Intelligent marketing: Will automated marketing work without people in the future?
A poster advertisement for a social organization for the empowerment of women's rights writes on a photo of a girl standing in front of a robot: Tomorrow you will teach this robot to feel and sense...The technologies summarized under the term artificial intelligence (AI) are still at the beginning of their development and yet are already a natural part of everyday life. The example of marketing shows not only the enormous potential, but also the limits: refreshing and emotional creativity remains (for the time being) a profoundly human domain.they are available around the clock, perform many standard tasks automatically and increase efficiency in a wide variety of areas: Bots, digital assistants, artificial intelligence - digitalization opens up potential that is still not fully understood. On the one hand, humans are becoming an almost inexhaustible source of data, while on the other, intelligent tools are using this data in a targeted manner to influence human behavior. Automated systems that address potential customers with the relevant information at the perfect time and ultimately lead to a purchase decision are becoming increasingly established, particularly in the area of marketing - a dream come true for every sales manager who has to drive their employees to laboriously generate leads. The only question is: where are the people in this system?
Artificial intelligence is changing human behaviorWhen fridges automatically refill themselves via online ordering, YouTube only shows content that is of interest to the respective user and digital assistants book trips, these systems will draw on stored profiles: they filter and process data and information from the user's previous behavior so that they can derive their needs and interests from their experience. On this basis, they make decisions, but also change human behavior: Users sit back and relax, no longer search and research for themselves, but simply let themselves be found.However, in order to be found, product manufacturers and service providers must also drastically change their approach: Whereas advertising that suited the respective target group was once served via established channels in order to remain present in customers' minds, search engines must now also be convinced of the relevance of the offers. Siri & Co. are not interested in whether a creative and surprising advertisement attracts the user's attention; it is the algorithm that decides. And it only includes those websites in its evaluation that meet its requirements. Artificial intelligence therefore positions itself between brands and people in order to filter and select. If you're not on the web, you've lost anyway.Intelligent marketing creates scope for real creativityOnce you have googled a product, you will be shown exactly the right advertisement - not by chance, on the contrary. In the future, ads may even be individually tailored based on personal profiles and presented at the optimal touch points. Intelligent marketing is based on these automated processes, which take individualization to a new level: instead of a clear number of ad motifs, the algorithms create as many as desired to perfectly serve the sensitivities of the potential interested party.modern customers attach great importance to this, but companies are also taking a certain risk: How much individualization is possible without losing brand identity? This development remains to be seen, but above all it is up to marketing specialists to find a sustainable balance here, but the fact is that intelligent marketing automates the monotonous, clearly rule-based routine work - and thus frees up manpower in the areas of communication, sales and beyond. This also explains why many companies are bringing creative and strategic marketing services back in-house. Outsourcing is out, quality work is in, which is precisely where artificial intelligence reaches its limits: Bots & Co. can do a lot of the tedious work by processing existing data material to solve specific tasks based on clearly defined criteria. They thus give humans the freedom to use their enormous abilities creatively and strategically - something that robots are (still) unable to do.Algorithm vs. gut feeling - bots with clear boundariesBots work with if-then options - and these limit their possible uses: They can answer standard questions, organize appointments and make decisions or recommendations based on clearly defined criteria. The decisive factor is that the processes are predictable, clearly definable and can therefore be automated, but as soon as something unforeseen happens, intuitive action or an emotional relationship is required, the software robots reach their limits. Promptly retrievable factual knowledge alone does not guarantee a business transaction. Humanity, empathy and trustworthy advice simply cannot be packaged in algorithms. It is therefore not appropriate to think in black and white, because both sides remain important and, in the best case, complement each other, but there is also no point in resisting these technological developments: modern customers expect an all-round service, want to be able to access all important information at any time and be addressed individually - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These ever-increasing demands can only be met in an economically viable way with the help of automated processes. If companies do not move with the times, the competition will seize these opportunities, and the enormous potential that the inbound approach opens up in the area of marketing alone will be the key to sales success in the future: Prospective customers are identified as soon as they search for a solution to a problem, fed meaningful content at every single touch point on their customer journey and thus convinced step by step of the expertise of the company in question. The result: interested parties