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What Brands Can Learn From Lush’s Social Exit

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By Chitra Iyer

Is your brand’s survival tied to social media? Why relying on such platforms may be risky and how companies like Lush and others are navigating this terrain.

The Gist

  • Social media marketing is evolving. Brands need to keep pace, even with economic challenges and overstretched social teams.
  • Vanity metrics and low ROI won’t hold up for much longer. It’s time for brands to rebalance the role of social media in their marketing strategy.
  • New opportunities are emerging. Brands are exploring the intersection of social commerce and influencer marketing to amplify content and generate revenues.

While social media is undoubtedly a crucial piece of brand marketing, building a social-media-dependent marketing strategy is akin to building your house on rented land. In the recent past, brands such as Tesla, Lush, Bottega Veneta and pub chain Wetherspoons, all large brands, have claimed to have gone “off” social media. And while that doesn’t quite mark a trend, it’s a timely reminder for all brands to reconsider the role and relevance of social media in their strategy.

Here’s why.

In many ways, mainstream social media is becoming increasingly noisy, cluttered and distracting. As brand content becomes more performative, audiences seek more authenticity and transparency. In general, there is a higher awareness of issues around personal data — and lower trust in the credibility and accuracy of anything on social media. Creating content that can stand out is more expensive because audiences expect slicker productions. And yet, most content on social has the shelf life of an avocado.

Walled gardens are making it harder and more expensive for advertisers to access audience data, and organic content is at the mercy of obtuse and unpredictable algorithms, not to mention owners. Brands have less control over negativity, political narratives and regulatory agendas. And AI is making content creation both easier and more difficult.

That is a lot going on! The challenge, said Meg Casebolt, founder of Love at First Search, is that social media is becoming just too unstable to be the primary marketing strategy, especially for smaller brands.

But that’s not all. Younger audiences — the largest consumer base for the next several decades — are tuning out of “mainstream” social platforms, preferring instead a more fragmented and private portfolio of social channels and messaging apps. In 2022, while TikTok, Snapchat and Insta made the Top 3, none enjoyed more than 30% of mindshare.

Gen Z approaches product discovery and brand engagement differently. They don’t want to be marketed and sold to, preferring instead to be involved and participate as brand co-creators, not just passive consumers. This means brands need to create more ad-free, intimate, and community-focused conversations on the various platforms that audiences are on. Super commercial splashes on mainstream social media may just not land.

Moving On: Conscious Uncoupling, or an Outright Separation?

No doubt what’s worked in the past is not going to work anymore. But leaving social media would be a knee-jerk reaction. With 90% of the US population on social media, brands cannot “just leave.” In fact, 96% of business leaders say investments in social media continue to be a must.

Instead, brands, large or small, have to be smart about where and how they spend their time and resources based on consumer behaviour, said Jen Spencer, CEO of digital agency SmartBug Media. With an average of 32% of marketing budgets spent on social media, brands are refocusing their social media strategy to adjust for current realities and reengineer why and how they use social media to achieve not just engagement, but also ROI and revenues in a stressed economic environment.

In this context, two of the best opportunities lie in social selling and influencer marketing. Let’s take a closer look.

Social Selling

Most brands see a lot of engagement, but sales are driven by social commerce, visual search and referrals, said Spencer. Lush, a handmade cosmetics company, made the decision to exit social, said Europe-based social media consultant and industry insider Matt Navarra. To leave Meta-owned channels and TikTok would likely have had a significant commercial impact in terms of product discovery, customer service, and general advertising reach and engagement. However, it was a hit the company was willing to take because the move aligns with who it is as a brand and may even strengthen its appeal.

It’s worth noting, however, that though Lush’s recent campaigns have encouraged customers to “be somewhere else,” the group, which suffered losses of $54 million in FY21, scored a pre-tax profit of $34.8 million in FY 2022. One factor could be its doubling down on digital website and app sales.

Is your brand’s survival tied to social media? Why relying on such platforms may be risky and how companies like Lush and others are navigating this terrain.

Payment options — not social media icons — line the edges of Lush’s website footer.

Influencer Marketing

Bottega Veneta, an Italian brand specializing in leather handbags and ready-to-wear fashion, may have gone off social media too, but it, like Lush, has doubled down on social media influencer marketing, said Trista Walker, certified customer experience professional (CCXP), president and CEO at creative agency Baldwin & Obenauf, Inc. There are two advantages to this strategy, she said. First, a wide net of influencers does the heavy lifting of keeping up with trends and staying on top of trending channels and platforms, as well as content creation. Second, this creates a layer of brand safety by allowing brands to be one step removed from the platforms directly. “For instance, one of our Fortune 100 clients went dark on Facebook for over a year due to brand safety concerns in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica issue and related concerns,” said Walker.

Social media is here to stay, but with usage fragmenting ever more, brands could explore new ways to leverage influencer marketing, said Navarra. After all, while there are over 128 social media platforms in 2023, not counting private social networks and chat apps, close to 50% of companies report having only between two-to-five people working on social media. Gen Z audiences — about 61 million users in the US alone — are spreading themselves across many more than three-to-four platforms at any one time. They are more likely to use multiple smaller, less-known social media channels at various stages of life for various purposes.

Brands, Navarra suggested, need to make their content super sharable to these multiple platforms. Two opportunities that add a new dimension to influencer and ambassador-led marketing, he suggested, are user-generated content and employee-led content on social media. As AI-created content takes over social feeds, brands could leverage their human side by mobilizing employees and customers themselves to build a meaningful, trusted social media presence.

On the other hand, Spencer also sees the use of interactive chatbots on social media as an opportunity to create highly personalized experiences. Brands should think about how to align chatbot-powered interactive social experiences at scale, with authentic human (influencer and employee) powered initiatives that drive trust and credibility.

The Hamster Wheel Isn’t Slowing Down

There seems to be no end in sight for the text, audio, video and soon, AR/VR content-creation hamster wheel that social media has become. The number of channels and platforms will increase, usage will fragment more and trends will continue to change faster than any social media team can keep up.

One smart way to combine the power of influencer marketing with social commerce, said Spencer, is livestreaming sales events with influencers and ambassadors. Perhaps even employees. This is a revenue-focused trend that will grow in 2023.

A better understanding of how people search and discover products on social media will also help grow social commerce by revealing new opportunities to leverage influencers. It will also be interesting to see if visual product search and social shopping — already a big deal in Asia — will also grow in Western markets, added Navarra.

Social media isn’t dying, and neither is consumer interest in it. Rather than cutting back, investing in a flexible, responsive influencer marketing strategy, combined with the right social selling strategy could be the key to staying relevant in the social media kaleidoscope.

