4 ways Artificial intelligence can revolutionize/transform lead generation

Acquiring customers is a very high cost activity for businesses and for most of the companies it requires extensive cold-calling, trial and error, and exploration of multiple channels.
Improved lead generation is the primary reason why businesses are investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to a survey by the Aberdeen Group. Businesses that implement AI see 59% better close rates for sales, 58% increased revenue, 54% more traffic and engagement, and 52% higher conversion. 80% of companies believe that AI will change the marketing industry in years to come.
Here are some of the ways in which AI will help streamline the work of marketing and sales teams:
Find new leads:
Having a long list of potential clients is great, but going through the data can be a huge task. AI-powered analytics can help the enterprise identify those leads that are likely to have a high chance of being converted.
It can be used to discover and recommend new potential customers by mining the connections between people, companies, products and the Internet, while integrating with your marketing automation software to find new leads. It can also be used to do the time-consuming task of sending custom messages to each of your contacts.
Help better understand leads:
AI can scan through huge amounts of raw data from unstructured data sources ranging from social media to research trends and help in finding the perfect leads. For example, an AI system called Netra can analyze visual content from social media platforms to better understand consumer interests.
Another called CaliberMind analyzes human language from CRM, marketing automation, and social media. It can also look at whether a customer is an impulsive buyer and correlate it with all that information.
Convert leads to sales:
With artificial intelligence, you no longer need to target a specific demographic or sector. Instead, you can target entities on a business by business basis. AI can increase the relevance of lead generation campaigns and generate repeat business through predictive data and automation.
By customizing the sales process and personalizing communications to prospects and clients, AI can help enterprises tackle customer-related initiatives first.
For instance, online lingerie brand Adore Me used Optimove’s AI to segment its customer list into different types of prospects to increase purchases and subscribers to its membership pricing program. By segmenting and contacting customers on different platforms, not only did Adore Me double its active customer base, but also raised its monthly recurring revenue and average sales price.
Reduce the cost of such campaigns:
Companies can use AI marketing solutions to reduce their Cost Per Click thanks to the sentiment analysis algorithms that analyze customer engagement with their campaigns. It can also help to optimize content for as many target groups as you would like.
For example, ad agency Saatchi LA used IBM Watson AI supercomputer to create thousands of variations for the same Toyota car ad, and was able to target thousands of different demographic groups with different ads. It also drastically reduces response time as it responds with personalized emails almost instantly by understanding the customer’s context and needs.
Adopting AI is the new normal. Whether your focus in on lead generation or customer retention, lead automation technology can keep the customers engaged.