become customers out of conviction - thus completely reversing the signs in sales. The laborious conventional generation of leads is becoming increasingly inefficient in view of the manpower required, especially as many potential customers simply feel repelled and annoyed. Relying on the symbiosis between software robots and humans and making intelligent use of their respective strengths requires a complete rethink for many companies, but it is likely to be indispensable.The perfect double: man and machineThe possibilities opened up by the use of artificial intelligence are only just beginning to be exploited. It remains to be seen how smart digital assistants will really be when they can handle all automatable processes. Even if the capabilities of Siri & Co. are already impressive today, this is probably just a foretaste. Marketing, too, will be automated in its essential processes and thus function much more efficiently, but without the human component it will be impossible to operate successfully on the market: The highly valued content that the machines draw on to implement the respective tasks must be created just as creatively as the entire strategic considerations, pricing and the development of a buyer persona. However, bots can take over the important preparatory and routine work, they can tame the flood of data and analyze it based on defined criteria, but development will not stop there, the next logical step would be an autonomously learning digital assistant: if it can generate important insights from customer reactions and draw conclusions for its actions, autonomous marketing would also be possible - at least within certain limits. This software robot does not have emotions or empathy either, which can rob a brand of its very individual identity, so the question of efficiency is only one side of the marketing coin; the other is the extent to which a brand wants to present itself as automated and therefore soulless. Once pure functionality develops, the risk of interchangeability increases - the elaborately developed brand management was then effectively in vain. Against this backdrop, autonomous marketing seems unlikely, as it is not without reason that successful brands rely on creativity, emotional connection and surprises that are able to inspire their own customers in the long term. The optimal interplay of artificial intelligence and human skills is therefore proving to be the ideal solution by automating routine processes and creating the freedom that is so important for empathetic creativity - at least as things stand today.* Marco Englert (MBA) is a manager, consultant and coach who focuses on management innovations for the sustainable control of increasing dynaxity and digital transformation. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Executive Director Strategy & Digital Transformation, he is responsible for modeling and implementing management strategies at Motodox GmbH. He has excellent research and leadership know-how and is a certified specialist for brand communication, online marketing manager, digital sales manager, employer brand manager and manager for agile organizational development (Quadriga University).** Dr. Anabel Ternès is the founder of several tech companies. She is committed to future orientation and digital competence. Anabel Ternès is also CEO and founder of Get Your Wings gGmbH, board member of NFTE Germany and mentor of StartupTEENS. As Managing Director, she heads the Institute for Sustainable Management (IISM), is a speaker, expert and author on digitalization and holds a professorship in e-business. Anabel Ternès has many years of management experience in business development at international companies.
Artificial intelligence is changing human behaviorWhen fridges automatically refill themselves via online ordering, YouTube only shows content that is of interest to the respective user and digital assistants book trips, these systems will draw on stored profiles: they filter and process data and information from the user's previous behavior so that they can derive their needs and interests from their experience. On this basis, they make decisions, but also change human behavior: Users sit back and relax, no longer search and research for themselves, but simply let themselves be found.However, in order to be found, product manufacturers and service providers must also drastically change their approach: Whereas advertising that suited the respective target group was once served via established channels in order to remain present in customers' minds, search engines must now also be convinced of the relevance of the offers. Siri & Co. are not interested in whether a creative and surprising advertisement attracts the user's attention; it is the algorithm that decides. And it only includes those websites in its evaluation that meet its requirements. Artificial intelligence therefore positions itself between brands and people in order to filter and select. If you're not on the web, you've lost anyway.Intelligent marketing creates scope for real creativityOnce you have googled a product, you will be shown exactly the right advertisement - not by chance, on the contrary. In the future, ads may even be individually tailored based on personal profiles and presented at the optimal touch points. Intelligent marketing is based on these automated processes, which take individualization to a new level: instead of a clear number of ad motifs, the algorithms create as many as desired to perfectly serve the sensitivities of the potential interested party.modern customers attach great importance to this, but companies are also taking a certain risk: How much individualization is possible without losing brand identity? This development remains to be seen, but above all it is up to marketing specialists to find a sustainable balance here, but the fact is that intelligent marketing automates the monotonous, clearly rule-based routine work - and thus frees