Among some of the most frequently mentioned marketing trends for 2023 was the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Although this is a fairly recent approach, it is already possible to focus on several possibilities for its use today. It is declared that nearly 75% of users expect to receive personalized content when visiting a site. This shows that actions using AI engines will help you gain new customers and keep existing ones. In order to apply the action of artificial intelligence in Marketing Automation 2.0, and thus run truly effective strategies, increasing the effectiveness of your actions through precisely generated target audience, you need to be able to apply certain algorithms based on machine learning in your daily work on campaigns.
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Below we will present 5 main KPIs that every Chief Marketing Officer with an eCommerce Marketing Automation 2.0 team should focus on when thinking about the highest possible ROI.
This is the main goal not only of marketers, but of everyone working in eCommerce. Fortunately, with Marketing Automation 2.0 activities additionally powered by AI, you can increase sales. Wondering how machine learning can help you do this?
In eCommerce, you have the opportunity to apply hyper-personalized recommendations that work by using AI algorithms. This, in turn, will allow you to understand customer engagement behavior, generate precisely grouped user segments based on past behavior and predictions, and deliver relevant content at each stage of the sales funnel.
However, if your goal is to generate leads using AI, you may want to acquire new users who have no purchase history. In this case, the context of the visit is taken into account, as well as behaviors selected on the basis of lookalike, i.e. similar users (e.g., to a group of the most valuable customers for your company). Here you can take into account the events you set, such as behaviors or interests. For touchpoints, you can set both actions on the homepage, product card, listing and shopping cart. This will give you a high probability of reaching new users who will want to become your customers for longer.
Probably your eCommerce site, like any other, has both regular customers and a slew of new or one-time users. To get even better conversions, nurture the relationship and maintain their lifetime value. Applying AI to marketing automation 2.0 efforts will help you do this , more specifically, personalizing the buyer's journey and sending messages tailored to their behavior and engagement.
Take advantage of available tools or applications that use machine leaerning to learn and mimic consumer behavior, while improving the performance of ads and personalized content. AI algorithms quickly process data, analyze it, and then create patterns of action that allow you to use ready-made predictions, recommending products that customers are actually interested in. Depending on the previously specified goal, you can recommend complementary products, similar products or systematically purchased products that the user may run out of. By doing so, you will not only increase the conversion rate and ensure that the value of the shopping cart is increased, but at the same time you will develop a stronger relationship with new users, which can influence the conversion of new users into returning customers.
To do this, you need to remember to systematically conduct real-time A/B testing. This will allow you to find the source of bugs, and focus on the aspect that works best in your case. What's more, once you have the results of the tests, you will be able to provide users with the most tailored offer. Take care of optimizing your campaigns and take them to an even higher level, generating better conversions.
An additional advantage of using AI-supported marketing automation 2.0 tools is the ability to track user engagement across all possible touchpoints and channels. This, in turn, will allow you to identify those customers who have a high probability of churning your services. If you spot this at the right time, you will be able to take the necessary steps to prevent it. You can do this by not only supporting them, but also giving them the necessary information they need. This will have a positive impact on your relationship and, at the end of the day, prevent them from deciding to quit.
Wondering how you can reach users with the help of algorithms, using AI? Create an email campaign aimed at ascertaining whether the customers who are in your database still want to be them. Give them the opportunity to decide whether they stay with you for a longer period of time, or whether they prefer to unsubscribe, however. This will help you update your database. You can also use a search engine on your site - properly optimized it can be a source of up to 50% of revenue. Let it become like an expert that a customer searches for advice. It can suggest the most relevant results so that he gets what he is looking for (and often doesn't even realize it). AI search engines take into account not only the customer's previous shopping history, but also the customer's location or preferred brand or category. They create suggestions based on phrases typed in - even misspelled phrases (including typos), and when properly designed will allow you to significantly improve the customer's shopping experience.
That's not the only option you can take advantage of, using artificial intelligence to reduce churn rates. Use algorithms to accurately segment your customer bases, and then provide them with perfectly personalized content that provides them with valuable answers to their needs or helps them make a long-delayed decision (e.g., why you should buy a certain product). This type of action will also help you prevent customers from abandoning your services.
Your business is growing, you are implementing new solutions and testing tools. Are you wondering if there is a way to reduce existing costs? Yes! Modern technologies and tools for marketing automation 2.0 together with the help of AI engines will help you reduce costs in various ways. From automating legacy tasks like sending email marketing campaigns, preparing database segmentation or generating personalized content, to identifying opportunities to introduce new cost savings into your overall marketing strategy.
Another advantage of conducting activities with the help of artificial intelligence is the possibility of better budget utilization through more accurate real-time campaign optimization. All this to make sure that your work and investments are delivering the expected (and even better than predicted) results.
How can you achieve this? In case your site shows temporarily unavailable products or those that are only available in the online store, make sure that they too are added to the catalog, but with a notice to the user that they are currently unavailable. This way they will not be visible in the recommendation frames, while you will be able to offer the user a frame with available products similar to the one he is looking for, while being on the card of the unavailable product. There is a high probability that the user will make a different purchase than the one he planned, and you will gain additional conversions. Remember that for AI to thrive, it needs the right data to do so. So don't delay in integrating, tagging and designing specific events, provide the necessary events on a regular basis to offer users much more personalized content.
When writing about strategies for using AI in marketing automation 2.0 efforts, we can't forget about the most important KPI for any marketer - revenue growth. Undoubtedly, there are many different ways in which the use of artificial intelligence will help your company increase revenue.
The main directions in terms of marketing automation activities are first of all those with generating leads and then engaging them in the buying process, which will be completed with a conversion. To do this, make sure that you provide relevant product recommendations at each stage of the user 's purchase path . Place products best suited to the customer's needs on the homepage instead of fixed suggestions for all visitors. Ensure that the suggestions are tailored to the current search results - if the user is on a specific category, match the recommendations to it (for example, if a customer searches for sneakers and filters it further, going to the winter sneakers category, match the recommendations to that). Once the user has added the product to the shopping cart, suggest cross-sell products to increase the user's satisfaction and thus the value of the cart.
Among others, on those pages where users don't see any products - like on a 404 error page, in empty shopping carts or after searching for an unavailable product. This is where you have a much better chance of striking out with a perfectly tailored offer to the customer.
An additional way to increase revenue is to make sure you reduce the churn rate, while increasing the lifetime value of the customer. You'll improve all of the above revenue enhancement goals with tools that use AI. At the same time, you will give yourself and your teams additional space and time to devote to other strategic initiatives.
If you're wondering if the KPI targets you've set are good, if you're managing to achieve them, and if there's room for improvement in conversion rates, make sure you can compare two (or more) versions.
To do this, set up a random control group for x users to whom you will not display any new recommendations. Prepare an A/B/x test, and after a certain period of time, check the results of the campaign across all versions. Ensure that you have access to data on CTR, OR, revenue, conversion rate or number of transactions. It's worth noting at this point that results can be affected by a lot of different factors. The knowledge you'll gain from running such tests will allow you to compare the effectiveness of your campaigns using AI-based algorithms, and consequently make even better business decisions.
Also check out our guide to A/B testing and optimization.
In conclusion, the last few years have proven to us that marketing automation 2.0 tools have come a long and very intense way. Their development is undoubtedly related to the development of new technologies and algorithms related to artificial intelligence (AI). As these types of tools continue to develop quite strongly, there is no doubt that interest in the potential application of AI in marketing will also increase. So if you're looking to increase your KPIs, leads, conversions, and revenue, while reducing costs and churn rates, consider incorporating at least some of the AI-powered marketing automation 2.0 features mentioned above into your business.