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Instead of machines taking all our jobs, we like to think that they’ll make our jobs easier.  However, they won’t make our jobs easier, but they’ll make us better at our jobs.  The truth is, it’s impossible for us humans to sift through the massive amounts of data at the speed a computer can and trends in digital marketing are showing a huge shift towards AI across industries.  Instead of fearing job loss, let’s look at how this artificial intelligence can empower marketers to drive business results.

Chat Bots

You’ve probably seen them start popping up on all sorts of different websites.  These are the little bubble in the bottom right hand corner or the drop down live chat option that connect you directly to a sales person.  They’re a great way to answer questions your site visitors have and direct them to the right page on your site to solve their problems.

While many of the most effective chat modules are 1 to 1 conversations with an actual person, that will change very soon.  To make these chats available to your audience at any hour of the day, this means using bots to answer their questions.

While the technology is slowly rolling out, it’s headed towards being able to actively search your website for content that can help the user, and provide them with a link to direct them to it.  Not only this, but the language it uses to communicate with users will sound more human than ever.

AI Powered Content Creation

Interestingly enough, AI technology is more effective at creating content that sounds “human” than sales people are.  Take Phrasee for example.  Their software takes written word and uses an algorithm to distinguish the emotions it will invoke in the reader. 

From email subject lines to full blog posts, artificial intelligence will be able to use these algorithms to engage your customers and make them feel a certain way based on data instead of a sales pitch.  Whether you want to invoke a sense of urgency, surprise, or nostalgia, you can ensure your content is created with a goal in mind.

It’s all about Personalization

Another great thing about using artificial intelligence in your digital marketing is that it empowers you to create hyper personalized campaigns.  Spotify is a great example of this as they collect an insane amount of data from users.  By analyzing the average beats per minute, genre, and times you stream they create playlists that you’ll most likely love.  If you have Spotify, just check out one of the “Daily Mix” playlists in your library and get ready to start tapping your toes.

So what does this mean for you?  How do you personalize your marketing with artificial intelligence?  Well, first you need to make sure you’re collecting data on your audience.  If you have a CRM, then you’re most likely already doing this behind the scenes.

Something HubSpot recently rolled out in one of their Sales Professional features is analyzing when the best time to send an email is for a specific contact.  In other words, it looks at the times your recipient is most active in their inbox, and sends during those times to ensure your message gets in front of them.

Artificial Intelligence isn’t so much taking our jobs as its taking the guess work out of our jobs.

Lead Scoring

If you’ve ever been part of a sales team, you know the importance of finding those warm leads and reaching out to them at the perfect time.  Well, artificial intelligence can help you identify those leads that are closer to converting into customers for you so you can focus on helping them instead of finding them.

Also known as predictive lead scoring, the technology sifts through your CRM and gives your contacts a score based on their behavior and engagement with your company.  From there, it will be able to see who’s more engaged and who is more likely to answer the phone and say yes!

Closing Thoughts

Even though we had a bit of a scare when Facebook’s AI technology started communicating in a language we couldn’t decode, artificial intelligence is headed towards making marketer’s jobs much easier and much more effective. 

There are different areas where it just makes sense to have a computer do the thinking instead of endlessly scrolling through excel documents trying to find patterns.  Trends are shifting towards machine learning for multiple aspects of digital marketing, and the last thing you want to do is fall behind. 

Ultimately, AI technology is going to give marketers the tools they need to create personalized marketing messages to their audience.  It's going to empower brands to become personal and appeal to their customers not only in the moment, but at the right moment.