Terms like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and algorithms can seem intimidating to people who work in sales and marketing. However, it’s important to overcome the hesitation about using them for companies who want to remain profitable and competitive. Artificial intelligence (AI), for example, is a technological revolution that helps to automate many business functions. This frees up your time to focus on your company’s growth.

With AI, you can uncover rich insights that provide immense value to your marketing and sales teams. According to a recent report released by Salesforce, the use of AI will increase by approximately 50 percent by 2019. This is a much higher rate than any other type of technology. There’s no reason to fear machines taking over repetitive and complicated tasks. In fact, it can be quite freeing to your entire organization.

Artificial Intelligence Then and Now

Alan Turing, an early pioneer of AI, developed the Turing test in 1950. This is a way to test a machine to determine if it can display intelligent behavior that equals or surpasses that of a human. While conducting his research, Turing asked a work associate to interact with and write notes to another person and to a computer. The result was that the machine won the game because the person in the interpreter role couldn’t tell the difference between the other player and the computer.

ai benefitsOne of Turing’s goals during his research was to determine if it was possible for a machine to exhibit signs of general intelligence. His conclusion was that any feature of intelligence or learning could be described precisely enough for a machine to simulate it.

In the modern world, AI is an abundant part of sales and marketing. These teams use it in places such as predictive segmenting and website chatbots. One of the biggest benefits of AI is that it can locate data patterns that would be difficult and extremely time-consuming for humans to do. AI takes the guesswork and monotony out of marketing campaigns by pulling rich insights from an abundance of data.

Benefits of AI for Marketers

Nearly every industry can benefit from AI, including marketing. It can help marketers become more efficient by gathering data and allowing people to personalize it. Below are some of the specific benefits your team can expect when using AI.

Score Leads Automatically

AI and advanced algorithms make it possible for marketers to established automatic lead scoring while using the marketing automation tools they already have. This removes the pressure from marketers to qualify their prospects using long forms. It also frees up their time to develop other types of marketing initiatives.

In addition to saving time, AI-powered lead scoring enables machines to qualify leads in a more accurate, faster, and smarter fashion. You can vet the lead immediately and select the ones that appear to show the most potential. This enables you to optimize your current marketing efforts to attract the attention of similar prospects. Many people are realizing the value of having a machine score leads and having people devote their time to improving existing ad campaigns and developing more effective ones for the future.

Customer Segmentation and Advanced Personalization

AI may be a machine, but it enables marketers to personalize the customer experience and gain a better understanding of their journey. For example, an AI tool called keyword spotting allows you to analyze data sets quickly and learn unique things about each visitor that you wouldn’t see with any other type of analytics system. As a marketer, you can discover prevailing customer attitudes and problems with your products without having to sift through hours of conversations.

Another feature of AI is the ability to set up predictive and automated journeys. Call Sumo’s AI tools enable you to use machine learning to display the most appropriate message on the correct channel. When you deliver it at just the right time, it makes it easy to leverage the data of your customers to provide them with highly relevant experiences. You will lose fewer leads because AI makes it possible to tailor your message in real time.

A Game-Changer for Sales Representatives

There’s no doubt that AI empowers marketing teams, but it also allows sales representatives to gain efficiency in closing more deals. With a better understanding of their prospects, they can provide the best possible customer service.

Shorten the Sales Cycle by Automating Lead Qualification

Yet another benefit of AI is that it helps sales professionals do more in less time. Instead of spending time manually qualifying leads, they can focus their limited resources and time on the customers that AI has determined most profitable. This saves considerable time and money because you won’t have to hire people to sift through and respond to every lead. AI filters the prospects and identifies patterns in the flow of your sales to prioritize your actions more effectively. It allows your marketing teams to follow up on leads immediately before the competition even knows about them.

Power Tailored Conversations with Predictive Analytics

Similar to the way that AI assists marketers to identify trends and target leads more effectively, it also assists sales representatives to determine the probability of a customer purchase. Additionally, it highlights important information about each customer to prompt product suggestions according to their buying history and needs. The goal of predictive analytics is to anticipate future events such as the likelihood of customer purchase and the probable date of a closed sale.

Additionally, using the keyword spotting feature of AI aids sales managers in knowing when a deal might fall through. It does this by identifying terms such as disappointed, want to speak to a manager, and similar terms in real time. Best of all, this happens automatically.

Sales, Marketing & AI

It’s impossible to ignore the continued use and acceptance of AI. Companies that invest in this technology will see increased efficiency and revenue while those that don’t could struggle to remain relevant and competitive. We invite you to contact Call Sumo to learn more about exploding your business growth with our AI tools.