Over the last 30 years we have witnessed the very nature of marketing change. We have seen the focus shift from creative advertising, through digital marketing and mobile apps to the current focus on data-driven engagement and data-centric marketing. The future, however, will be machine learning, artificial intelligence and predictive marketing.
According to New York Times journalists, John Markoff and Steve Lohr, many of the tech industry’s biggest companies like Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft, are jockeying to become the go-to company for A.I. by 2020. The market for machine learning applications will reach $40 billion market research firm IDC estimates. And 60 percent of those applications will run on the platform software of just four companies — Amazon, Google, IBM and Microsoft.
In the very near future, intelligent software applications will become commonplace and machine learning will touch every industry. Today, only about one percent of all software apps have A.I. features, IDC estimates. By 2018, IDC predicts that at least 50 percent of developers will include A.I. features in what they create.
We are already seeing an epochal shift in how businesses operate and compete with the development of a new generation of companies using this type of technology and engage with customers one-to- one. These companies use data to personalise and predict what its customers are going to do next and then engage them with intelligent marketing programs.
The most disruptive companies in the world, for instance Uber, Amazon and Netflix, have one thing in common. And that is that they drive business growth and rapid global roll out using data-driven, personalised, predictive and responsive engagement. Those companies that can unlock the power and value of data are seeing higher engagement and viewership and higher revenues from customers. For example, the majority of Amazon’s and Netflix’s sales are driven off predictive marketing engines using machine learning technology.
If you’re still not convinced, maybe this example will help. In recent years, the supermarket giant Tesco dropped the amount of offers it sent out by nearly two-thirds but massively increased its revenue from conversion and ROI by using this type of technology. Tesco achieved a 675 percent growth in its bottom line, as a result of its data-driven loyalty programme. By analysing customer data, Tesco found that 80 percent of the discounts and offers utilised by customers came from 20 percent of the offers generated. This prompted a reduction of offers from 750 to 300 a year,amounting to approximately $600 million savings in promotion expenses while increasing market share.
Machine learning creates enormous efficiencies because you no longer have teams of campaign managers generating and managing hundreds of offers – many of which are actually delivering negative ROI. So instead of sending out 100 offers, you can send out 30 offers but each one of those 30 offers will have a much higher conversion. And not only is that a much better use of a business’s time and energy but it will also surprise and delight your customers when they start to receive offers that actually matter to them.
Wouldn’t you like to know what your customers are going to buy next and contact them with a product offer exactly when they are thinking about it? Then visit Quantiful’s website and get in touch.
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