By Chitra Iyer

Chitra is a seasoned freelance B2B content writer with over 10 years of enterprise marketing experience. Having spent the first half of her career in senior corporate marketing roles for companies such as Timken Steel, Tata Sky Satellite TV, and Procter & Gamble, Chitra brings that experience to her writing. She has authored over 500 articles, white papers, eBooks, guides, and research reports on customer experience, martech, salestech, adtech, retailtech, and customer data and privacy. She holds a Masters in global media & communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBA in marketing. Connect with Chitra Iyer:  

Sourced from CMSWIRE

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AI is the end of brands as we know them

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The recent Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity revealed how artificial intelligence will force us to find new ways of seeing if we’re to adapt to this new paradigm shift.

“Whenever the word AI was mentioned in a case study, the jury cringed.”

One juror told me about his experience inside the jury room at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on the French Riviera last week. This year, to no one’s surprise, AI was the talk of the town.

Back in 2013, right after Cannes Lions, I wrote an op-ed piece for Fast Company called “The End of Advertising As We Know It,” based on what I was observing then. I described a paradigm shift in marketing that I thought would occur because of technological, societal, and behavioural changes.

These changes didn’t kill advertising. Instead, they forced it to mutate over time.

Ten years on, advertising isn’t advertising anymore. This year, much of the award-winning work at Cannes Lions wasn’t what one would consider ads in the traditional sense. They were cloaked in or disguised as something other than ads. “Knock Knock” for Korean National Police Agency, “The First Digital Nation” for Tuvalu, or “Runner 321” for Adidas were grand prix winners of various categories—but to call them ads or campaigns would be a misnomer. “Advertising needs a new name,” Scott Galloway told a packed auditorium at the Festival.

The landscape has shifted so much that an individual can now have more sway than an institutional brand. A brand can also be lifted up to new heights or brought to its knees by an individual.

It may be the end of brands as we know them.

Based on what I have observed at the Festival and elsewhere, here are a few principles that can guide the next paradigm shift.

From Organizational Scale to Functional Speed

Galloway writes in his blog post that “[American football] Hall of Fame player Jerry Rice wasn’t that fast, but he had ‘functional speed,’ the instincts to accelerate or decelerate when it mattered most.”

Take Adobe, for example. In just a few months, it introduced Firefly, a prompt-based generative AI tool incorporated within Photoshop. Adobe, an old and possibly stale software giant, accelerated when it mattered, demonstrating its relevance as a brand.

It is important to note, however, that functional speed doesn’t belong just to tech giants like Adobe.

When I asked my friend Pum Lefebure, cofounder and chief creative officer of Design Army, about her recent AI-generated campaign, “Adventures in A-Eye” for Georgetown Optician, what struck me most was the speed.

[Image: Design Army for Georgetown Optician]

For this, instead of briefing her team to come up with it, Pum used Midjourney to produce the concept by herself. In a week or so, she presented nearly finished work. A few weeks later, the campaign launched. Typically, the process to develop something of this caliber would take several months. AI allowed her to collapse the process from four months to four weeks.

Moving forward, AI will enable companies of all sizes and individuals to scale and speed themselves in ways that weren’t possible before, rendering organizational scale less praiseworthy than previously.

From Transaction to Conversation

One of the key touch points between brands and people online is e-commerce. The entire process—from product selection to payment—is transactional. However, when asked what people value most in their customer experience and will pay more for, “friendly service” and “knowledgeable service” score as high as “efficiency” and “easy payment.” Conversations are highly suited for delivering friendly and knowledgeable services.

It’s already possible for us to have fairly natural conversations with AI on just about anything. In the next few years, it will be entirely possible for machines to provide friendly and knowledgeable services that are as good as, if not better than, those provided by humans in the form of conversations.

Aim for effectiveness, not just efficiency, in every transaction with your customer.

From USP to POV

Not too long ago, Ayako Tanaka, a Japanese fashion Instagrammer with a modest following of 168,000 followers, sold close to $1 million worth of products she curated during a two-day pop-up event. That’s the kind of revenue that a major global brand would sell in a day or two at its flagship store.

Major brands may have superior products with better unique selling propositions (USP). However, it’s Tanaka’s POV that followers are attracted to and buying into, resulting in this kind of sales figure.

Many brands try to express their point of view. Patagonia proclaiming that Earth is its only stakeholder is one excellent example, while Mastercard Europe helping Ukrainian refugees with “Where to Settle”—another piece of work winning big at Cannes—is another instance of a company putting money where its mouth is.

On the contrary, when a brand doesn’t stick to its POV, it can be far more damaging than it would have been a decade ago, as we saw in the case of a transgender influencer and a brand that relied on her but didn’t support her.

The mistake wasn’t not having a POV. Rather, it was not sticking to it.

From Generative AI to Human Touch

While AI was by far the dominant topic in Cannes, there was little evidence that it has materially made the work better. When AI was mentioned in the context of creative endeavours, people were quick to mention efficiency, not quality or originality. That’s an Achilles’ heel for creativity.

“McEnroe vs. McEnroe” for AB InBev’s Michelob Ultra is one example of the use of AI that wasn’t possible five years ago. It takes past data in order to regenerate the moves of tennis player John McEnroe from the past and lets the real McEnroe play against himself. Humans, not AI, came up with a seemingly impossible idea and used AI to make it possible.

PJ Pereira, an old colleague of mine and AI optimist like me, says, “The last turn [in the creative process] needs to be yours,” referring to what takes work from good enough to great.

In 2016, AlphaGo beat Lee Se-dol, the South Korean Go champion, 4 to 1. In Game 2, the AI program surprised Lee—and the world—with its so-called move 37, which humans thought was a mistake at first but turned out to be a decisive move in beating Lee. “This move was really creative and beautiful,” Lee would later say.

In the one game where Lee beat AlphaGo, it was his “hand of God” play, the 78th move, which perplexed the AI program. In a sense, the machine gave Lee “a new way of seeing the game,” as depicted in one scene of the documentary, AlphaGo.

In sum, AI might not kill brands—or creativity for that matter—just yet. However, it’ll force brands to mutate over time, and us to adjust our ways of thinking and working.

Not only has AI collapsed the space between your idea and execution, but so has the influence between institutions and individuals. Building a brand has now become accessible to anyone and everyone. That is why it also has gotten that much more competitive. Fiercely so.

When we don’t hear the mention of AI anymore, that’s when we know technology has diffused itself throughout our industry, whatever that may be.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Rei Inamoto

Rei Inamoto is the founding partner of I&CO, a global innovation firm that works with forward-thinking leaders to accelerate growth and shape the future of their business.

Sourced from Fast Company

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Four Ways Generative AI Can Be Incorporated To Accelerate Business Strategies And Operations

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By Forrester

Generative AI (gen AI) was born on November 30, 2022, with the release of ChatGPT, and it’s been moving 100 miles an hour ever since, drawing in 100 million people and counting. As new and surprisingly powerful as gen AI is, we can already see how companies will incorporate gen AI capabilities into their businesses’ strategies and operations. Our experience with two earlier, explosive technologies show you how.

