From Storytime to Prime Time: How AI is reframing the way we approach Marketing

Insights from Pierre Bizeul, VP of Product

Recently, I experienced firsthand the transformative power of AI in creating personalized content. As a parent, I often find myself seeking new ways to engage and entertain my one-year-old. When tasked with crafting a bedtime story, I turned to AI for help. By simply inputting preferences like location (China), themes (dinosaurs and rock bands in our case), and story length, the AI technology generated a unique, engaging story complete with rhymes. This instance not only saved me time (and made me a hero dad) but also highlighted AI’s potential to infuse creativity and personalization into everyday tasks.

Reflecting on AI’s journey, its shift from being a tool exclusive to research and finance sectors to becoming a mainstream technology is striking. In eCommerce, AI initially emerged in product recommendations, evolving from group-based suggestions to intricate, individualized interactions. SALESmanago went through that path as well, starting in 2010 with fundamental applications such as AI-driven product recommendations and predicting purchase probabilities. These initial implementations, though basic, were crucial in establishing the groundwork for more advanced AI functionalities in eCommerce. They represented the first steps towards a more data-driven, customer-centric approach, utilizing the vast amounts of data gathered from various client interactions.

The evolution of AI in eCommerce witnessed a significant leap with the incorporation of advanced technologies like voice recognition and lookalike images. These innovations opened new vistas in customer interaction and product discovery. For instance, voice commerce emerged as a game-changer, particularly in the US market, enhancing the shopping experience through voice commands. The lookalike image technology, another groundbreaking development, allowed customers to search for products by simply uploading images. This not only enhanced user experience but also represented a leap in visual-based search and recommendation technologies. The AI’s ability to analyze visual elements and suggest similar products greatly simplified product discovery and inventory management for eCommerce platforms.

The Impact of Generative AI on Marketing

Generative AI, particularly tools like ChatGPT, has revolutionized the way we approach content creation in marketing. These AI models have shown not only an ability to produce content at an astonishing speed but also with a quality that often surpasses human-created content. The ease with which AI can generate a variety of content – from text to videos and images – is opening new avenues for creativity and efficiency in marketing.

For SALESmanago 2023 marked a pivotal moment with the integration of ChatGPT into our ecosystem. This wasn’t just about adding a chat functionality; it was a strategic move to harness the power of generative AI for creating marketing content. Known as AI Studio, this tool helped marketers in crafting compelling content, generating creative ideas for campaigns, and enhancing overall marketing communications. Similarly, the integration of DALL·E further expanded the capabilities of generative AI, moving beyond text to visual content creation. The ability of DALL·E to generate image variations offered a new tool for marketers, enabling them to create diverse and engaging visual content for their campaigns.

A testament to SALESmanago’s commitment to AI is the use of AI-generated content across its own marketing channels. From email templates to newsletters, AI Studio’s creations are a central part of the company’s marketing strategy, demonstrating the practical efficacy of AI in real-world applications. The introduction of AI Studio for live chat is another significant milestone, transforming the way customer service is handled. By analyzing conversation contexts and generating responses, AI has made customer interactions more efficient and personalized.

In the context of AI-driven marketing, the importance of customer data cannot be overstated. It fuels the AI algorithms, enabling them to offer highly personalized customer experiences. The integration of zero-party and first-party data allows AI to tailor its recommendations and interactions based on individual customer preferences and behaviors, leading to more effective and engaging marketing strategies, and transforming the way we interact with our customers.

The Future of Marketing: AI as a Co-Pilot

There’s no doubt AI is set to play an even more integral role in marketing far beyond its initial scope of number crunching and data analysis. AI’s growing sophistication and accessibility make it a companion for marketers, writers, and creatives, enhancing efficiency and allowing them to focus on strategic elements.

And to address the common concerns – it’s not about replacing human creativity but enhancing it. It’s about leveraging AI to complement and augment human skills. AI acts as a co-pilot, accelerating tasks that are time-consuming or complex, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity. While acknowledging the buzz around AI, it is important to discern its intelligent applications from mere hype. The future of marketing lies in the synergy between human ingenuity and AI’s capabilities.

Looking ahead, SALESmanago is focused on developing AI models that can be custom-trained with client-specific data. This approach aims to enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI responses in customer service scenarios, particularly in live chats. Another exciting development is the use of AI to empower non-technical staff with technical tasks, democratizing skills that were once reserved for specialists. In terms of segmentation, AI is set to revolutionize this aspect by automating the process, thereby offering more precise and useful customer insights.

As we integrate AI into marketing technology, it’s crucial to adopt a strategic approach. This involves identifying areas where AI can add the most value, choosing the right technology partners, and ensuring responsible data management. The goal is to leverage AI not for the sake of using technology but to genuinely enhance marketing efforts and customer experiences.