Page 14 - AeM_Mar_2018

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Marketers hardly use the potential of AI yet

The recent Adobe Digital Trends Report 2018 revealed performers among the surveyed companies have three
that 42% of marketing decision makers in international times more often an integrated cloud infrastructure in
companies already rely on self-learning algorithms in place than the average (25% vs. 9%), whereby
their company or plan to do so over the next twelve technology investments in 2018 are focusing mainly on
months - be it for data analysis (51%), email marketing content and experience management tools (45%),
(26%) or programmatic advertising (22%). analytics (32%), and audience data management
(31%).
However, only 2% are making use of AI and its potential
for a successful customer experience - despite the fact it For companies, a good customer experience means
has the power to optimize the customer experience especially one thing - the smart use of data to deliver
substantially. Not to mention that CX is globally a top the right content to the right customers at the right time.
priority (19%) this year, followed by data-driven For more than a third of the companies surveyed,
marketing (16%) and the creation of relevant content however, this is difficult to do, since 36% still have no
(14%). At least, that’s the result of Adobe’s study that access to relevant customer data.
took around 13,000 marketing executives into account.
Overall, improving data analytics capabilities is high on
A lack of know-how (41%) and the lack of resources the agenda of businesses (65%), as well as producing
(38%) in the company are responsible for the inadequate content themselves: 82% plan to shift the production of
use of AI the marketers stated and that's not going to content to their own company this year. In addition to
change that fast: at least, almost every fifth company data-optimized content, good design determines the
(18%) plans to use AI for campaigns and experiences in brand loyalty and thus the purchase decision of the
the next three years. customers.

In addition to the lack of AI, heterogeneous IT systems At least, it seems as if most companies have
are currently crystallizing to be a genuine stumbling recognized this. Adobe’s study shows that 84% of them
block for CX, the study uncovered. Around half of the are convinced that design-oriented companies are
companies surveyed (43%) work with different, non- more successful than others. But even here, the
networked technologies. But this creates data silos that practice sometimes looks different from wishful
deprive individual business units of important customer thinking: 43% of marketers don’t think their company
information that is needed for holistically consistent design is consistent across all channels. Almost three
customer experiences. quarters (73%) are therefore investing in design this
year to further sharpen their brand image and stand out
Furthermore, only 12% of the marketers surveyed have from the competition. ◊
integrated, cloud-based technology platforms, although
the influence of integrated marketing cloud platforms on By Daniela La Marca
a company's success is eye-opening: The top
14 March 2018 - Internet of Things (IoT) and Integrated Marketing