  1. The BYO explosion of the late 2000s taught us how to incorporate employee-led disruption. We learned that when employees brought personal technology to solve customer and business problems. We empowered, guided, and protected employees and the firm while taking advantage of the new value that personal technologies in business brought.
  2. The mobile, social, original internet explosions taught us how to respond to and take advantage of customer-led disruption. We built mobile apps to help customers in their mobile moments of need; we adopted social media communications to improve engagement and collaboration; and we tooled up to take full advantage of the business models shaped by the internet.

Technology executives should prepare for generative AI to follow both paths and sprint into your business through four doors:

  • Bottom-up. Some of the 100 million people already using generative AI work for you. As you learned in the BYOD era, employees will adopt any tool that makes them more successful. The hyperadoption of gen AI leads to rampant BYOAI adoption. You can’t stop them, not fully. Your job is to put up guardrails that protect the firm’s IP and teach the skills of responsible AI. You need guardrails because your company IP is at risk. Just like with the original onslaught of BYO, you need to tune in now and empower, guide, and protect employees and the firm. Sharpen your listening tools and network sniffers. Revisit and promote your responsible AI policies ASAP. Your response to BYOAI will shape your top-down approach to gen AI, because employees will have elevated their robotics quotient and will be ready to go.
  • Top-down. Gen AI will unlock the value of 10-plus years of investments in data, insights, and artificial intelligence, including machine-learning models. This is where your investments in trusted AI will pay off, because you’re ready to use them. Already, the hyperscalers and software-as-a-service platform providers have announced and will trickle release gen AI-infused applications. Already, service providers and you are using TuringBots to generate and test code. Already, you’re incorporating marketing content generated from text prompts to hyperpersonalize engagement. And soon, you’ll overhaul your usability with text-based interfaces to business and analytics applications. Every part of your business will have ideas on how to use generative AI, mostly to optimize, automate, or augment something. Some will be great. Pick the ones that are easiest, safest, and most practical to deploy first.
  • Outside-in. Customers’ expectations for what gen AI can do for them are rising faster than anybody can keep up with. Every day, there is a new application using gen AI to do something useful. The latest I saw was a “free” cover-letter generator using GPT-4. (“Free” means that they’re accumulating your job preferences to resell as insights.) Microsoft triggered the search wars with OpenAI in Bing, and Google is now full-on engaged with Bard. Already, in the US, 35% of Gen Zers and 25% of Millennials have used bots to help buy hard-to-find inventory. That bot habit will be supercharged with gen AI, raising expectations even higher. Your job starts by anticipating where customers’ adoption will directly affect your company. If a customer has a better idea of your product landscape than your salespeople, that’s not good. If they are getting gen AI-powered customer care from a competitor and not you, not good. If your competitors’ stuff is in a next-generation recommendation engine and yours isn’t, that’s not good. Just like with mobile, your response will be to ramp up your customer-facing gen AI capabilities inside-out.
  • Inside-out. As you move through the gen AI opportunity thicket, you will quickly identify ways to help customers and deliver more value with your own gen AI-infused applications. Customer care or empowering frontline employees will be an early payoff, we expect. But you’ll find opportunities to streamline customer onboarding, hyper personalize engagement, provide better customer self-service, and stimulate a new round of value creation like what was triggered by mobile apps. Sort the scenarios based on the readiness of your data, the impact you will have, and your confidence that you can anticipate and manage the costs that go along with gen AI licensing and computing. The technical architectures are still in flux, but we believe that it will incorporate layers of intelligence — some of yours, some from others, and some public — protected by control gates for inputs and outputs and piped together into gen AI-infused applications. This “layers, gates, and pipes” approach will help you scale, take advantage of all the capabilities, and give you intense visibility into how it’s going and where the costs lie.

By Ted Schadler

This post was written by VP, Principal Analyst Ted Schadler and it originally appeared here. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. 

Sourced from Forbes

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Are ‘creative agencies’ killing creativity?

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By Nick Horne 

When I say that creative agencies are killing creativity, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to set up an all-out war with particular agencies. It’s not about agencies that fall into the ‘creative’ category per se. It’s the term ‘creative agency’ itself.

It’s a conceit invented to save the ‘ad’ agencies of old from crumbling under the up-surge of digital. In theory, it moved them away from being the TV agency in the mind of marketers, allowing them to maintain a bigger piece of the pie.

Likewise ‘smart marketing’: for some it’s a fair title, but for others it’s been a mask. An excuse to pitch the ‘we do digital, too’ idea when really, they’re creating a 15-second cut-down for social because digital is a loss leader to the bit they really want, the 60-second TV or cinema ad.

What does it mean to be creative?

The term was invented at a time when the more interesting and creative work was happening in non-traditional media. And so, a land grab was made on the ownership of creativity. As a result, every other media channel now seems to operate in service of proving the value of those big shoots.

Print and radio have become devalued and frequently lacking creativity. The industry has created an environment where budgets and effort are being funnelled so much to one medium or production that we’re tying our hands and cutting off huge opportunities for brands to shine.

Digital has all too often been demoted to basic social cut-downs of the 60-second film, with little consideration of how well it suits the behaviour of that channel.

I’m not going to decry TV as a medium, and I’m not going to argue against the many cases made over recent years for the value of brand building or fame, and the contribution TV makes to that.

It’s important that we stick to the true meaning of creativity. As Paul Feldwick put it, it’s “the artistry and skills that make things popular and distinctive” and not “innovation or originality for its own sake”. But, nor is it the sole pursuit of one type of agency, and one form of creativity from very singular minds.

It’s important that we stretch to find (or craft) the new whether that’s in film or other mediums. The problem is that, currently, it feels like some creatives start with ‘where would we like to shoot next?’ and not ‘what’s the idea?’. Where there is an idea there sometimes seems to be little challenge as to ‘how do we express this best?’.

There are plenty of examples where digital- or experiential-first ideas have created huge fame. They were admittedly fewer and further between, but we never harnessed and made repeatable those instances before resorting back to the safety of the old proven mediums.

The problem

Big networks have gone on to hoover up creatives from a broader more diverse creative background but then create a culture where those creatives are also drawn toward writing the big scripts, they’re rewarded more for that, and it’s held in higher regard.

It shouldn’t be down to the creative teams to fight to broaden the output; that’s the role of agency leadership and the clients. The direction and brief from the start should be to look in every corner to unearth ideas.

I spoke to one senior creative who had recently left a big network and was excited at the opportunity to “do different stuff”; to not be hemmed in by this culture. On one hand, it’s a symptom of the creative drain. But on the other it’s wildly damning of the industry’s standards. Creatives used to leave agencyland when they couldn’t live up to its demands anymore, not the other way around.

It’s also in part the power dynamic created by the term ‘creative agency’. Ownership of creativity by a small, core group whose interest is really in a limited range of mediums will always create a conflict of interest.

The solution

It’s more important than ever both for the retention of creative minds and also for the creation of the best work that we re-introduce tension in the industry, and that clients demand it. Not fewer/larger networks taking up the larger share of budget, but more open and equal bites at creativity, agencies encouraged to challenge each other. Helping make us think more broadly and freer. Ultimately, creative minds with a focus once again on idea first before medium.

