Page 14 - AeM_Feb_2018

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Artificial Intelligence is taking centerstage

in marketing

Today, artificial intelligence (AI) is almost indispensable Technology must benefit customers and support
when talking about customers' service expectations, employees
competitiveness, and assistance. To no surprise, AI
technologies are taking centerstage not only in With AI, employees gain more time and are more
innovation hubs like Silicon Valley, but the big platform motivated when freed from monotonous routine tasks.
companies like Amazon, Google, Baidu or Alibaba are Such systems, however cannot and should not replace
joining forces and investing billions of dollars in AI, too. the consultants of flesh and blood, but support and
But why the big effort? Well, the answer is simple: AI relieve them, because the personal contact is still
promises more efficiency, new business ideas and extremely important to customers.
simply new sales opportunities. With more productivity According to surveys, around half of consumers believe
and new fields of activity, the areas of application for AI that AI can improve service, but 80% still prefer human
are almost limitless: AI can analyze images, translate contact. To quickly get information, customers readily
languages, create individual insurance rates, make embrace intelligent software, but for individual concerns
industrial plants more productive, and predict natural they prefer to interact with people. That's why digital
disasters.| empathy in the context of AI is in high demand. It's
about a smart combination of people and technical
AI arrived in customer service possibilities. Therefore, you should always use AI
technologies with a sense of proportion and give
In customer service, AI technologies have long since employees and customers the opportunity to get used
arrived as well, although sometimes unnoticed: Banks to having positive experiences, as only they bring the
rely on RoboAdvisor, which gives customers tips for their necessary acceptance.
investments, energy providers can use intelligent
software to read their customers' electricity meters over Intelligence for bot, routing and voice recognition
the WLAN, and insurance companies have AI systems
analyze complaint letters. There is software that detects Chatbots are equipped with artificial intelligence. They
the mood of the customers, sorts out their degree of learn and are getting better, so that consultants can
annoyance on a color scale, and automatically sends help research the concerns of customers even faster.
cases to specially trained account managers. In short, AI Machine learning can predict the likelihood of more
has become indispensable to meet customers' ever- complex issues and direct customers to the right
increasing service expectations: service should be fast, specialist. Something similar happens in email
easy, transparent and proactive, and concerns should be marketing where AI can be more targeted, or voice
resolved immediately. Better to chat for a few minutes biometrics allows customers to be identified by their
than hanging in the hotline or even wait days for an email unique voice pattern, making customer number and
answer.
password obsolete. The glimpse into the future makes
clear that you have to prepare for AI. ◊
By Daniela La Marca
14 February 2018 - Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in Marketing