Integrating marketing automation and AI to drive efficiency, scalability

AI’s unparalleled ability to learn, unlearn and relearn is transforming modern marketing,  says our guest author.

Over the past few years, the convergence of AI software integration has led to groundbreaking advancements in the field of automation, that are reshaping the way that entire industries operate.

The unprecedented ease and efficiency of using AI tools give them the high potential to permeate a variety of business fields - with marketing being one of the sectors showcasing the greatest opportunities.

The primary asset of AI tools is their adaptability and rapid processing power to respond to a variety of situations with data-driven responses. These traits are invaluable in the field of marketing, where processing data, extracting insights, and actioning conversions in a short timeframe is the priority.

It is no surprise then, that 90% of small businesses in India have started or will continue to invest in AI-powered marketing tools as part of their marketing budget (as per the 2023 LinkedIn SMB Marketing report).

The emergence of AI has caught the attention of industry leaders and visionaries alike and has moved from being a theoretical concept to practical applications, transforming our relationships with brands. In the realm of marketing, AI integration has been particularly impactful, empowering both - businesses and customers.

Streamlining marketing processes through AI automation

AI’s unparalleled ability to learn, unlearn and relearn is transforming modern marketing, ushering in a new era of seamless automation and complete cross-platform integration. This new age of integrated AI marketing solutions is not only opening up new and unexplored avenues of connecting with consumers, but will also greatly help marketers understand their audiences, improve their offerings, and operate with greater ease and efficiency.

A unique feature of AI-powered platforms is that they can ensure consistent and constant monitoring 24/7, as well as act on actionable information immediately.

This will greatly reduce the amount of monitoring required for marketing campaigns in the future, allowing marketers the freedom to redirect their focus towards greater strategic initiatives and scalable growth opportunities.

From email campaigns to social media scheduling to content production - repetitive tasks could be effectively automated for the long run with minimal oversight, letting the AI’s adaptive abilities schedule and refine the processes and reduce human effort.

Beyond standardised tasks, advancements in AI are already improving its ability to assist with lead management, which is typically a manual process involving data sorting and analysis. There are already AI tools that help marketers rank and score leads as per defined criteria like engagement level, demographics, etc. and identify those with the greatest conversion potential to prioritise. Further, the unified nature of AI utilising tools like Machine Learning and Predictive Analysis will equip them to process and sift through petabytes of data to recognise patterns in customer data and offer actionable insights faster.

Using AI to personalise customer engagements

One of the major challenges faced by businesses is lead generation and keeping the customer engaged throughout their journey. Often, standardisation of the customer journey comes at the cost of personalisation for different customer groups.

AI eliminates this dichotomy, as the Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities of AI let us train the software to offer granular levels of personalisation and thus help businesses build better long-term relationships with their customers.

Thoughtful and data-backed integration of AI into an organisation’s CX processes can lead to improved customer engagement and stronger brand loyalty throughout the marketing funnel, as it ensures high levels of both efficiency and personalisation.

For example, e-commerce businesses can leverage AI to personalise their product recommendations to customers built on data from their browsing history and purchase patterns and enhance the shopping experience for the customer while also securing higher sales conversions for the business.

Similarly, AI-powered platforms can integrate customer data from multiple touchpoints to help businesses deliver personalised messaging across different channels, all at once, thereby retaining the customer’s attention.

AI’s deep insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and purchase patterns can allow marketers to create highly targeted as well as personalised campaigns that resonate with their audience.

Unlocking efficiency & resource allocation benefits

Upon full integration and training, AI also has the potential to assist marketers in optimising resource allocation by identifying high-performance channels and campaigns. It can provide data-driven approaches to segmenting audiences based on their responses to specific campaigns and other related parameters, which greatly amplifies each business’ knowledge of their customers and their demands.

This allows marketers to reassess ROI and efficiency - both of which are directly related to resource allocation - to accurately measure the effectiveness of their marketing spending.

To add to this, the automation of processes reduces the allocation and hence, the operational cost, of manual labour. AI’s real-time data and performance insights empower marketers to make data-backed strategic decisions, resulting in increased productivity and better campaign outcomes.

(Our guest author is Arun Pattabhiraman, chief marketing officer of Sprinklr.)