And there’s the crux: ideas should own the title ‘creativity’. Not companies, not media channels; ideas. And competition for the best idea is the only healthy way.

Feature Image Credit: Creatives aren’t challenging themselves enough, according to True’s Nick Horne / Ryan Quintal

By Nick Horne 

Sourced from The Drum

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What Measures do VCs Take to Manage the Financial Metrics of Their Portfolio Start-ups

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By Sujata Sangwan

Human resources and marketing are the two areas where the majority of companies spend the most of their money. The proactive strategy taken by VCs entails close collaboration with their portfolio firms to thoughtfully plan and get ready for these critical areas well in advance, ensuring they are well-equipped to handle possible obstacles.

Highs and lows are unavoidable since markets are always changing. To assist the company’s founders in overcoming any unique difficulties that may arise, the investors keep in close contact with them. The founders also continue to engage with and seek assistance from their investors’ extensive networks, which span numerous nations and industries.

Based on a structure they hope will keep businesses honest throughout all phases of the start-up lifecycle and help them through challenging times by prioritising important areas of emphasis, VCs have continued to work alongside their portfolio in light of recent events over the previous 12 months.

Here are a few steps that venture capitalists have taken to control the financial parameters, including burn and runaway, of the firms in their portfolio.

Closely works with founders

3one4 Capital works with its founders to plan and actively manage financial metrics including burn and runway. According to Nruthya Madappa, Partner, 3one4 Capital, “These are critical aspects we help them monitor and gain control over on an ongoing basis regardless of the macro scenario.”

The VC firm drives continuous, collaborative financial planning across its portfolio, to explore and capture cost optimisation and business model efficiencies to help founders make their companies more resilient.

Encourages concentrating on core businesses

Kae Capital asks that its portfolio companies aggressively concentrate on their key competencies and start reducing costs in non-core competencies where there is no significant PMF (Product Market Fit). In some circumstances, “we suggest that they search for bridge rounds as well,” according to Kae Capital Partner Gaurav Chaturvedi.

Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner of Speciale Invest, continued, “Startups occasionally might have to let go of their employees as well. We advise founders to spend all of their remaining funds only on endeavours that advance technology and company, which will lower risk, boost chances of success, and help them raise additional money.”

Run a special program and connect with the right partners

Inflection Point Ventures has set up unique initiatives like a ‘Lets Grow Start-up’ program for deep engagement with 4-5 identified experts from various domains who work closely with its portfolio companies advising on strategy and have a regular check on burn and runway.

Apart from the cash conservation and management exercise on a case-to-case basis, “we do assist companies in connecting to right partners (like other VCs, RBF companies) for intermediate financing arrangements,” stated Ankur Mittal, Co founder, Inflection Point Ventures.

Look for a M&A target

During these times, in addition to locating funding sources, cost reduction and—most importantly—standing by the founders when things become rough could mean the difference between success and failure. “Our portfolio management team gets involved when it becomes crucial for the start-up to hunt for an M&A target to sustain or increase shareholder value. Several of our companies, including Supr Daily, Belita, and AHA Taxis, have been acquired throughout the years, giving investors an exit,” as per Lead Angels Founder and CEO Sushanto Mitra.

Recommend being creative, freezing new experiments, & prioritising profitability

According to BEENEXT, it keeps in close contact with its founders to assist them in overcoming any unique difficulties that may emerge. “For instance, we advise being creative to lessen the burn if the firm has less than 18 months of runway and is still attempting to identify its Product Market Fit. Prepare for a hard reset with just the core staff and be ready for the worst-case scenario,” advised Chinmaya Saxena, Partner – Community Strategy, BEENEXT.

But if the start-up has already achieved Product Market Fit and has a longer runway than 18 months, the priority should be finding new funding as quickly as possible. “We advise doubling down on the primary product’s monetisation while halting any new experiments and hires. Additionally, it is essential for these start-ups to provide a clear route to profitability, perhaps by securing longer revenue contracts or subscriptions,” Sexena said.

On the other hand, if start-ups have less than 18 months of runway but have not found their Product Market Fit, efforts need to be on low-cost Product Market Fit discovery by reducing burn and preserving runway for as long as possible. “If the start-up has achieved Product Market Fit and has more than 18 months of runway, then they need to prioritize profitability over growth by doubling down on channels that are working well and cutting down on low ROI experiments,” emphasised Saxena.

Feature Image Credit: Freepik

By Sujata Sangwan

Sujata is an engineering graduate and has done her Post Graduation in Human Resource Management. She has a deep interest in startups, venture capitalists & technology. She can be reached at [email protected].

Sourced from Entrepreneur India

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8 ways AI can revolutionize your digital marketing strategy

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If you’re not already using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance your digital strategy, fear not. Tug’s Elliot Gray has you covered.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the media industry. It’s opened up a huge range of new possibilities for digital marketers, helping them gain competitive advantages and engage with customers in new and exciting ways.

Here, we cover seven things digital marketers can do with AI to speed up workflows, boost ROI on ad campaigns, and more.

1. Automate repetitive tasks

While the role of the digital marketer is forever changing, there are some repetitive admin tasks we haven’t been able to shake – until now. Sending emails, posting on social media, conducting research. AI can automate all of these, freeing up time for marketers to focus on higher-value work.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software like Zapier can integrate with 5,000 apps and platforms to create automated workflows, automating the process of lead-generation campaigns, for example.

2. Create personalized content

AI can also be used to create more personalized content. Businesses have utilized this for many years. In 2016, Starbucks used predictive analytics to create customized emails by leveraging loyalty card and mobile app data. By analyzing data about consumer behavior, AI can help marketers better understand what kinds of content are most likely to resonate with the audience they’re trying to reach.

3. Conduct audience research

Conducting audience research can be tedious, but AI can speed it up by collecting and analyzing data about potential customers. It can also support marketers in identifying new audience segments they might not have considered before.

At Tug, we use ChatGPT to help identify new audience interests to target on Meta when planning a campaign by feeding the platform as much relevant information about the company and its products or services as possible, then asking it to provide around 50 options. Admittedly, it can spit out a lot of nonsense, but by asking for a large list of options, you have a better chance of finding hidden gems.

4. Improve customer service

Digital marketers can’t be on standby for their clients all hours of the day. By using chatbots, businesses can provide their customers with 24/7 assistance, even outside regular business hours.

Chatbots can answer FAQs or give product recommendations. Implementing a chatbot can help reduce the time employees spend answering simple questions. When something more complex comes up that the chatbot can’t answer, it can escalate the issue to an actual human.

5. Analyze data

AI can assist digital marketers with collecting and organizing data from various sources, reducing the time spent on obtaining and arranging the data, as well as making the process more streamlined overall.

