4 ways AI enhances the customer journey

4 ways AI enhances the customer journey

Marketers often adopt a cautious optimism towards AI, the benefits are clear; but the sheer feat of implementing AI is enough to steer some away, as it often requires sifting through mountains of unorganised data. However, the improvements clients have seen in their marketing strategies, executions and results are worth the effort.

Let’s walk through some of the key benefits AI can bring to the table to holistically improve the customer experience throughout their journey with your brand.

1. Customers feel like you understand them

Machines can crunch enormous amounts of data and do the heavy lifting on data aggregation and cleansing. This information is invaluable to personalise communications at the individual level.

This personalisation can be implemented across a brand’s marketing channels, connecting marketers with high-value consumers in the process. Plus, with the machines doing the heavy lifting, marketers have time to really dig into those insights to inform their strategy.

2. Customers receive thoughtful recommendations

We’ve all seen an ad for a product that you’d simply never buy or need, and it’s frustrating. You feel like that brand doesn’t know you at all.

Yes, machine learning algorithms can predict consumer behaviour to deliver personalised products, offers, messaging, content and rewards for loyalty members. But the impact is what’s important: when customers receive a brand communication built by one of these algorithms, it’s more likely to be something they need, rather than a compilation of products with little significance that they easily dismiss.

3. Personalised content creates a “human” connection

Audience development and segmentation take on a new life by adding AI as an element in the decision-making process. Each profile becomes a segment of one, so you’re treating customers like the unique individual they are, rather than part of a batch-and-blast scheme.

Creative plays a big part in this process as well. Think about colours, campaigns and timing dynamics, they all create an atmosphere for customers to connect to brands. Aligning dynamic creative fuelled by AI with different customers is a worthwhile addition to any marketing campaign and can strengthen affinity towards your brand.

4. Customers are nurtured through each buying stage

Machine learning and AI support natural language processing (NLP), which allows for organisation, optimisation and generation of content quickly. From a marketer’s perspective, this saves time and money by processing large volumes of content that can be intelligently tagged for easy use. From a consumer’s perspective, this helps successfully guide them through the customer journey with ease.

A fractured experience often deters people from continuing to engage with your brand. That’s where AI comes in. AI patterns allow marketers to make decisions on what a customer’s next best action is, so they're constantly building on past interactions to inform what should come next.

You don’t have to go it alone

Don’t be surprised if you see other brands leveraging AI. The shift came out of necessity; people simply expect more from brands these days. Marketers are pressured to deliver unique and personalised experiences on a dime, and AI can help facilitate those conversations.

Again, marketers who implement machine learning see:

• Better personalisation capabilities at scale
• Overall improved customer journey

It’s understandable to feel overwhelmed or still have questions. But you don’t have to go it alone. The right partner can help you with the right crawl, walk, run approach to AI.

Ultimately, AI is something you should take at your own pace, but staying ahead of the curve will set marketers up for long-term success with customers.

Get in touch via the link below to talk to our experts and see how our AI enhanced services can bring value to your business.