In the fourth post in our series, “Artificial Intelligence for Technology Marketers,” we looked at what you should consider when integrating AI into your marketing stack. This post delves into the potential of AI in marketing as it continues to evolve.

In thinking about the future of AI, we should consider how it will impact the key areas where it is already being heavily applied – data and metrics, personalization and interaction, and predictions. “The central benefit of AI for B2B marketers is that it gives them the power to see through their impenetrable sea of data, by being able to process volumes of data that a human couldn’t get through in their lifetime – in a matter of minutes. This empowers marketers to gain an intimate understanding of who their customers and prospects are, and how to engage with them.”¹

This usage is likely to continue to expand, with intelligent automation even becoming more integral to applications. Think about all of the metrics you need to wade through in a typical week and imagine what it would be like to never have to do that again – you’d just have to sort through AI-driven marketing recommendations (if you still want to have that kind of granular control). Or, allow your AI apps to self-optimize, much like Google AdWords does in its optimized bidding.

It will take some getting used to if you are not a fan of giving up control, but consider running an experiment for a limited time to see how the results went and how comfortable you were with not diving into every detail. You might be surprised to find that you are ready to loosen the reins and let AI drive for a while – and that doing so might even yield better results.

AI will continue to drive predictive modeling to understand what an ideal customer looks like to your business and how to find them. Expect AI to dive into your data, combine it with other data, and pattern match throughout the digital world to deliver prospects you otherwise would not have found. In very much the same way, AI will take what’s known about digital visitors and customize web content based on current and past behavior, demographics, and other information for relevant, compelling experiences. In this way, AI leapfrogs over marketing automation with new technology to create meaningful, personalized experiences rather than delivering stale, generic messages like the email marketing of yesterday.

“Marketing, now more than ever, needs a new playbook, and AI (and machine learning) will serve as the catalyst to spark overdue marketing transformation. We will finally realize the shift from automation to personalization and eventually anticipation and prediction….Marketing should now consider the entire customer journey and design touchpoints and engagement strategies that enhance the customer experience throughout their journey and life cycle.”¹

As you look to the future, consider all of the applications in your marketing technology stack and how they interoperate, clean up your data and streamline your data sources, look at the skill sets on your team and where you need new or different talent, and most importantly, ensure that you have defined the goals and desired outcomes for AI within your marketing organization. The future is here – are you taking advantage of it?

Next up in our blog series is a post that wraps up everything we’ve learned so far about the use of artificial intelligence in marketing.

About the author

Kim Ann King is the author of “The Complete Guide to B2B Marketing: New Tools, Tactics, and Techniques to Succeed in the Digital Economy.” She has helped launch and build several pioneering Internet companies and writes frequently about artificial intelligence, marketing technology, e-commerce, and cybersecurity.

1 Amnon Mishor, “Future of AI for B2B Marketing,” MarTech Advisor, October 27, 2017. https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/data/future-of-ai-for-b2b-marketing/