If we take something like ‘sentiment analysis’ as an example, a company might use AI tools to gauge customer attitudes toward a specific brand, product, or ad campaign. This can be done by reviewing social media posts, reviews, and other online feedback in order to help understand public perception and adjust accordingly.

6. Analyze performance

Even better, AI can be adopted to analyze the performance of campaigns across multiple channels. By analyzing data from multiple sources, marketers can better understand how each channel contributes to overall success and adjust their strategies accordingly.

7. Predictive analytics

AI can predict future trends and consumer behavior more accurately than manual analysis. Predictive analytics uses machine learning algorithms to analyze large customer datasets and identify patterns that indicate future trends. For example, AI can determine which products or services are likely to soon become more prevalent, or which customers could be more likely to remain loyal customers.

8. Automate media buying processes

Through automation, AI can make the media buying process more efficient. By sifting through consumer behavior and market trends data, AI can help businesses find the best deals for their media campaigns, preventing them from overspending on ad buys. For example, AI can identify the best times and channels to run ads in order to maximize their reach while saving on costs.

Feature Image Credit: Levi Loot

By Elliot Gray

Sourced from The Drum

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9 powerful questions to ask a financial adviser in your first meeting

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By Andrew Shilling

Getting these answers can help determine if they are right for you and your money.

Because the finance world can be both complex and overwhelming, you need to know the right questions to ask to vet a financial adviser and determine if you two are a good match.

“Depending on the type of client, most should first think of what they are looking for in an adviser before they even meet,” says Nicholas Bunio, a certified financial planner with Retirement Wealth Advisors. “Do you want an adviser to just do retirement planning, or someone who can do retirement planning, plus estate planning, and insurance planning? Or are you looking for someone who invests money? Maybe you are looking for someone to manage your investments, or someone who sells life insurance, annuities or long-term care?,” he explains. (Looking for a new financial adviser? This tool can match you to an adviser who meets your needs.)

Then schedule a face-to-face meeting. This is the best time to not only convey your own personal financial standing and what you want from an adviser, but also your lifestyle, employment history, hopes and dreams for the future — and what you expect to get out of the relationship.

Here are the 9 most impactful questions you can ask in that first meeting with your prospective financial adviser:

1. Are you a fiduciary?

When it comes to financial advice, the term fiduciary means quite a bit; determining whether or not the financial planner you’re considering working with is one can be one of the most important questions you can ask.

First, what is a fiduciary? In simple terms, a fiduciary is an adviser  who is required by law to work with your best interest in mind when it comes to managing your assets. While not all financial advisers follow these guidelines, those who do are most often known as registered investment advisers, or RIAs. By design, RIAs meet these requirements. Certified financial planners, also known as CFPs, may also carry this status, but it’s best to ask any adviser if they’re a fiduciary first to find out. (Looking for a financial adviser who is also a fiduciary? This tool can match you to an adviser who meets your needs.)

2. What are your qualifications/credentials?

Certifications carry a lot of weight in the world of financial planning. When you’re researching the advisers in your area, you’ll probably see the various credentials tacked to the ends of their profiles and email signatures. Here are just 10 of the most common credentials to look out for and a little about what they mean:

Common credentials and designations for financial advisers

  • Certified financial planner (CFP)®: This certification is backed by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, also known as the CFP Board. If you’re looking for an adviser with expertise in financial planning, taxes, insurance, estate planning and retirement saving, a CFP may be the way to go. CFPs are also required to be a fiduciary of your assets, which in short means they are required to work in your best interest when it comes to managing your money.
  • Chartered financial analyst (CFA)®: This subsect is recognized by the CFA Institute and ensures your adviser has passed exams covering topics such as accounting economics, ethics, money management and security analysis. For some context on the exclusivity of the CFA credential; more than two million candidates have taken the Level I exam since its inception in 1963, with 291,500 candidates going on to pass the Level III exam, according to Investopedia.
  • Certified fund specialist (CFS): Advisers with a CFS certification have been certified by the Institute of Business & Finance (IBF) for their proficiency in working with mutual funds. Those who hold this title are qualified to become accountants, bankers, brokers, money managers, personal financial advisers, and various other financial industry professionals. To maintain this credential, advisers with a CFS are required to recertify with 30 hours of education every two years.
  • Chartered financial consultant (ChFC): Issued by the American College of Financial Services, this designation ensures additional expertise in tax and retirement planning for special needs, wealth management, insurance and more. Continuing education requirements here is also 30 hours every two years with at least one hour in ethics.
  • Chartered investment counsellor (CIC): Started by the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research in 1969, the CIC certification is designated for agency owners, producers, agents, brokers, as well as agency and company personnel who meet various requirements and who pass five of seven course exams on the following topics: personal lines, commercial casualty, commercial property, life and health, agency management, commercial multiline and insurance company operations.
  • Certified investment management analyst (CIMA): Financial consultants and investment advisers who achieve this credential from the Investments & Wealth Institute typically build their business around investments, risk assessment and portfolio management. This certification requires three years of industry experience, no record of ethical misconduct, a passing score on the qualifying course offered at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania or the University of Chicago, a passing grade on the exams offered by the Investments and Wealth Institute, and 40 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain.
  • Chartered market technician (CMT)®: Those with this credential from the CMT Association demonstrate an expertise in investment risk in portfolio management including quantitative risk and market research, and rules-based trading system design and testing. CMTs are additionally qualified to conduct research, author research reports, recommend trades and investment programs and trade their own accounts.
  • Certified public accountant (CPA): This is probably one of the more widely recognized credentials in public finance. CPAs are proficient in taxation auditing financial analysis and regulation, and meet both high professional and accounting standards. With tax season around the corner, this is a financial professional that may soon come in handy for just about all of us.
  • Personal financial specialist (PFS): This credential is issued by The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Those with a PFS must hold an unrevoked CPA certificate, become a member of the AICPA and have at least two years of full-time teaching or business experience in personal financial planning.
  • Chartered life underwriter (CLU): If you’re looking for an expert in life insurance, estate planning, and business planning, financial professionals with a CLU might be for you. Often CFPs will add this credential to demonstrate this additional expertise.

It should be noted that these are only a fraction of the wide universe of potential credentials a financial adviser may carry. That said, these titles can also help decide if the adviser you are interviewing is a match for your financial needs.

Aside from certifications, you can also ask about their personal background. You may want to ask where they went to college or what degrees and credentials they attained while they were there.

Do a deeper dive on the financial adviser’s background

Plus, do a full background check. For starters, a good resource for background information on the brokers, brokerage firms, investment adviser firms and advisers you’re considering is a free tool from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) known as BrokerCheck.

After searching for finance pro in your region (associations such as FPA or NAPFA have ‘find an adviser’ portal to help match someone with your needs), the BrokerCheck website can show more about their credentials and work history, as well as any previous legal disputes they may have encountered throughout their professional careers with their firms or clients.

