What is AI’s Role in Marketing?
With all the chatter about ChatGPT and other chatbots that use large language model processing, it can seem like artificial intelligence involves brand-new tools – and that can make AI seem intimidating. But in reality, AI is already part of the marketer’s toolkit – and in many different ways. From collecting and analyzing data to inform your digital marketing strategy in real-time to optimizing SEO, machine learning already drives strategy for many e-commerce businesses. But instead of utilizing only standalone tools that focus on just one question or problem, a future-looking marketing plan integrates AI across functions.
How is AI Transforming E-Commerce?
Whether you’re selling in a marketplace or directly to consumers, your e-commerce business is impacted by AI – even if you’re not using it yourself.
- Internet sales are increasingly shifting from websites to Amazon, Walmart, and other marketplaces, and these marketplaces use complex algorithms to show customers’ products, make recommendations for other products they might want, and encourage them to convert to a sale.
- Google and other search engines also use algorithms to analyze metadata and content to determine your business’s ranking on their search engine result pages (SERPs) – and generative AIs like ChatGPT are already disrupting search.
- As new businesses enter the market, they can leverage data analysis and AI to determine what product categories are the most profitable and quickly bring to market new, innovative products, often at lower prices, to sell to an established customer base.
- And your competitors are analyzing available data to craft marketing campaigns that will target your high-value customers and convince them to buy from them instead.
How To Design an AI Strategy?
To design an effective AI marketing strategy, consider your high-value customers’ priorities and determine what AI tools can best help you meet their needs effectively and efficiently – and help you convert their browsing into sales. Customers want to easily find relevant products and information through search, and they expect ads and social media engagement to be personalized. But they also want to choose what data to share, when, and with whom – and laws and regulations are catching up with their expectations.
With all that in mind, here are some key ways to integrate AI into your digital marketing plan:
Collect and Analyze Data
With the pivot to first-party data that respects user privacy, it’s more important than ever to have a firm grasp on what data your business currently gathers, what data it could access, and what an analysis could teach you about your customers. AI can help you understand past data and predict future trends.
Optimize Ads
Reaching new customers is all about discoverability, and paid ads like Google’s Performance Max can help your business target potential customers who are similar to your existing high-value customers. Effective ad buys are ones that are informed by past data, and AI can help your business determine what traits your current customers possess, identify new customers who match the same profile, and tailor a marketing campaign to meet those new customers where they are in the digital ecosystem.
Automate Common Processes
Whether you’re deciding how much to spend on an ad buy, which platform to run that ad on, or what segment of your customer base to target, decision-making takes time. By using AI tools to automate tasks and processes, including analyses that influence decision-making and social media campaigns, your business can be sure that your digital strategy is rooted in data and can react quickly to changes in the market.
Create Versatile Content
ChatGPT and other LLMs are already making waves when it comes to content, and for good reason. Marketing campaigns require a vast number of assets, from website and email copy to blog posts and social captions, and marketplace product listings require relevant, up-to-date metadata that might vary somewhat from site to site. Using LLMs to develop first drafts of assets around common themes can save your business time and money – as long as you assess the quality and accuracy of your materials.
Personalize Customer Outreach
Use chatbots for customer service and to offer potential buyers information to encourage purchase. Exploit your data – and your AI content tools – to create targeted campaigns and determine which customer segments and personas should receive what messaging, on what platforms, and for what products. And craft an AI social media approach that gathers data to inform strategy, from monitoring posts to learning about competitors to spotting discontent or reputation issues for your own brand and handling them quickly.
How Can NetElixir Help?
NetElixir is a future-first digital marketing firm, which means we started leveraging AI long before it went mainstream. We’ve invested over five years in LXRInsights, our proprietary, AI-powered digital marketing platform, and we are ready to help you find your niche, gain valuable, actionable insights into customer behavior, and stay ahead of changing trends.
At NetElixir, we know that a culture of experimentation is the key to a competitive advantage. By learning about your high-value customers and constantly developing and refining new ways to connect with them, you assure your business’s future success. LXRInsights will revolutionize your customer acquisition and engagement strategy by identifying your current and potential high-value customers and empowering your business to target, engage, and win them through more efficient and effective campaigns. ChatGPT integrates with LXRInsights to enable scaled content optimization that will reach the right customers where they’re shopping.
Ready to learn more? LXRInsights can be implemented as a standalone product, an add-on with your existing in-house or external agency, or as part of NetElixir’s full-service e-commerce solutions packages. Get started with LXRInsights today!
