What is Gen AI?
What does Gen AI mean for Marketing and Sales?
12 Ways Gen AI is Revolutionizing Marketing and Sales
Using Gen AI Across the Customer Journey
Strategies to Transform Sales and Marketing with Gen AI
Conclusion
In an era of digital transformation, even sales—a traditionally relationship-driven domain—is undergoing a significant shift. Industry giants like Microsoft and Salesforce are pioneers of this change, who have quickly recognized and adopted the capabilities of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) to redefine their sales and marketing operations. This move isn’t a mere trend; according to Statista, the market size of generative AI in marketing is projected to soar from 1.9 billion in 2022 to a staggering 22 billion by 2032.
With Gen AI, every sales interaction—be it through email marketing campaigns or phone calls—becomes more than just a point of contact. It turns into valuable data, meticulously analyzed using advanced algorithms to unearth insights and strategies that were once beyond reach. This blend of human intuition and machine precision isn’t a vision of a distant future; it’s today’s reality. Now, let’s delve deeper into how gen AI is reshaping the marketing and sales landscape.
What is Gen AI?
Generative AI, often termed “Gen AI,” is a powerful tool that uses specialized algorithms to create new content, be it text, images, or audio. It’s the technology behind impressive AI chatbots and rapid image generators we frequently encounter online. At its core, generative AI technology operates using deep-learning structures known as foundation models (FMs). These FMs are trained on vast datasets, allowing them to adapt and generate content for various tasks, from writing articles to coding. Unlike traditional AI, which requires specific training for each task, gen AI offers a broader application, significantly upgrading AI capabilities and altering how we interact with artificial intelligence.
What does Gen AI mean for Marketing and Sales?
The marketing and sales domains align perfectly with the prowess of generative AI models. Both fields thrive on interactions and frequent transactions, churning out substantial datasets, from email content and phone call recordings to videos of client engagements. This abundance of unstructured data is precisely what generative AI models are built to handle. Given marketing and sales’ dynamic and creative essence, generative AI offers vast potential to decode, adapt, integrate, and tailor experiences.
By leveraging vast data, this AI technology can forecast consumer behavior, automate tedious tasks, and craft personalized campaigns with unprecedented precision. Take, for example, an online e-commerce platform using generative AI for b2b sales to recommend products. By analyzing a customer’s past purchases and browsing habits, the system can suggest items the shopper will likely buy next. This is how major giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar, Youtube, Spotify, Myntra, Amazon, etc., work.
Recently, Microsoft made a significant move by unveiling Viva Sales, a cutting-edge application equipped with generative AI capabilities. This tool aids sales professionals and managers in crafting customized client emails, gathering insights on clientele and potential leads, and providing timely recommendations and reminders. Not to be left behind in the generative AI use cases list, Salesforce introduced Einstein GPT shortly after.
12 Ways Gen AI is Revolutionizing Marketing and Sales
Gen AI can positively impact customer experience, productivity, and growth in the areas of marketing and sales. Here’s a comprehensive list of capabilities offered by gen AI for marketers and sales professionals.
- Administrative Efficiency
Generative AI can significantly reduce the growing administrative tasks that sales and marketing teams face. By assisting in drafting emails, organizing notes, and auto-updating CRM data, AI helps to streamline and simplify routine chores. For example, Einstein GPT helps businesses improve their CRM efforts by automatically generating personalized responses to customer queries, emails, and chats. It comes with advanced text generation capabilities, multilingual support, sentiment analysis, data insights capabilities, and seamless CRM integration.
- Gen AI-driven Insights for Managers
Sales reports are transforming from mere retrospective reviews to interactive tools with actionable insights, thanks to generative AI. Now, managers can pinpoint opportunities and strategize in hours, not weeks, optimizing resource allocation. For example, Tableau GPT integrates trusted generative AI across its platform, streamlining data analysis and enhancing insights, thereby accelerating results and simplifying tasks for analysts.
- Content Creation:
Generate advertising copy, product descriptions, or even blog posts tailored to target demographics. Design promotional materials, banners, and even product mock-ups using AI. For example, ChatGPT by OpenAI and Bard by Google are some of the best and most widely used generative AI tools for content creation in 2023.