3. What are your personal or firm values?

Knowing an adviser’s values or investment philosophy can either be a dealmaker or breaker for many of us. Does the firm engage in actively managing your funds or do they let automated tools do all the work? If they choose them on their own, how do they make their investment selections? Are their decisions based on choices that you feel comfortable with? Or do you get the sense that they are making random decisions?

Finding the right financial adviser for your personal ethics and background

Bunio says knowing whether the adviser you’re considering is on the same page as you ethically and demographically is highly important. Since you will be working closely with your financial adviser, likely over a long period of time, “it’s always good to find someone who works with your type of demographic, such as teachers, people 50+, spouses or LGBTQ+.”

4. Are you primarily a financial planner or an investment adviser?

By now, it probably comes as no surprise that there is more than one kind of financial adviser. Knowing the difference between the two most common —  financial planners and investment advisers —  is another way to help determine whether the adviser you are meeting with is right for you.

“Some advisers only do financial planning,” says Bunio. “Others do planning, but they must manage your investments. Others don’t do estate planning. Many want nothing to do with insurance and even recommend against buying it.  Whether right or wrong, not all advisers are the same.”

Here are some key differences between the two:

Investment adviser

For starters, investment advisers typically specialize in securities and provide clients with data analysis to pick and manage their investments.. They also typically charge a fee to work with you and have a fiduciary responsibility to put your financial needs first. Investment advisers are also registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if they manage more than $100 million in combined client assets.

They can specialize in a wide range of financial advice, such as estate planning, retirement planning, investment management or taxes. This class of financial adviser often works with higher income levels.

Financial planner

The term financial planner is used as a wide brush in the world of financial advice. While many who fall into this category can be highly credentialed, the term financial planner doesn’t necessarily mean these individuals actually have any financial credentials.

While often used synonymously with the term financial adviser, a financial planner, much like its title, is primarily concerned with assisting with developing a financial plan for their clients. These can revolve around just about any aspect of a potential client’s financial wellbeing, including savings, college planning, retirement, taxes, insurance and estate planning.

5. What is your fee structure?

Knowing how your prospective financial adviser charges you for their services is likely one of the most important factors to consider. Do they charge a fixed fee, are they hourly, does their rate depend on how much money you have or will they charge you based on how much money they can help you earn?

For some background on this topic, and to help power your decision when you’re asking your adviser about the first place to look is fee structure.

Here are the five most common ways financial advisers charge their clients: 

  • Percentage of assets under management: With this model, advisers charge fees based on your total amount of invested money, or assets under management (AUM). A typical fee is about 1%, though charges are usually built on a tiered schedule with the lower percentage of fees attached to the higher asset levels.
  • Hourly: Special project or consulting rates for advisers are often charged by the hour and can range anywhere from $100 to upwards of $300 an hour, according to a report from AdvisoryHQ.
  • Fixed fees: After consulting with an adviser with a fixed fee, this predetermined amount must be paid for a service, such as the creation of a financial plan. Those who charge flat fees can range anywhere from $2,000 to $7,000 a year, the NerdWallet report found.
  • Commission: Compensation for advisers with a commission-based fee structure charge when a purchase or a trade is made on your behalf.
  • Performance-based fees: Fees for performance-based compensation packages are charged when a defined benchmark is outperformed.

Advisers should have no problem talking about this, so don’t be shy when asking how they are compensated. If they are professional and abiding by the law and regulatory standards, they will be upfront with you on this topic.

6. What types of clients do you typically have?

Knowing whether or not an adviser you’re interested in working with serves clients like you  may be a factor worth considering, says Bunio. “Asking what type of clients they have is important,” he says, adding that knowing whether or not an adviser “serves teachers, or those 50-plus” can help bring peace of mind that they have worked with folks in a similar financial position before.

7. Do you work with attorneys or a certified public accountant (CPA)?

If you’re a business owner and have more intricate financial planning needs, finding an adviser who works directly with an attorney or a CPA — or an adviser who can recommend one — may be an important factor. Sometimes advisers will have one on their staff who can work with you through these more complex matters, or they may refer you to someone who can. All in all, Bunio says “everyone should work together and be on the same page. If not, that’s a bad sign.”

8. How will we work together?

What resources will I have to work with? Do you have an app available to view account information and monitor your portfolio? Will statements be mailed? Do you have paperless options?  Will anyone else have access to my financial information? These questions and more can help determine how you and your financial adviser will ultimately do business and work together.

Asking your adviser how, and how often, you will meet is another one of the most important questions you can ask, Bunio adds. “This is huge! I would say that it’s a red flag if it’s only twice a year or less,” he says. “Your finances are complex, sometimes I meet with my clients twice in a month.”

You may also consider asking if there are ways to meet virtually if in-person meetings aren’t possible. Ensuring they are not only financially, but technologically savvy may be more important to some than others. And since the financial planning industry can have some complicated language and concepts, knowing if they offer financial education resources can be something to consider as well.

9. Who is your custodian?

Knowing where your money is held is another key question to have answered. That’s why asking an adviser who their custodian is can be such an important question.

For some background, a bank custodian is the financial institution that physically holds your stocks, bonds, or other assets, and prevents them from being lost or stolen. Some of the best ways to know if the bank, or custodian, that they use is legitimate is to research whether they are FDIC-insured (the FDIC insures bank account balances of up to $250,000).

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

By Andrew Shilling

Sourced from Market Watch Picks

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What is Digital Marketing? Why It’s Essential (+ Key Types)

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By Sam Driver

If you’ve ever wondered, “What is digital marketing?”

Well, you’re in the right place.

As the internet becomes more ingrained in our daily lives, the importance of digital marketing has skyrocketed.

It’s not just about flashy ads or catchy slogans; it’s about establishing meaningful connections with potential customers in the digital realm.

Using precise targeting and personalized content, businesses can reach audiences like never before.

Intrigued?

Let’s begin.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is like a megaphone for the digital age, an orchestra conductor leading a harmonious ensemble of various online marketing disciplines.

It amplifies a brand’s voice, reaching thousands, if not millions, of potential customers on their laptops, phones, and tablets.

But it’s not just about making noise.

Successful digital marketing means saying the right thing, at the right time, to the right people. It’s about being engaging and insightful, delivering value and fostering relationships.

And what about inbound marketing, you might wonder?

While it’s true that both inbound and digital marketing strive to attract a potential customer, inbound marketing is but one piece of the larger digital marketing puzzle.

Inbound marketing focuses on creating valuable content and experiences tailored to the audience, pulling them in naturally.

Whereas digital marketing encompasses inbound tactics and a plethora of other strategies like paid online ads, SEO, email marketing, and more.

Why is Digital Marketing Important?

digital marketing icons

In an era where our lives are increasingly digital, the significance of digital marketing can’t be overstated.

As the traditional marketplaces and billboard ads give way to virtual stores and targeted online campaigns, the impact and benefits of digital marketing become even more apparent…

Reach

In the vast landscape of the internet, potential customers are just a click away.

Where else can you find millions of potential customers in one place?

