Businesses can't afford to view personalization as a luxury. There are currently as many as 24 million e-commerce sites vying for customers’ limited attention, and three-quarters of today’s consumers experience frustration when companies don't personalize their interactions with them. With so many competitors just a click away, consumers are unlikely to shop at businesses that disappoint them.
The expectation that companies personalize communication didn't materialize out of the ether. Over the past few years, businesses across the world have begun to harness big data and artificial intelligence to create customized experiences that meet user expectations and spur company growth.
Since 2017, AI adoption has doubled, with IBM reporting that 40% of larger corporations are using it to help develop personalized experiences. Furthermore, the same IBM report found that 98% of Chinese companies use AI to help with customer care. In other words, the writing is already on the wall: Personalization is the future of customer service, and AI is making it possible.
Why AI-Driven Personalization Needs to Be a Priority
Done right, machine learning personalization can increase conversion rates, boost sales, and improve the chances that buyers will keep coming back. On the other hand, a lack of personalization or an unsatisfactory implementation can damage a company’s reputation and make it more difficult to build up customer loyalty. According to a PwC survey, 70% of respondents don’t have a high amount of trust in companies, and 71% of individuals would buy less from a company that loses their trust.
There are plenty of ways personalization can go wrong, including outdated information, a lack of historical data, and assumptions that are based on too few interactions. Not to mention the complexity, maintenance, and time investment it would take to manually gather data, test, and implement –– it’s enough for anyone to be overwhelmed. Even with medium-complexity customer journeys, businesses need to make sure they have the right tools for the job or risk common pitfalls. Fortunately, AI provides these tools, helping companies keep personalization on the right track.
4 Ways AI Makes Personalization Easier and More Effective
There are several ways personalization can benefit from AI. Here are some of the most significant:
1. AI delivers a more complete picture of your customers.
Data is useless if you can't translate it into information that your team can use. With machine learning, AI can take a pool of seemingly impenetrable data and derive valuable insights from it. But that’s just where its power begins. Using AI to automatically act on meaningful insights is where the tech can make its biggest impact on your customers. With AI’s ability to connect disparate customer data points, it can deliver actionable steps and act on them to engage customers. Our decision engine automates what to test and a suite of analytics tools provides you with a detailed view of performance at every step.
2. AI helps you deliver more compelling content.
Personalization is as much about delivering what customers currently need as it is about anticipating what they need next. Machine learning personalization can harness existing information, such as customer demographics and behavior, to detect patterns that can be used for predictive analysis or experience-specific engagement. This also creates a feedback loop that tracks the success or failure of these predictions in order to improve the accuracy of the AI.
3. AI frees live agents to support customers.
You likely already know that AI chatbots aim to handle basic inquiries so that live support agents can address more complex, customer-specific issues. You may not know, however, that AI can also help agents personalize each interaction they have with customers. During conversations, AI works in the background to deliver agents problem-specific solutions and suggest actions based on past behavior and similar customers. This allows agents to address customer needs proactively — and drive new sales in the process.
4. AI keeps you timely and relevant.
While changing consumer behavior can be perplexing for many companies, AI for personalization can make it a non-issue. AI-powered analytics provide intelligent, data-derived insights that track customer journeys in real-time and adapt to what’s needed in the moment, delivering a truly customized experience for each and every buyer.
Evolv AI Can Help You Optimize Your Customer Personalization
At Evolv AI, we’re dedicated to helping businesses deliver personalized experiences that keep up with changing consumer behavior. By simultaneously adapting to live customer behavior and applying AI-driven historical data, we help companies develop personalized, intelligent digital experiences. These help drive conversions and boost customer loyalty.
For more information on what we can do for your business — and your customer personalization with AI —learn more about our AI-driven experimentation platform or connect with us today.
