There’s been plenty of headlines about AI and machine learning being the future of retail marketing. The concept itself can seem overwhelming and out of reach for retailers.
However, more marketing organizations are gearing up to add machine learning capabilities sooner than you may think.
In this article, learn more about what machine learning marketing is and how it can improve your customer experience.
What is Machine Learning?
84% of marketing organizations are implementing or expanding AI and machine learning in 2018!
If most organizations are implementing it, then what is it?
Machine learning is the science of getting computers to learn and act like humans do, and improve their learning over time in autonomous fashion, by feeding them data and information in the form of observations and real-world integrations.
That’s a mouthful!
There’s a lot of academic research and forums around the concept of machine learning. For merchants though, machine learning is giving customer data to computer systems so it can analyze the data and automatically learn and improve.
Machine learning marketing then is using these types of technologies to provide better services and experiences to your customers. Think of products like Siri, Amazon Echo or services like Facebook’s retargeting ads.
No matter how machine learning or AI is being used, it all comes down utilizing accurate customer data.
Benefits of Machine Learning for Commerce
Why are merchants using machine learning and AI? The answer is bettering customer experiences!
75% of enterprises using AI and machine learning enhance customer satisfaction by more than 10%.
Customers no longer shop and buy on price and quality alone. They’re looking for intuitive customer experiences that make purchasing easy, convenient, and personalized to their needs. That’s a tall order for merchants, but machine learning marketing is a way to get there.
Here are some of the major benefits of implementing machine learning for your business that help improve the customer experience:
Real-time Marketing across Digital Platforms
Marketing is all about getting the right message to the right person at the right time. Machine learning is now making that a reality for merchants. AI systems have unparalleled level of responsivity when it comes to analyzing customer data and then delivering. For example, technology utilizes a customer’s web history to deliver fast and accurate content based on a customer’s interests.
Personalization
According to a recent report from Accenture, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognizes them by name, recommends options based on past purchases, OR knows their purchase history.
Machine learning can handle your Big Data so you can utilize it to better know your customers. Your customers will actually feel like you know them, not just that you’re selling to them.
Service or Support
A lot of merchants struggle with providing quick and helpful customer support when something goes wrong. With machine learning, you can automate parts of your customer service to ensure quicker response times and offer 24×7 support.
As an example, many companies are already using chatbots for part of the process on both their websites and mobile apps to answer easy customer questions.
Future Product Development
If you know your customers better, you also understand their needs. Customer data from machine learning is also valuable for future product development. You can identify customer needs easier and tweak or create new products that you’ll know your customers will love.
Examples of Machine Learning
Many organizations are already implementing machine learning concepts into their marketing to provide intuitive customer experiences.
Let’s take a look at nChannel customer Kate Somerville and how they’re using machine learning to bridge the gap between the offline and online experience when marketing their well-known skincare line.
Through their Magento eCommerce platform and integration with nChannel, Kate Somerville is providing a more personalized experience for their online customers using real-time customer data:
- ‘Home Page Best-Sellers’ displays items that visitors have viewed or added to their cart, but did not purchase
- ‘You Might Also Like’ recommends products that other customers viewed or purchased
- ‘Recommended For You’ displays products that are often purchased in conjunction with the items in the users’ shopping cart
The result of such efforts? Increase in site traffic, web conversions, and online revenue!
For their exceptional marketing, Kate Somerville recently received a Magento Imagine Excellence Award for the Commerce Marketing Team of the Year. Read more about Kate Somerville’s website transformation here.
Machine learning is revolutionizing marketing. How do you plan on using it?
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