Probably nowhere else but the digital world.

Think of a video on YouTube that goes viral, reaching millions globally in a matter of hours — that’s the power of digital reach.

Targeting

Digital marketing takes targeting to a new level of precision.

Imagine showing your ads only to people who are interested in your products, based on their online behaviour, interests, and demographics.

For example, an eco-friendly clothing brand can target customers who show interest in sustainable fashion, ensuring its marketing budget is spent on those most likely to make a purchase.

Cost-Effective

Budget constraints are a significant consideration for many businesses, particularly small ones.

Digital marketing is more cost-effective compared to traditional marketing, allowing small businesses to stand tall among the giants.

For instance, running a social media campaign on platforms like Facebook can be far cheaper than launching a traditional marketing strategy on television or radio.

Measurable

Digital marketing offers tangible and real-time data.

With digital marketing, you can track the success of your marketing campaign in real-time, making necessary adjustments on the go.

You can monitor which blog posts are popular, what type of email prompts a customer to make a purchase, or which social media campaign drives the most engagement, allowing you to focus resources on what works.

Engagement

Digital marketing isn’t just about selling a product or service; it’s about building a community around your brand.

Social media platforms offer a unique opportunity to engage directly with customers, fostering a community that traditional marketing cannot.

For example, a company can launch a hashtag campaign to encourage customer participation and generate buzz around a product.

By deeply understanding the significance and mechanisms of digital marketing, you can harness its full potential to enhance your business’s online presence and foster meaningful customer relationships.

There’s a whole world of opportunities in the digital realm waiting for you to seize.

8 Vital Digital Marketing Types That’ll Amplify Your Growth

Digital marketing types

Digital marketing is a vast field with many sub-disciplines.

Here are 8 types you should know about…

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing goes beyond the confines of mere sales pitches and promotions. It’s about creating a narrative around your brand, a story that resonates with your audience on an emotional level.

At its core, content marketing seeks to inform, entertain, and inspire. Imagine creating an informative blog post that helps your readers solve a problem they’ve been facing.

They not only appreciate the value you’ve provided but also begin to perceive your brand as an expert, a resource they can trust.

For example, let’s say you’re a small gardening business.

You could create blog posts about how to care for plants, tips on organic gardening, or even step-by-step guides on creating a backyard oasis.

You’re not directly selling anything in these posts, but you’re building trust and providing value, which, over time, will likely result in increased sales and customer loyalty.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is much like a digital popularity contest. But, the vote isn’t decided by mere whims; it’s all about relevance and quality. It’s not enough to pepper your content with keywords.

Your content needs to deliver value, and your website needs to provide an excellent user experience. This involves ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, secure (HTTPS), and loads quickly.

Google, being the user-centric search engine it is, rewards websites that prioritize the user experience.

For instance, a local bakery might use SEO strategies to rank for keywords like “gluten-free bakery in [city name]” or “organic bread in [city name]”.

With good SEO, their website would appear in the top search results when potential customers search for these terms.

These high search rankings increase visibility and drive more organic traffic to the site, which could lead to increased sales and growth.

3. Social Media Marketing

a colllection of social media apps

At its best, social media marketing creates a dialogue, a two-way interaction that fosters a sense of community around your brand.

It’s not just about pushing content; it’s about listening and engaging with your audience, addressing their comments and concerns, celebrating their achievements, and learning from their insights.

Take the example of a clothing brand.

On a social media platform like Instagram, they could share stylish photos of their latest collection, but they could also feature real customers wearing their products, host live Q&A sessions with the designers, or run contests that encourage user-generated content.

This approach transforms customers into brand ambassadors, amplifying the brand’s reach and authenticity.

4. Email Marketing

While it might seem outdated compared to newer, flashier forms of digital marketing, email marketing remains a crucial player in the game.

Its strength lies in its personal nature and directness.

With email marketing, you’re not broadcasting a message to the masses. Instead, you’re delivering a custom message right into an individual’s inbox.

Imagine a bookstore that sends personalized reading recommendations based on a customer’s previous purchases.

Or a software company that sends helpful tips and tutorials to new users to help them get the most out of their product.

By providing targeted and valuable content, these brands are nurturing their relationships with their customers, leading to increased retention and loyalty.

5. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

When it comes to making your digital presence felt, Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, takes a front-row seat. SEM encompasses various paid strategies designed to enhance your website’s visibility on search engines like Google.

One of the most common forms of SEM is Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

As the name suggests, businesses only pay when a user clicks on their ad. It’s an efficient strategy because you only pay for actual results.

Another powerful strategy under SEM is Google Ads.

With this digital marketing tool, you can have your website appear on the top of the search results for chosen keywords.

Remember, SEM isn’t just about driving traffic; it’s about driving the right traffic. With effective keyword research and careful targeting, SEM can bring in users who are ready to engage with your product or service.

6. Influencer Marketing

influencer marketing

The power of personal recommendation cannot be understated, and that’s where influencer marketing comes in.

In this digital age, influencers — popular figures on social media — act as a bridge between brands and potential customers.

Suppose you’re a business selling hiking gear.

Partnering with an outdoor enthusiast who has a large following on Instagram could help introduce your products to an audience that’s likely to be interested.

But remember, influencer marketing is more than just celebrity endorsement. It’s about authenticity and trust.

Choosing influencers who genuinely resonate with your brand and its values is paramount to the success of your digital marketing campaign.

7. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a mutual beneficial approach where businesses reward third-parties (affiliates) for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s marketing efforts.

Essentially, it’s digital word-of-mouth marketing that can significantly boost your reach and sales.

For example, let’s say you sell skincare products. An affiliate, maybe a beauty blogger, reviews your product and shares an affiliate link.

Every time a reader purchases your product through that link, the blogger earns a commission.

Not only does this method drive sales, but it also improves brand awareness without a large upfront investment.

The key is to partner with affiliates who have a strong connection with your target audience.

8. Video Marketing

video marketing

With the soaring popularity of platforms like YouTube and TikTok, it’s evident that video content is a kingpin of the digital marketing world. Video marketing is the practice of creating and sharing engaging videos to promote a brand, its products, or services.

Think of video marketing as storytelling in motion.

Whether it’s a behind-the-scenes look at your operations, a step-by-step product tutorial, or customer testimonials, videos can provide immersive experiences that static content often can’t.

For instance, a clothing brand might showcase its summer collection through a beautifully shot video featuring models wearing the clothes in various sun-soaked locales.

Moreover, videos are great for explaining complex concepts in an easy-to-understand way.

For instance, a tech company could use animated videos to explain how their software works.

In a nutshell, video marketing can be a creative, engaging, and highly shareable way to connect with your audience. Not only does it improve conversion rates, but it also boosts social shares, driving more traffic to your website.

Take Action by Answering What is Digital Marketing to You?

So, you’ve come a long way, haven’t you?

Maybe you felt overwhelmed at first — like stepping into a whole new world.

But here you are now, understanding the ropes of digital marketing.

