Maggie Bossingham's Marketing Blog

5 Current Artificial Intelligence Applications in Marketing and Advertising An article from Tech Emergence titled "Artificial Intelligence in Marketing and Advertising" has three different sections on AI in marketing and advertising, but I'm going to focus on the section about current applications. I would suggest checking out the whole article through the link, as well. Search...AI is being used to help consumers find what they're looking for faster and easier when searching online Recommendation Engines...AI is helping consumers get recommendations they actually want        (whether that be a product on Amazon or a new Netflix show to watch) Programmatic Advertising...AI is being used to help companies advertise to consumers that are found to be interested through AI analysis Marketing Forecast...AI is helping to predict marketing forecasts in a more efficient, reliable and effective way Speech Recognition...AI is being used in order for Siri or Google to

News Releases and Newsrooms  According to The New Rules of Marketing & PR , the web has fundamentally changed marketing. Before the internet, news releases were targeted specifically to a handful of journalists. But today with the internet at millions of people's disposal, news releases are being accessed by a mass variety of people. That means that companies need to use these news releases to reach their buyers directly. And it's a pretty rare opportunity because the media has no influence nor ability to filter the information. Not only does the web affect news releases, but also newsrooms. Newsrooms are part of a company's website where they put information for the media. But again, thanks to the internet...all kinds of people visit a company's newsroom, not just journalists. To reiterate it is vital to use this space as a way to connect and reach your buyers. Use words, links, and information that targets BUYERS not just the media.

An Image is Worth a Thousand Words Although this saying is by no mean new, using images in today's marketing is new and truthfully worth a thousand words. The New Rules of Marketing & PR chapter 16 is titled 'an image is worth a thousand words'. The chapter addresses that real pictures of your company's products, services, or employees are more effective than fake photos. It also states to not be afraid to use this theory in social networking like on Instagram, Pinterest, SlideShare, etc. Throughout the book, the idea of understanding your consumers is reiterated over and over. And of course, there is no difference here. In order for an image to be worth anything, you must know and understand who is looking at it. If a consumer is considering doing business with you, the image they see should have some value to them. Videos Made Easy Chapter 17 of the New Rules book discusses videos. Obviously, videos are more involved than photographs but still simil

AI wizards in China The Chinese government has a massively ambitious plan to lead in the field of artificial intelligence in 2030, according to an article from MIT Technology Review.  At the annual EmTech Digital conference in San Francisco, several Chinese executives spoke about the advances their companies were making in AI. The progress these companies have been making is impressive with a variety of AI-powered technologies, from computer vision to speech recognition and natural-language processing. And one reason such impressive advances have been made in China is the amount of research and capable minds focused on AI in the country. It appears China is already on the road to being a leader in AI.

Marketing Channels and AI According to an article on Business News Daily many retail companies are deciding to use artificial intelligence to help expand their marketing. Many retailers seem to be turning toward artificial intelligence in order to better understand their customers and be able to provide a better personalized experience for their customers. Sales Force states that "trying to optimize communications with an ever-growing customer base, across rapidly proliferating channels and touch points, you need all the help you can get. And increasingly for marketers, that help isn’t human. When it comes to delivering the right message, on the right channel, at the right time, 61% of marketing leaders expect AI will substantially impact their business over the next five years." Artificial Intelligence is continuing to grow towards becoming a necessary asset for companies. Not only with the automation capabilities, but the capacity to personalize a customer's

Multichannel Marketing Multichannel marketing is all about choice and giving your customers a choice, yet making it clear that your brand is the right choice. SAS Institute is a software company that develops and markets business analytics software and services. I learned the following from a YouTube video that SAS made, which is very informative but also is helping SAS market itself. DOs and DON'Ts of Multichannel Marketing DON'T have irrelevant content that does not target your customers  DO have a single view of your customer, their values, and how they interact with your brand DON'T have disjointed campaigns that differ from one channel to the next DO have a single campaign that is replicated across various channels DON'T waste time time on channels that are not delivering results DO have consistent customer experience across all channels

Product Development Stages and Marketing According to the YouTube video Product Development Stages  there are eight stages in product development. Idea generation, idea screening, concept development, market strategy, feasibility analysis/study, product design, test marketing and market entry.  The main area for marketing is during that market strategy phase where you must determine the target market, or who specifically you are trying to sell to.  Also during the test marketing phase, part of that target market is usually used to test acceptance of the product and if it should go out to the rest of the market. Ultimately when developing a product, marketing is trying to gauge the target audience and market to them effectively so that when the product enters its life cycle in phase eight, it will continue to have a long and profitable life.

