I have tracked developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) space for some time. Apart from personal interest, it is part of my profession as a digital marketer, to track developments and opportunities.
So last week, when I got this opportunity to discuss AI & Marketing Automation with a gent from one of the Big5 digital marketing consultancy firms, my interest in AI quadrupled. His team is working on projects where AI is playing an increasingly important role.
Quoting Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff:
We’re in an AI spring. For our company, and I think for every company, the revolution in data science will fundamentally change how we run our business because we’re going to have computers aiding us in how we’re interacting with our customers. [W]e need a new generation of tools to be able to organize and view the data. We need a new generation of executives who understand how to manage and lead through data. And we also need a new generation of employees who can help us organize and structure our businesses around that data.
I started tracking instances where Marketing Automation (MA) can lock lips with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create #awezing (created by mating awesome and amazing) campaigns for brands and build deep customer experiences. This instance is about the home security solutions industry, where use of MA+AI can create AWEZING! opportunities that can potentially usurp established brands…
Market For Print Your Own Automated Door Locks
How does this qualify for a MA+AI=AWEZING! instance?
Citing example of an open source budget product that can cause disruption in the Smart Home segment, unsettling established players. This project is from Project Jarvis – A.I Home Automation & Assistant. The gizmo in the pic can be controlled via NFC, voice, web app and maybe gesture recognition. Apart from built in intelligence, this device has a lot of potential to save electricity and cut costs for the Smart Home owner.
Smart Home “Security” Market : AI Will Help Boost Growth
Now lets look at the growing Smart Home “Security” segment, that includes security cameras, related data storage and transmission services, motion sensors, programmable and remote control door locks, as well as equipment for risk monitoring like smoke detectors and humidity sensors. In this segment,
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- Number of active households is expected to amount to 30.9m by 2020.
- Worldwide revenue – mUSD 3,050.3 in 2016
- Expected CAGR 2016-2020 – 29.90%
- Market volume – mUSD 8,686.1 in 2020
- Current household penetration – 0.53% in 2016
- Expected to be 2.08% in 2020
- ARP Smart Home now amounts to USD 399.97
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Source: Statista.
Using AI, new players can enter the market and snatch away customers from established brands by offering more user friendly products and services. Or,
Established Brands Vs Disruptive Startups
For existing brands, this presents a huge challenge. If smart home owners can get Automated Door Locks printed and sourced from local vendors on demand, like order one from Amazon; where does their business stand in the future? In the same breath, it presents an #awezing opportunity to:
+ Reach out to the growing millennial population through digital marketing
+ Build long-term “engaging” relationship using MA + AI tools
+ Lock existing customer base with “Smart Security” solutions, and
+ Do their best to create high entry barriers for newcomers!
Deep Machine Learning: Anticipate Trends, Grow Business
For startups, the near-futuristic-opportunity to make products on demand using 3D printing technology and deliver them to remote locations using 3rd party logistic providers is huge. Add to that the advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), and the demand for Smart Homes; building an online business from scratch can be comparatively easy and can reap huge rewards.
Giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft have already started investing billions in artificial intelligence tools. So building a business project based on AI driven marketing might not be that presumptuous.
See How MA+AI=AWEZING!
There are many AI companies; but here I selected four, to illustrate the point.
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- Mintigo, an AI company, mines data from millions of companies–financials, staff and hiring trends, technologies installed, marketing channels used, and purchase intent to create a customer digital body that helps in lead scoring.
- Infer, an AI startup, further helps B2B companies read sales data to figure out which leads are real and which are tire kickers. The company says using its system creates a 3X increase in conversion rates and doubles deal size.
- Persado, another AI company, goes a step ahead that gets people to do something, as in, immediately. It automates feeding users the ultimate clickbait, so they don’t put down their phone.
- Skytree.net offers software that predicts the future more accurately using deep analytic insights. This enable data scientists make recommendations, and reveal untapped markets and customers.
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Marketing automation solutions are integrating AI feed to help businesses improve their ROMI (return on marketing investments). So yes, MA is virtually locking lips with AI and this is the future of marketing.
For existing brands and potential startups into the Smart Home Security segment, adopting digital marketing automation can be one of your wisest investments in your company, your brand and in your customers. And one SAAS service that I can recommend for all small businesses is HubSpot; it offers one of the best marketing automation services and competitive packages.
MA+AI : A Business Necessity
Do you think, the above example and citations make good the case for adopting digital marketing automation and artificial intelligence? Can you cite more examples of Smart Home Security Solutions companies that have stepped up their gas and have adopted digital marketing automation to grow revenue? Your feedback, comments, critique are most valued and welcome.
And before signing out, let’s raise a toast to the future of marketing: MA+AI=AWEZING!