It’s a brave new digital world out there, and you’re more ready than you think to conquer it.

Stand tall, knowing you’re equipped to navigate the digital marketing landscape with ease.

And remember, the digital realm waits for no one, so go forth and make your mark!

By Sam Driver

Sam is an Associate Editor for Smart Blogger and family man who loves to write. When he’s not goofing around with his kids, he’s honing his craft to provide lasting value to anyone who cares to listen.

Sourced from SmartBlogger

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5 Potential Impacts Of Generative AI Within The Enterprise Sector

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By Gary Fowler

It’s been almost six months since OpenAI dropped the ChatGPT bomb and effectively reinvigorated AI adoption across a multitude of verticals, sectors, industries and users. For the first time in years, we are seeing a large-scale commercial adoption of generative AI technology—and new applications of LLMO models are introduced by the day.

While individual uses have comprised some of the most common examples of how AI has been transforming our day-to-day workflows, the enterprise-level application of the technology is relatively overlooked, even though it holds immense potential.

Due to transformative strides on an individual consumer level, AU holds immense promise on an enterprise growth and process level—from enhancing creativity and productivity to streamlining business processes and decision making, generative AI can reform how organizations operate today.

In this article, I will explore five potential generative AI use cases for the enterprise sector which stand to unlock new opportunities and help drive innovation.

1. Creative Innovation And Branding

Generative AI opens new doors for enterprises to reach new levels of creativity and innovation—from branding and marketing efforts to content creation and internal communication or data visualization. With the help of such tools as MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, Dall-E and ChatGPT, among others, companies can produce a high-quality and high volume of content, both visual and textual.

Leaders should seek solutions that allow the brand to push boundaries when it comes to branding, brand storytelling, content creation (photo, video, text), A/B testing, blog writing, headline generation and a variety of other assets that can help push the boundaries of any brand’s online and offline presence.

Generative AI is also a powerful lever to pull for user feedback, persona development, value proposition exploration and developing customized marketing campaigns and experiences that stem directly from customer needs and asks.

2. Decisions And Predictions Based Upon Deeper Foresight

Forecasting, future-proofing and planning are the cornerstones of successful enterprise management. In other words, leaders must constantly strive for efficient and sustainable growth built upon data-driven and well-informed decision making.

Generative AI offers a significant boost in this area by providing organizations with advanced data analysis and predictive analytics capabilities. By analysing large volumes of structured and unstructured data, generative AI can provide immediate and accurate insights, aiding decision makers in formulating strategies, optimizing processes and predicting industry trends.

Generative AI isn’t just a powerful source of predictive analytics. Its progressive capabilities also include simulations of potential scenarios if provided with all variables to account for—which creates a clear scenario to aid in data-driven decision making, risk mitigation and opportunity discovery.

3. Streamlined Workflows, Operations And Processes

Generative AI’s ability to analyse data and identify patterns stands as a powerful solution for optimizing workflows, identifying inefficiencies and building processes that are significantly more streamlined and automated. The application of this includes but is not limited to supply chain management, resource allocation and workflow automation—with generative AI transforming labour-intensive tasks into efficient and accurate processes.

In other words, generative AI is also able to assume more administrative or time-consuming, repetitive tasks that would otherwise prove to be a waste of time for employees who strive to drive more impact and plan strategically on a managerial level. This can not only save time and reduce costs but also enhance overall productivity, enabling employees to focus on more strategic and value-driven/high-involvement activities.

4. Personalized Customer Experiences

Building on the major branding, storytelling and marketing benefits of generative AI, the technology also opens doors to new ways of delivering exceptional customer experiences. Generative AI provides brands and organizations with the tools to personalize their interactions with customers on a whole new level—from more powerful chatbots that proactively react to the customer needs to providing unique personalized recommendations to customers based on their preferences and previous activity.

By analysing large amounts of customer data, generative AI can generate individualized product/service recommendations, highly targeted ads and customized user interfaces fit for every user’s personal activity patterns. This is a direct path to higher customer satisfaction, loyalty and engagement while ensuring higher consistency in conversions and bottom-line impact.

5. Accelerated Research And Development

Research and development (R&D) is largely where innovation happens within the enterprise sector. Improving this sector is like throwing a brand new lifeline to any enterprise business—and generative AI has the power to significantly accelerate the R&D process by assisting in the ideation, prototyping and testing phases.

The simulation capabilities generative AI offers can allow for the mapping and exploration of a variety of formulas, outcomes, products and prototypes while significantly shortening time to market and product launches. This can allow businesses to stay ahead of the competition, adapt to rapidly changing markets and deliver cutting-edge solutions to their customers.

Revolution In The Enterprise Sector

Generative AI holds tremendous potential to provide organizations with unprecedented capabilities to innovate, streamline internal and external workflows and deliver custom-tailored experiences to their customers. From empowering creative positioning and branding initiatives to improving data-backed decision making, generative AI holds the potential to drive enterprise to new heights of success.

As the enterprise sector continues to adopt generative AI, leaders must build out strategic initiatives that invest in the necessary infrastructure, talent and resources to remain ahead of the curve and leverage the technology in full capacity. Close partnerships with AI experts, data scientists and researchers are only one of the many ways to efficiently incorporate generative AI into existing business processes and systems.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Gary Fowler

Gary Fowler is a serial AI entrepreneur with numerous startups and an IPO. He is CEO and cofounder of GSDVS.com and Yva.ai. Read Gary Fowler’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Diversity Attitudes – How inclusive are we?

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Sourced from Association of Advertisers in Ireland

In Partnership with

The DEI Census Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global industry’s performance across a wide range of metrics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It is a significant undertaking that explores various protected characteristics, including race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, gender identity or expression, family status, and disability. Furthermore, the report examines aspects such as positions, salary, and, most importantly, the lived experiences of individuals within the industry.

Members can click here to book

Breakfast Series

The Marketing Institute’s Breakfast Series is a highly regarded professional development event that brings together marketing professionals, industry leaders, and experts to discuss the latest trends, insights, and strategies in the dynamic field of marketing.  

Dates  

September 21st, October 19th, December 7th, January 18th, February 15th, April 18th, June 20th.  

Please note: The Marketing Institute Breakfast series is exclusive to members. Click here to find out how to join

Mark your calendars 

 We are thrilled to announce our exclusive member only events activity. Stay tuned and keep an eye on your inbox for forthcoming announcements. We are working diligently to bring you unforgettable experiences designed exclusively for our valued members. 

  • August 16th: Diversity Attitudes – How inclusive are we?  
  • November 22nd: Who Won Sponsorship  
  • December 7th: MII AIM: Open for Entries  
  • January 25th: MII AIM: Entries Closed  
  • March 14th: MII AIM Shortlist Announced  
  • March 21st: MII DMX  
  • April 8th: MII AIM in-person presentations  
  • May 23rd: MII All Ireland Marketing Awards  

Sourced from Association of Advertisers in Ireland

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