- Personalization:
Using customer data, generative AI can craft hyper-personalized campaigns tailored to individual preferences, behaviors, and past interactions. It also suggests products or services to users based on their browsing history, purchases, and preferences. For example, Adobe Experience Platform is an open, real-time customer experience platform backed by Adobe Sensei Gen AI capabilities. It seamlessly consolidates data from diverse touchpoints, creating a unified customer profile for enhanced personalization.
- Customer Interaction:
Improve customer service with AI chatbots that can address queries, solve problems, or even upsell products 24/7. Draft and send personalized email campaigns to segmented customer lists, optimizing open and conversion rates. Some of the best AI chatbots in 2023 are Zapier AI Chatbot, Microsoft Bing AI, ChatGPT, Google Bard, ChatSpot, etc.
- Data Analysis:
Leverage predictive Analytics capabilities and forecast sales trends, customer behaviors, and inventory needs based on historical and real-time data. Use vast datasets to identify market gaps, emerging trends, and customer sentiments using generative AI tools for sales. For example, Tableau and Microsoft Power BI are some of the best Gen-AI tools for data analytics and data visualization. Leveraging these tools you can you can even automate data analysis, preparation, and governance.
- Sales Enablement:
Generative AI sales tools help to identify and segment potential leads based on online behaviors, preferences, and demographics. It can help generate persuasive sales scripts or responses for sales representatives tailored to different customer types or objections. In fact, McKinsey’s recent research suggests that a fifth of current sales-team functions could be automated by leveraging generative AI in sales. Some of the trending generative AI tools for sales teams are HubSpotAI, ChatSpot, Regie.ai, Salesforce Einstein GPT, and Microsoft Viva Sales.
- Product Development:
Gen AI can suggest new product features or designs using feedback and market demand. It can also help you dynamically adjust prices based on market demand, competition, and other factors. For example, Dall-E, Midjourney for product designing, Soundraw – AI music generator, and Watermelon for creating GPT-4 chatbots.
- Training and Onboarding:
With generative artificial intelligence, you can create realistic sales scenarios for training new employees, helping them practice and improve their sales techniques. It provides real-time feedback on sales pitches, suggesting improvements or highlighting strengths. For example, tools like SecondNature, Rehearsal VRP, Quantified, Mindtickle, etc., are some of the generative AI tools for sales training and onboarding.
- Market Expansion:
Generative AI marketing tools automatically adapt marketing materials to local languages, cultures, and trends when entering new markets. Swiftly analyzes new markets to identify opportunities and challenges. For example, ChatGPT by OpenAI, Marketo, SalesAI, and Customer AI by Hubspot are some of the powerful gen AI tools for marketers.
- Ethical and Compliance Checks:
Gen AI tools ensure marketing campaigns, product claims, and sales pitches adhere to local regulations and ethical standards by auto-checking against predefined criteria. For example, ChatGPT can provide suggestions on ways to improve sales pitches. Compliance.ai is another powerful regulatory change management software for financial services enterprises.
- Feedback loops:
As AI marketing tools interact with customers and analyze market trends, it learns and refines strategies, ensuring marketing and sales efforts remain effective and relevant. The previously mentioned Generative AI tools provide real-time feedback helping marketers and sales professionals improve their strategies.
Using Gen AI Across the Customer Journey
Generative AI for b2b sales offers a transformative approach throughout the customer journey, enhancing traditional methods with innovative capabilities. Take a look at generative AI use cases in sales in marketing across the customer journey.
- Top of the Funnel: Advanced Lead Identification and Engagement
Generative AI revolutionizes the early stages of customer engagement. Unlike traditional AI that relies on simple web scraping, gen AI harnesses intricate algorithms, detecting customer and market data patterns. This advanced segmentation targets audiences more effectively, ensuring businesses pinpoint high-quality leads for tailor-made campaigns. Moreover, gen AI refines marketing techniques by conducting predictive A/B tests on various campaign elements such as ad copy, page layouts, and SEO strategies. This ensures optimized strategies for the best possible ROI. Lead IQ and Outreach.io are some of the lead generations gen AI tools that are worth trying in 2023.
