King Data, may I introduce Queen Artificial Intelligence
By Kerri Loudoun, IABC London Director of Professional Development
artificial intelligence
/ˌärdəˈfiSHəl inˈteləjəns/
noun
- the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
This is Google's definition of artificial intelligence. Funny how they include "development of computer systems" in it, but I'll get to their deeper (and pricey) involvement with AI in a little bit.
While some might still be wary of this facet of computer science - and believe that robots could soon become so intelligent they turn hostile towards humans - the fact is that AI is here to stay. And more executives are seeing the real value it can offer them in making key marketing decisions.
In 2019, companies are collecting data like it's the air we breathe. And in pretty much every case, reliable data is the oxygen feeding an organization's muscle, ensuring competitiveness. A data-centric approach to marketing strategy is now the norm for many businesses, but as more operational units rely on data analysis, few have the data literacy to glean insights from the mountain that is growing by the second. But relying heavily on business analysts has been diminishing. Enter AI tools for marketing.
So, since data is still King, AI is its Queen reigning him in. With the abundance of AI software applications now available, executives can now make better decisions around areas like personalization in email campaigns, content research and creation and CRM approaches, to name a few. But while the companies are integrating AI to do the heavy lifting for analyzing data, the skilled marketing managers and executives will never be made redundant. AI can certainly take some of the "doing" stuff off managers plates, leaving more time for the "thinking" part of their role. Those critical thinking, strategic planning and client/stakeholder service skills will be even more valuable as we learn to exist in the business world with our AI "robot" friends.
According to RS Components, in the past 20 years these are the top five tech companies investing in AI:
- Google - $3.9 billion
- Amazon - $871 million
- Apple - $786 million
- Intel - $776 million
- Microsoft - $690 million
All five are household names. All five likely share some of your target audiences. All five have put in more than $7 billion to further the development of AI tools. And all five are determined to be the leader in AI.
We can see the big guys are on board, but many SMEs are still waiting to take a seat at the table with AI. Has your organization looked into integrating artificial intelligence tools to assist with your marketing strategies? Here’s a list to get you started.
Narrative Science - analytic
Articoolo - analytic
Conversica - email marketing
Cortex - social media management
Trendkite - social media management
X.ai - workflow automation
Troops - workflow automation