up manpower in the areas of communication, sales and beyond. This also explains why many companies are bringing creative and strategic marketing services back in-house. Outsourcing is out, quality work is in, which is precisely where artificial intelligence reaches its limits: Bots & Co. can do a lot of the tedious work by processing existing data material to solve specific tasks based on clearly defined criteria. They thus give humans the freedom to use their enormous abilities creatively and strategically - something that robots are (still) unable to do.Algorithm vs. gut feeling - bots with clear boundariesBots work with if-then options - and these limit their possible uses: They can answer standard questions, organize appointments and make decisions or recommendations based on clearly defined criteria. The decisive factor is that the processes are predictable, clearly definable and can therefore be automated, but as soon as something unforeseen happens, intuitive action or an emotional relationship is required, the software robots reach their limits. Promptly retrievable factual knowledge alone does not guarantee a business transaction. Humanity, empathy and trustworthy advice simply cannot be packaged in algorithms. It is therefore not appropriate to think in black and white, because both sides remain important and, in the best case, complement each other, but there is also no point in resisting these technological developments: modern customers expect an all-round service, want to be able to access all important information at any time and be addressed individually - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These ever-increasing demands can only be met in an economically viable way with the help of automated processes. If companies do not move with the times, the competition will seize these opportunities, and the enormous potential that the inbound approach opens up in the area of marketing alone will be the key to sales success in the future: Prospective customers are identified as soon as they search for a solution to a problem, fed meaningful content at every single touch point on their customer journey and thus convinced step by step of the expertise of the company in question. The result: interested parties become customers out of conviction - thus completely reversing the signs in sales. The laborious conventional generation of leads is becoming increasingly inefficient in view of the manpower required, especially as many potential customers simply feel repelled and annoyed. Relying on the symbiosis between software robots and humans and making intelligent use of their respective strengths requires a complete rethink for many companies, but it is likely to be indispensable.The perfect double: man and machineThe possibilities opened up by the use of artificial intelligence are only just beginning to be exploited. It remains to be seen how smart digital assistants will really be when they can handle all automatable processes. Even if the capabilities of Siri & Co. are already impressive today, this is probably just a foretaste. Marketing, too, will be automated in its essential processes and thus function much more efficiently, but without the human component it will be impossible to operate successfully on the market: The highly valued content that the machines draw on to implement the respective tasks must be created just as creatively as the entire strategic considerations, pricing and the development of a buyer persona. However, bots can take over the important preparatory and routine work, they can tame the flood of data and analyze it based on defined criteria, but development will not stop there, the next logical step would be an autonomously learning digital assistant: if it can generate important insights from customer reactions and draw conclusions for its actions, autonomous marketing would also be possible - at least within certain limits. This software robot does not have emotions or empathy either, which can rob a brand of its very individual identity, so the question of efficiency is only one side of the marketing coin; the other is the extent to which a brand wants to present itself as automated and therefore soulless. Once pure functionality develops, the risk of interchangeability increases - the elaborately developed brand management was then effectively in vain. Against this backdrop, autonomous marketing seems unlikely, as it is not without reason that successful brands rely on creativity, emotional connection and surprises that are able to inspire their own customers in the long term. The optimal interplay of artificial intelligence and human skills is therefore proving to be the ideal solution by automating routine processes and creating the freedom that is so important for empathetic creativity - at least as things stand today.* Marco Englert (MBA) is a manager, consultant and coach who focuses on management innovations for the sustainable control of increasing dynaxity and digital transformation. As Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Executive Director Strategy & Digital Transformation, he is responsible for modeling and implementing management strategies at Motodox GmbH. He has excellent research and leadership know-how and is a certified specialist for brand communication, online marketing manager, digital sales manager, employer brand manager and manager for agile organizational development (Quadriga University).** Dr. Anabel Ternès is the founder of several tech companies. She is committed to future orientation and digital competence. Anabel Ternès is also CEO and founder of Get Your Wings gGmbH, board member of NFTE Germany and mentor of StartupTEENS. As Managing Director, she heads the Institute for Sustainable Management (IISM), is a speaker, expert and author on digitalization and holds a professorship in e-business. Anabel Ternès has many years of management experience in business development at international companies.