- Nurturing and Conversion: Continuous Support in the Sales Motion
Gen AI’s role becomes even more significant as customers move further down the funnel. It crafts hyper-personalized content by analyzing factors like customer behavior, preferences, and demographics. From sending tailored follow-up emails to enabling contextual chatbot interactions, gen AI serves as a round-the-clock aide.
It can deliver timely recommendations, reminders, and feedback to the sales team, boosting engagement and conversion rates. Moreover, gen AI offers invaluable real-time negotiation tips and insights as deals progress. Drawing from vast data sources like historical transactions, customer behaviors, and competitive pricing, gen AI ensures that sales teams are armed with the best strategies.
ChatGPT is one of the most widely used gen AI tools for creating personalized emails based on customer demographics, behavior, past interactions, and more. A few other AI tools for email automation are InboxPro, Sendinblue, and customer.io
- Post-Sale Engagement: Onboarding and Retention
Generative AI marketing and sales benefits don’t end with a closed deal. Once a customer is on board, Gen AI crafts a tailored, welcoming experience. Personalized training content, enriched with relevant best practices, ensures customers find maximum value. Chatbot integrations address customer queries promptly, continuously improving the onboarding process.
For sales teams, gen AI is a treasure trove of insights. Offering real-time recommendations and analyzing usage trends, it aids in predicting and mitigating potential customer churn. Its ability to dynamically map the customer journey helps businesses identify and optimize key engagement touchpoints, ensuring sustained customer loyalty. For example, Zendesk AI, Claude, and ChatGPT are some of the trending gen AI tools for customer support.
Gen AI isn’t just a tool – it’s a game-changer, optimizing every step of the customer journey from lead generation to post-sale engagement. But embracing gen AI requires more than integrating new tools into the existing framework. It calls for a paradigm shift in strategies. Here are a few strategies that you can follow to transform your sales and marketing function using gen AI.
Strategies to Transform Sales and Marketing with Gen AI
- Educate and Train:
Equip your team with knowledge about AI’s impressive capabilities and potential challenges. Workshops or sessions on gen AI fundamentals can help them grasp its potential applications and inspire innovative uses.
- Consider AI as a Team Member:
Embrace AI as a collaborative partner that complements human strengths. This synergy between humans and machines can lead to optimized results.
- Start with a Gen AI Review:
Look into your current sales and marketing tools. Consider adding affordable or open-source gen AI solutions to boost your capabilities.
- Create a Dedicated Gen AI Team:
Set up a team from different departments to explore how generative AI in sales and marketing can help you achieve business goals by ensuring the selection of the right solution.
- Seek Quick Wins in the Customer Process:
Choose simple projects where gen AI can make a big difference without much cost or risk. For example, automating the first emails to potential clients. Also, set up safety measures to manage any potential risks.
- Handle Inconsistencies:
Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, can sometimes produce varied answers. Training sales and marketing teams on effective questioning and consistent, prompt use are crucial to ensure human review in critical contexts.
- Strike the Cost-Effectiveness Balance:
Outsourcing AI tasks while maintaining a core of in-house experts can be efficient. A “boundary spanner”—someone who bridges the technical and sales domains—enhances the implementation and adoption of AI with an agile approach emphasizing quick prototypes and user feedback.
Conclusion
Gen AI is more than just a trending term; it’s a revolutionary force redefining the domains of marketing and sales. While there’s apprehension about generative AI technology superseding human roles, it’s crucial to recognize the limitations of technology. AI excels at data management and routine tasks, but human intuition, empathy, and creativity remain unmatched. Rather than seeing gen AI as a potential replacement, envision it as a powerful assistant that enhances human capabilities. The path forward is clear: merging AI’s analytical prowess with the unique human touch. By achieving this balance, businesses can chart a successful and harmonized trajectory in the ever-evolving world of AI-powered marketing and sales. To know how gen AI can revolutionize your marketing and sales domain, schedule a 30 min call with our senior Smarketers.