Microsoft AI One of the many faces of AI is Microsoft. I came to realize this after a commercial; I was watching the Olympics on live TV so for the first time in awhile I was watching commercials. A commercial came on that featured Common. At he end of the commercial, Common says, "Today, right now you have more power at your fingertips than entire generations that came before you. So here's the question, what will you do with it?" Then it's just a black screen with Microsoft AI on it. Personally, I thought it was an inspiring and well done commercial. It led me to do some research on Microsoft and what they're doing in the world of Artificial Intelligence. Microsoft's website has a lot of information on Artificial Intelligence. There is information on Microsoft's AI platforms, solutions, and recent AI news. The website also talks about how Microsoft products and services already contain AI, like Cortana which is Microsoft's version of Alexa

Buyer Personas and Planning In the book The New Rules of Marketing & PR buyer personas are addressed. On page 162 it states "successful online marketing and PR efforts work because they start by identifying one or more buyer personas to target, so you need to make buyer personas a part of your planning process." Buyer personas are crucial to being able to understand your buyers and customers. Understanding them through research and profiling can then lead to great success and profit. The book has a great template for how to plan to reach the personas a company has profiled. The template is a great asset to a company to help them market to their buyers, but not just any buyers, buyers that you understand and know. Thus, leading those buyers to take action and helping your company reach its goals in the meantime. Generic online marketing is no longer fruitful, but a targeted strategy yields an abundance of benefits. It is also important to note that usually it is

AI and B2B Seeing the letters AI and B2B put together looks like a complicated acronym, but it's quite simple in its definition. AI , or artificial intelligence, as an industry is growing at a rapid pace and is predicted to be in almost every software product by 2020. B2B , or business to business, refers to business behavior which is the way one business makes a transaction with another business. Therefore with AI rapidly growing, business behavior is bound to be impacted. Even though the definition is simple, the impact that artificial intelligence is having on Business Behavior is quite involved. An article written by Nathan Sykes on February 20, 2018 titled " 4 Ways Artificial Intelligence Will Impact the B2B Industry " states that the impact AI is likely to have on B2B will be all-encompassing. The article breaks down the four impacts as: better handling of data, enhanced customer interaction, sales channel growth and personalization, and search and tracking v

Consumer Behavior In order to adequately sell to consumers, companies need to know their behavior. But how does a company do that? The answer is they have to study their consumers. Either in a broad way or more targeted. Some of the ways companies do this is by using surveys, blogs, focus groups, and individual interviews. Ultimately a company needs to know how people make decisions about what they buy, want, need, or act in regards to their company, products, and/or service.  One of the ways to study consumer behavior is through surveys. They are a great tool in today's online and fast-paced world. Personally when I get a survey in the mail, it immediately goes in recycling, but when I get a survey online, I am more prone to fill it out. SurveyMonkey is a site dedicated to creating surveys, and it's pretty darn easy to use. The tag line on the website says " We get answers for 16 million questions daily. Get the feedback you need with the world's leading

Blogs Chapter 5 of the book The New Rules of Marketing & PR is solely about blogs. If you are like me, I did not read nor care much about blogs, prior to taking this marketing class. My sister even mentioned wanting to start a blog of her own, and I thought why? The book mentions this. Many people, not just myself, feel blogs are dead, or at least useless. BUT they aren't. The author of the book even states "blogs are often misperceived by people who don't read them". That pretty much summed me up. So how are blogs useful? From a marketing and PR standpoint, they can be the most important tool. Blogs can easily be used to monitor what people are saying about your company or your company's products. Blogs give you an opportunity to respond and have a conversation by real-time commenting. Blogs also allow you to work with people who are blogging about you. Plus, by having your own blog, you can personally shape the conversation surrounding your

Social Media In chapter 4 of the book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR , social media and targeting your audience is discussed. The book defines social media as "the superset and how we refer to the various online media that people use to communicate online in a social way." This definition is broad, but so is social media. Social media is not just Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Although those are a part of it, social media encompasses much more. It includes other social networking sites such as LinkedIn, blogs, video and image sharing sites such as YouTube, chat rooms and message boards, review sites such as Yelp or Rotten Tomato, Wikis, and social bookmarking sites like Reddit. Seeing social media as all of these forms, helps to realize how social media use is vital for a company. Helpful Tips This chapter is full of useful information for businesses or individuals using social media, so here are some of the tips I found most helpful: Respond in a timely m

