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Why AI will be critical to brand strategy

Much of the chatter surrounding the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in today’s market is centered around how this impressive trend will upend the HR industry and redefine how businesses bring on new staffers. Precious little attention is being paid to how critical AI will be towards brand strategy in the future, however, despite the fact that today’s intelligent machines are soon going to be crucial tools when it comes to formulating and acting on your brand strategy.

Here’s how AI will reshape brand strategies, and what small businesses can do to cash in on the rise of this astonishing technology.

AI isn’t arriving – it’s arrived

The first thing that needs to be established when discussing artificial intelligence is that AI isn’t mere an up-and-comer in the market sure to destabilize things in a few years’ time. Rather, AI has already arrived and is disrupting contemporary business operations already, making it essential for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate managers to understand this technology if they don’t want to find themselves left in the dust by the competition. Many small businesses have already tapped into the power of AI when it comes to their e-marketing strategies, for instance.

By relying on artificial intelligence programs to more effectively target customers and sometimes even to write copy for them, email marketers are seeing their click-through rates soar upwards.

Today’s impressive algorithms can sort through a dizzying number of prospective customers in a mere instant, quickly identifying likely sales targets and figuring out the most persuasive language to use in a pitch. This trend will continue into the near-future until nearly all e-marketing strategies are driven by the usage of AI, which is lowering costs while providing better results than many human strategists.

Also Read: 5 branding mistakes that startups should look to avoid

With a record-breaking number of consumers using ad-blocking technology in today’s market, brands need a way to cut through the noise and deliver a persuasive message to customers. This has given birth to an “AI arms race,” where creative marketers are finding themselves pitted against one another to deliver the most engaging user experience possible. Those who don’t use predictive analytics and powerful algorithms to deliver a better user experience simply don’t stay in business anymore.

It’s all uphill from here, too; artificial intelligence programs are already good at discerning user preferences, but they’ll become even more effective in just a few years, and will soon be personalizing user content at a scale hitherto unforeseen. Luckily for small business owners, this boom in AI isn’t restricted to the corporate arena.

AI is for everyone

Perhaps the best aspect of artificial intelligence is that it can be leveraged for success by just about anyone. Small businesses will soon find themselves employing predictive analytics operations to compete with giant corporate competitors, and eager entrepreneurs with innovative brands will be able to better get a foot into the market’s door thanks to ad-targeting.

Still, there’s a real possibility that AI will overwhelmingly be leveraged by huge corporations in the future, making it important for small businesses everywhere to begin formulating an AI-based brand strategy now if they want to remain relevant for long.

Almost 90 per cent of all digital customer interactions will be managed without a human by 2020, according to experts who have analyzed the rise of chatbots, which should remind small business owners that they need AI if they want to thrive in the long-term.

By relying on chatbots, small businesses can help develop their brand into one that customers trust, precisely because those consumers can always find AI-based assistance at any hour of the day, even and especially when human employees can’t help them. In the 21st century, your brand isn’t solely driven by your human employees and marketing initiatives, but will also be partly determined by how customers react to the chatbots and automated processes you institute in your business plan.

While some brands can benefit more from the usage of an AI-based strategy than others, it’s a simple matter of fact that virtually all businesses can gain somehow from employing predictive analytics and automated processes.

The adoption costs for artificial intelligence are dropping by the day, with more experts cropping up all over the map for those businesses in need of a helping hand. With data rapidly becoming the most valuable commodity in the world, too, it will soon become even more imperative for businesses everywhere to have savvy algorithms on their side that can crunch huge sums of numbers.

Also Read: How do I create a memorable promotional brand or product video?

There are plenty of reasons to be happy about the rise of AI if you’re a business in dire need of a rebranding; in the 21st century, branding strategies will be determined by clever algorithms more than savvy marketers. While the robots may not have taken over the world yet, it’s clear to see that AI will soon be critical towards brand strategy and many other pivotal aspects of operating a business in the modern era.

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This article was first published on August 18, 2019.

The post Why AI will be critical to brand strategy appeared first on e27.