Is AI the future of B2C marketing?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way businesses interact with customers in the B2C space. As the technology advances, marketers are able to leverage AI to better understand customer behavior and create more personalized and targeted campaigns. But, is AI the future of B2C marketing?

Generally speaking, AI is the future, I don’t think anyone is disagreeing with that. Take a scroll through Twitter and you’ll see thousands of examples of people leveraging AI technology to create, engage, and inform. From a marketing perspective, it’s helping marketers automate mundane tasks, freeing them up to focus on more creative and strategic efforts. It’s adding visibility and clarity to the customer journey through data augmentation. In short, yes, AI is the future of B2C marketing, and really all marketing. 

That may be intimidating, but to me it’s exciting. AI opens the door for marketers to push the limits of their creativity. It levels the playing field of data, content, and interaction. Marketing alongside AI means finding a way to add value above the noise.

A Personal Story

I’ve built numerous marketing teams. I know the structure and cadence I prefer to add teammates and functions. Historically, content has been the first hire I’ve made on any team.

Content is king—and it will continue to be king, even post-AI. So investing in content first has always been my priority. That is, until I joined Rockerbox. Over the last 2 years content has changed. Volume of content is still important from an SEO perspective, but the avenue to create and curate content has shifted.

My focus is less on pure volume, and more on thought leadership. How can we add value to our consumers? Instead of hiring a writer to join the team, I reached out to experts in the field and gave them a platform to share their knowledge. Having words isn’t enough, I wanted real people behind those words, credibility. 

That is what AI does to marketing. It makes us take a step back and ask ourselves why we are doing the work we are doing? How does it actually move our buyers through the customer journey? Are we actually adding a benefit to them and their role—beyond our product? 

As marketers, our goal should be to ask “What can I add value to that AI can’t?” And that’s where we should push.

How AI is changing B2C Marketing

Beyond my personal experience, there are a number of tangible ways AI is helping marketers already. Here are four ways AI is changing B2C marketing today:

1. AI is changing B2C marketing by providing better insights into customer behavior.

AI systems are able to gather and analyze vast amounts of data from various sources, such as customer surveys, website interactions, and social media engagement. This data can then be used to create detailed customer profiles and segmentation models, which enable marketers to tailor their messaging and offerings to specific customer segments. AI can also be used to predict customer needs, allowing marketers to send out timely and relevant messages to customers.

2. AI is transforming B2C marketing by automating mundane tasks.

AI-enabled chatbots, for example, can be used to answer customer queries quickly and accurately, freeing up customer service agents to focus on more complex issues. AI can also be used to automate customer segmentation and personalization, making it easier for marketers to create targeted campaigns that resonate with their target audience.

3. AI is being used to create more effective customer experiences.

AI-powered virtual assistants are becoming increasingly sophisticated, able to understand customer needs and provide relevant recommendations and suggestions. AI is also being used to personalize website content and optimize product recommendations. By leveraging AI, marketers can create a more personalized customer experience, which can ultimately lead to increased customer loyalty and higher conversion rates.

4. AI is being used to streamline marketing operations.

AI-based systems can automate tasks such as lead scoring and campaign optimization, allowing marketers to save time and resources. AI can also be used to analyze customer feedback and identify trends, enabling marketers to quickly respond to customer needs.

Why Marketers Should Embrace AI

As AI technology continues to evolve, it will become an even more important tool for marketers. By leveraging AI, marketers can gain better insights into customer behavior, automate mundane tasks, create more personalized customer experiences, and streamline operations. AI can be a powerful tool for B2C marketers, and its impact on the industry is only going to grow in the coming years.

As marketers, we have two options when it comes to AI. We can embrace the value it poses, and leverage it as a means to stretch ourselves and our teams to think and prioritize tasks that only a human can accomplish (or accomplish well). Or, we can reject AI and spend more time and effort accomplishing everyday tasks like writing content, answering simple questions or anticipating customer needs. 

For me, it’s a no-brainer. AI is the future of marketing, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to evolve our workflow and improve our efficiency. 

(Oh, and P.S. AI wrote 50% of this post.)