Artificial intelligence along the customer journey: a new era of customer interaction

In our digitally networked world, artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in shaping the relationships between companies and their customers. It has become indispensable along the customer journey, which encompasses all touchpoints between a customer and a company. By automating processes, AI enables the intelligent analysis of data and the adaptation of personalised content in real time. This leads to a better response to customer needs, enables a more detailed analysis of customer behaviour and offers the opportunity to personalise and optimise every touchpoint at every stage of the customer journey. In this blog post, you can find out what solutions are available for this and what has actually happened in marketing so far.

How the use of AI influences the customer journey

AI is currently revolutionising many areas of business with countless use cases, but especially marketing along the customer journey. This is because the use of AI offers the advantage of controlling internal processes and tasks more efficiently on the one hand, while also making interaction with the customer and the derivation of conclusions much more effective on the other.

Individualisation and personalisation

One of the biggest advantages of AI is its ability to individualise the customer approach to a high degree. With the help of AI, companies can analyse large amounts of data and identify patterns and preferences at an individual level. This enables a personalisation of marketing that goes far beyond traditional segmentation. Predictive analytics can be used to create personalised messages and offers that are precisely tailored to the needs and wishes of each individual customer. The result is a significantly higher engagement rate, as customers receive content that is truly relevant and interesting to them.

Increased efficiency through automation

AI technologies also promote the automation of routine tasks, which leads to significant efficiency gains in recurring marketing and sales processes. Automated systems can not only be used efficiently in content creation and campaign management, but can also recognise, interpret and respond to direct customer enquiries without human intervention. From generating individual and personalised content elements to answering frequently asked questions, these systems can take on a variety of tasks. This relieves the burden on all areas of the company that interact with customers in the various phases of the customer journey and allows them to focus on more complex and value-adding activities.

Dynamic adaptability

Another key advantage of AI is its dynamic adaptability. AI systems are constantly learning and adapting to new data and changing circumstances. This means that marketing campaigns are not static, but can adapt dynamically to continuously improve their effectiveness. Live monitoring in conjunction with the direct and automated derivation of specific recommendations for action and content content comes into play here. Regardless of whether it is paid digital advertising, A/B tests, chatbots or similar.

Prediction and proactivity

AI also enables companies to predict the future behaviour and needs of their customers. By analysing historical data and current trends, precise predictions can be made about future purchasing decisions and customer behaviour. This forecasting capability enables companies to act proactively instead of just reacting to customer requests. Problems can be solved before they arise and opportunities can be capitalised on before they become apparent. This proactive approach not only improves customer satisfaction, but also strengthens customer loyalty and retention.

AI in marketing: taking stock

A survey conducted by the Brand Science Institute among marketing managers in Germany on the topic of "AI in marketing" shows a clear discrepancy between the perceived potential and the actual use of artificial intelligence in marketing. Although 89 per cent of respondents see a high demand for the use of AI, only around 12 per cent have gained concrete experience with this technology to date. Only 4.7 per cent use AI tools intensively in their work, while an overwhelming 83 per cent state that they have no experience with AI at all.

This reluctance is also reflected in the preferred areas of application. In marketing, AI is primarily used for content creation, data evaluation and trend analyses. AI-based tools are also used in customer service, particularly in the form of chatbots and personalised customer contact. However, most strategic marketing and sales processes as well as the optimisation of marketing processes remain in human hands, as a clear strategy and a concrete procedural model for the active use of AI in work processes or at the touchpoints of the customer journey are presumably often lacking.

To summarise, the survey shows that AI offers great untapped potential in marketing, but that its exploitation is being held back by uncertainty and a lack of experience. This underlines the need to improve training and strategic planning in relation to AI technologies in order to effectively utilise their full potential in marketing.

Outlook

The strategic use of AI along the customer journey offers companies the opportunity to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in addressing customers, make internal processes significantly more efficient and generate optimised results. AI technologies enable a new level of personalisation and customer interaction that far surpasses conventional methods and ultimately leads to increased customer loyalty and customer value. In an increasingly digitalised world, the use of AI along the customer journey is not a luxury, but a necessity: companies that adapt and effectively integrate these technologies will not only achieve short-term success, but will also be able to secure and expand their market position and customer base in the long term.

Would you like to find out more about exciting topics from the world of adesso? Then take a look at our previous blog posts.