We are on the edge of a revolution, one that we can’t predict the outcome of.
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the future of customer experience and marketing. All the big players - Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple - are investing in it and competing in the AI race, to what end we don’t know.
AI is something every business should be paying attention to, regardless of industry, product or business size. It’s a case of assimilate and transition or risk getting left behind. So instead of making it your enemy, think of it as an ally in the consumer behaviour war.
Whether you realise it or not, low-level artificial intelligence has already slipped seamlessly into our day-to-day lives, like unlocking your iPhone with facial recognition or asking for today’s weather, even scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed uses AI.
The speed of the AI evolution is more rapid than any other type of technological advance in human history. Robots have already far surpassed the amount of data a human brain can collect and take in.
AI is essentially about data. Collecting data, analysing data and applying data knowledge to produce an outcome. So the question we ask as a business is how can AI and machine learning be utilised to improve the operations, marketing, sales, and the overall customer experience of what we do?
As a business, harnessing AI doesn’t necessarily mean creating a new AI product or service, but rather how AI can be leveraged to advance your value proposition and improve your customers experience.
Two important touchpoints that will allow you to stay competitive in the current data driven economy:
SEO/SEARCH MARKETING
In the last 10 years, AI has grown tenfold in the development and capacity for search engines to provide consumers with helpful information and products. This means that business’ are required to use a much smarter application of SEO.
Google is now showing direct answers to the consumer query before any organic content search results. The aim is to give searchers the most accurate, relevant and most important results. It’s a consumer first line of processing.
This shift in consumer behaviour to using AI to browse, shop and purchase goods and services means that optimisation and keeping up to date with the latest algorithms is integral to positioning your business as the premium product in a search.
MULTIPLE PLATFORMS
You are setting yourself up for success by being across multiple platforms:
In-store: there will always be a market for “traditional” consumers wanting an “in-store” and personalised experience.
Website: Optimising your website for search engines, using intelligent keyword research and positioning yourself as a premium product is key, so when AI & machine learning programs are collecting data, you’re ranking ahead of your competition.
Amazon: As the World’s largest e-commerce platform, the marketplace giant is not something to be ignored. Amazon is the cutting edge of online retail and e-commerce technology.
By placing yourself on Amazon, you reach a far larger customer base than any other e-commerce platform, with more than 310 million active customers, and earning 178 billion U.S. dollars worth of net sales in 2017.
With more than 50% of US online consumers turning to Amazon to begin their product search, and with a recommendation system that predicts our behaviour by analysing our past and present decisions, you are aligning yourself with not only a clearly dominating online marketplace, but also keeping yourself up-to date with Amazon’s implementation and use of AI.