Making powerful emotional connections through digital marketing, at scale, is possible, as explained by Aaron Masih, Chief Operating Officer at Persado in the latest Social Business Engine podcast. In it, Aaron describes how marketers can use machine learning and AI to make an emotional connection with customers, and better understand exactly how to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time.
The concept of emotional intelligence has received widespread attention since the publication of Daniel Goleman’s highly acclaimed book, “Emotional Intelligence,” and the concept is of particular interest to marketers because the needs and pain points that marketers hope to address are discovered by connecting with consumers on an emotional level. Making that kind of connection was easier when buying decisions were most commonly made face-to-face, but with the advent of the digital world, everything has changed.
When the right kind of emotional connection happens, however, purchases happen, customer loyalty increases, and repeat purchases are a natural result.
Customer Loyalty is on the Decline – Marketing AI Solves the Problem
Now that more consumers make their buying decisions through purely digital means, brands have logically ‘gone digital’ as well – and the barrage of messages buyers receive is overwhelming.
This presents some significant problems for marketers:
- It’s more difficult than ever for brands to differentiate and stand out from the noise
- It’s more difficult to engage in emotionally intelligent conversations with buyers
- Customer loyalty in this context becomes a tremendous challenge
Masih says that while digital technology has created the problems marketers face, digital technology also provides the solution. Through machine learning systems, customer responses to marketing messages can be assessed over time, enabling the messaging to be refined according to the emotional language buyers respond to – or don’t.
This level of personalization makes it possible to connect emotionally with buyers, at scale, and increase profitability through more closed transactions.
When Marketers Understand a Customer’s Emotional Triggers, Amazing Things Happen
For as long as marketing and sales training has been in existence, we’ve been taught that understanding the buyer is a fundamental premise to increased sales. Current data shows this is still true – when marketers are able to tailor a conversation to a specific customer, that person makes 2.4x more purchases annually, and is 6x more likely to purchase from the brand, even when competing brands are on sale.
But here’s the rub: The online experience happens at a much broader scale than the in-person marketing and sales experiences of the past – so how can marketers understand the emotions of their potential customers at that kind of scale and distance?
Masih points out that it’s too big of a problem for humans to solve, which is why many marketers are turning to machine intelligence for the solution.
Masih explains how AI (also referred to as augmented intelligence in this context) can gather and analyze marketing and sales data to enable a better understanding of the emotional context in which buyers are making their purchase decisions. This empowers marketers to create content using the right emotionally intelligent language that’ll motivate action from their buyers. It’s an approach that not only increases sales but meets the true needs of the customer at the same time, while strengthening brand loyalty.
AI Empowered Marketing Actually Creates More Human Connections With Customers
Augmented intelligence is proving to be the key to effective digital marketing – it empowers people – marketers, managers, copywriters – to do their work with greater effectiveness through emotionally intelligent language the data shows will be beneficial and effective when used to engage with specific customers.
This technology-augmented approach also enables marketers to understand the right ways to connect with customers throughout the stages of their buying journey, including the right platforms to use in order to make those connections. When the consumer is receiving this kind of relevant, emotionally intelligent messaging, they feel understood and appreciated, and are more likely to become loyal customers as a result.
Be sure to listen to this episode. The insights Aaron Masih shares will get you thinking more deeply about how your marketing can and should be making an emotional connection with your buyers, and how you can accomplish it through the use of artificial intelligence in your martech stack.