certain users, whereas a limited-time offer may get better results for others. AI can handle all that heretofore manual A/B testing to deliver optimized outcomes without the tedious experimentation.
Similarly, AI can be used to optimize coupons, offers and advertising, grabbing customers by delivering the right product at the right time. Correlations are the specialty of AI analysis. Imagine an AI whose job it was to figure out the best coffee coupon. Tie it into weather and traffic data, and it would be able to offer a cup of Joe to the office worker who is waiting for the roads to get plowed or is waiting out the traffic from an accident. Â
**AI can also be used to “listen†to current clients or accounts to gauge whether the action is needed. By monitoring social feeds or news items, it can alert you to needs or even current events you should be paying attention to**. This may be in the form of a phone call, a special offer, or even valuable market research that can drive your product updates.
AI is the difference between getting ahead and lagging behind
AI delivers value to businesses – and consumers – at all stages of the sales funnel. At the pre-awareness stage, it can deliver information that can inform product research and marketing optimization. At the interest stage, it can serve up targeted information that increases both likelihood and speed of conversion. And at the retention stage, it can provide timely, personalized offers that maximize spend and loyalty.
While different industries have different sales funnels, all can take advantage of the time and cost savings afforded by AI. Start by identifying areas where AI can deliver the most to your marketing teams and implement small, measurable experiments that help you identify further opportunities. From there you can make strategic decisions to deliver maximum impact.
Supported by AI, businesses can deliver optimized, personalized offers that precisely target customers, carrying them through to the next step in the funnel – without losing anyone along the way.