Role of Technology in Marketing Research
Getting your own Jarvis
Just last week I had the opportunity to sit down for lunch with some executives from an upcoming marketing tech company. In addition to discussion placements and summer internships, we also talked about other trending ideas in the field of marketing. Somehow, such discussions have increasingly become a discussion on one key idea – Artificial Intelligence (AI). This conversation too ended up in the same way with each member around the table pitching in with their thoughts on how AI was going to change the way the industry was working. The conversation was extraordinarily enriching. I wish I could have had all of you there to listen in on the conversation, but then, clearly that is not an option. Perhaps we can invite them to a panel discussion later. For the moment however, I shall do the next best thing and try summarise the essence of our discussion for your benefit.
Most interestingly, these executives rightly pointed out that we were making a mistake when we say, “AI will transform”. In their opinion AI has already transformed several key sub fields within marketing. For instance, “Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise the field of marketing in several ways. Some of the key roles of AI in marketing include:
- Personalization: AI algorithms can analyze customer data and behavior to deliver personalized marketing experiences. For example, personalized email campaigns or targeted ads on social media.
- Predictive analytics: AI can help marketers make more accurate predictions about customer behavior and preferences. This can be used to optimize marketing campaigns and target specific segments of the market.
- Chatbots: AI chatbots can provide instant customer service and support, reducing the workload for human customer service representatives.
- Content creation: AI algorithms can analyze customer data and behavior to generate personalized content for marketing campaigns.
- Social media monitoring: AI can be used to monitor social media channels and identify trends, allowing marketers to respond more quickly to customer needs.
Overall, the use of AI in marketing can help businesses better understand their customers, optimize marketing campaigns, and improve the customer experience.”
Wonder why I used quotes? That’s because I did not write that. It was Open AI’s Chat GPT that came up with the text. Chat GPT also feels that “Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the way companies conduct marketing research”, and domains such as “Data collection and analysis, Customer segmentation, Predictive modeling, and Sentiment analysis” can be performed by AI live.
Clearly, AI is here to stay due to it one key ability that marketers want – "segment of one" (Dibb, 2011). Every marketer wants to treat each customer in as customized a manner as possible. In combination with other text analytics tools, AI could work wonders very soon. For instance, Natural Language Processing tools can identify if a customer sounds angry or neutral in an email to your firm and you can choose between,
“Dear [customer],
We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. We take all customer feedback seriously and will do our best to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Can you please provide more information about your experience so we can fully understand and address the issue? We value your business and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,
[Company]” (ChatGPT, 2022)
and
“Dear [customer],
Thank you for your message. We are glad to hear that you are satisfied with our product/service. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We value your business and appreciate your feedback.
Sincerely,
[Company]” (ChatGPT, 2022)
In a matter of seconds. As customers of some firm or the other, we know receiving a quick response (or just an acknowledgement) to our emails is getting part of the job done.
Second, AI can help blend the field and research functions together by quickly analyzing large amounts of data in real time, identifying patterns and trends, and automating certain research tasks, such as data collection and analysis, freeing up researchers to focus on more complex tasks In effect, AI can super charge marketing practioners’ ability to take data driven decisions in real time. Kind of like Jarvis for Iron man, but instead of proving reports of the structural integrity of the Iron Man suit, it could tell you relay you relevant information about the customer that can help you take a call on real world activities.
Third, somewhat interestingly, AI may also prove to be a huge issue for marketers. Think about the kind of damage AI powered twitterbots can do to brands. Consumers, competitors, or other parties could wage all out war on social media using AI. Imagine Tim Cook and his team at Apple reading auto generated reviews like
“I recently purchased the iPhone 14 and I am extremely disappointed with my purchase. The phone constantly freezes and crashes, and the battery life is significantly shorter than my previous iPhone. The camera quality is also subpar compared to other phones on the market. Additionally, the customer service team was unhelpful and seemed more interested in upselling me on additional products rather than resolving my issues. I regret spending so much money on this phone and would not recommend it to others.” (ChatGPT, 2022)
and
“I am completely outraged with my experience with the iPhone 14. Not only did the phone arrive with multiple defects, but the customer service team was completely unresponsive and unwilling to help me resolve the issues. The phone constantly crashes and freezes, making it nearly impossible to use. The battery life is also extremely short, requiring me to constantly charge the phone. The camera quality is a complete disappointment and does not compare to other phones on the market. Overall, I am extremely disappointed with my purchase and would not recommend the iPhone 14 to anyone.” (ChatCPT, 2022).
Last, the group also agreed that many firms would make AI a part of the online content strategy. Remember checking out that firm with no twitter updates since 2019? And that other firm with a blog but nothing useful in it? That situation may never arise again. One of the members on the table let us know that over 80% of all the content made by leading newspapers is generated using AI. And I think he was right. Just this morning, I got this post on my Google feed. Judging by the accuracy of the math, lack of common sense in the content (Who on earth would replace an iPhone 14 Pro Max with a Samsung Galaxy A73 5G to get a discount of Rs. 20,000?), and prevalence of such posts on the internet today, I’m guessing that this was not written by a human being or by some really smart human being who’s figured out how to do this using mail merge and a very lenient newspaper editor.
The world you guys are stepping into a world that is fast evolving. Much of what is going to unfold is not clear to us yet. On the one hand, AI can help businesses increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer experiences. However, on the other hand, AI also raises concerns about the potential for misuse or abuse of the technology. Who knows, the future may have many interesting job roles for us. I’m guessing “AI Text Detector” and “Counter AI analyst” may soon become popular job roles.
On a related note, do you think the whole of the above text was generated by AI or me? I would also like to know why you feel that way.