Marketing Environment Internal and External Environments Internal environments work inside of a company. It consists of 5 M's: Men (staff), Money, Machinery, Materials, and Markets. Internal environments are easily controllable for a company.  There is also the external environments. Broken down into two categories: Macroenvironment and Microenvironment.  Microenvironment includes factors closer to the company that directly impact the customers, such as the suppliers, the competition, and advertising agencies. Macroenvironment includes large and all-encompassing factors, such as culture, politics, economics, demographics, technology and the natural environment. These factors are obviously less easily controlled. (more information found on Marketing Environment YouTube video) Marketing Fails Often times a marketing fail can happen when a company does not fully consider or investigate the current macroenvironment. For instance, current social issues.  Wh

Marketing Strategy An effective marketing strategy in today's world is to use a targeted method. In order to do this a company needs to understand their customers. Without fully understanding your customers, you can't successfully engage and sell to them. Buyer Personas In the book The New Rules of Marketing & PR and in the YouTube video HubSpot's Stephen Higgins Explains Buyer Personas  the idea of buyer personas is discussed. Buyer personas should be based on real data and with as little assumptions as possible. A buyer persona directly targets a specific demographic. Being able to do this helps the specific buyer feel heard and understood. Buyers are more likely to buy or use a company that is directly 'talking' to them.

Taking Action In order to fully understand what is going on in the world of Artificial Intelligence, taking action is needed. We can no longer say AI is not involved in my life right now so I won't worry about it until I have to because AI is continuously progressing. At some point, AI is going to be involved in daily life and we do not want to be blind sided. Thus some action is required in order to understand what AI is about and what is happening. That action simply comes down to research. The book Surfing the Tsunami: An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Options for Responding states "I recommend digging. Sometimes when you dig into data, you can find treasure." Cartoon image aside, digging into data is a major aspect of research. With all the information on the internet, there can be false data, biases, and opinions that cloud the truth. And of course, that applies to research on Artificial Intelligence too. People can have very different p

The Four A's of Artificial Intelligence (from Surfing the Tsunami: An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Options for Responding ) Autos Currently artificial intelligence is making significant advances in self-driving cars. It is also making advance in drones. These are both very visual applications of artificial intelligence that many people are aware of. Advice Another application of artificial intelligence that many people are aware of is voice-based digital assistants. In layman's terms, Siri, Alexa or the like. The machines behind the voice of Siri or Alexa are capable of processing voice thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning.      Automation Automation is something more complex, there is physical and digital automation. Physical automation is more obvious, such as a robot being able to complete routine actions. Digital automation is inside the software that allows programs to be capable of doing routine actions as well, suc

Growth and Success in Business In order to grow a successful business, there are three main areas that should be focused on: marketing, sales, and customer service. In the YouTube video, The Role of Marketing, Sales & Customer Success , Dan Martell explains that these are three distinct buckets that need to be on a company's radar. They also all feed into one another. Marketing Marketing is about generating demand. In order to do this people need to be aware of your business. Dan Martell in his YouTube video gives examples of sponsoring a little league team, posting ads on Facebook, and attending events. The role of marketing and its value cannot be underestimated. In order to get to sales, there needs to be a demand and in order to get a demand, there needs to be marketing. The book The New Rules of Marketing & PR talks about how marketing has changed due to the internet so a business needs to keep up with these changes. Demand is less likely to come f

Traditional Marketing versus Online Marketing In the introduction of the book The New Rules of Marketing & PR , it mentions the presidential election for 2016. Hilary Clinton and Jeb Bush used some of the traditional marketing avenues while running for office. Yet Donald Trump emerged into online marketing by using Twitter and as we know became the 45th President of the United States. Thus perhaps traditional ways are not as effective in today's online world. Traditional Marketing started before the internet was a major aspect of marketing. It focused on TV, newspapers, magazines, radio and direct mail ads. It was a priority to interrupt a consumer and get them interested in whatever product or service the company was offering. Creativity was deemed the most important aspect. Also, public relations worked with the media and finding ways to get reporters and editors to write about their company. Well, in today's world, the internet is the key to marketing. N