Revolutionizing Customer Engagement in Online Marketing

The Rise of Chatbots in Online Marketing

by Artificial Intelligence

Introduction:

We are all aware of the technological advancements in today’s world that are making day-to-day tasks more manageable for us, one of which is the rise of Chatbots. Powered by AI software, chatbots, also called conversational robots, are hugely important to the online marketing industry. 

Due to their super fast learning capabilities and 24/7 availability, Chatbots are helping brands rebuild how they interact with customers. In today’s modern world, where effective communication and time management are essential, Chatbots help us fulfill these factors with their advanced features. 

Chatbots are of different types; brands can use chatbots that follow simple rule-based systems with a set of defined instructions ranging from advanced systems that can learn and improve from customer interactions with time, providing us with valuable and personalized information.

 

Photo by Google DeepMind: https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-artist-s-illustration-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-this-illustration-depicts-language-models-which-generate-text-it-was-created-by-wes-cockx-as-part-of-the-visualising-ai-project-l-18069695/

As we all know, one of the most critical factors that signifies the growth of an organization is having an excellent online presence, serving your customers spontaneously, and having good engagement with your potential and existing customers. But handling too many clients can be difficult, right? Here’s where Chatbot comes to the rescue.

This article will discuss the importance of Chatbots and customer engagement in online marketing.

Definition and evolution:

Chatbot marketing uses computer programs to automate conversations with prospects and consumers on your website or app to generate sales.

Basic Chatbot: 

This is the very first Chatbot, which was introduced in the year 1966. Today, this chatbox is still being used by a few organizations. They lack NLP, so they work with predefined questions and target keywords to which they can give solutions based on user interactions.

Conversational agents:

The introduction to advanced machine language (ML) paved the way for this to come to use in 2010. Conversational agents are advanced compared to the previous type. With the help of NLP and ML, they can learn from previous conversations and perform voice- and text-based tasks. They can also answer your customer’s questions more accurately than the primary chatbot type.

Generative AI Chatbots:

This Chatbot came into existence with the advancement of Transformer neural networks and large language models (LLMs). Jasper AI, Chat GPT, and Bard are Generative AI Chatbots. Advancements in ML and NLP led to the development of this Chatbot, which can help them understand and process customer interactions more efficiently based on their past interactions.

Many help desk and customer support use this Chatbot to curate emails according to customer preferences. Chatbots are generally very helpful, but this type of Chatbot has been helping brands get innovative and more personalized with how they connect with their clients.

Key role in Customer Engagement:

We all know engaging with your customers has been essential since traditional advertising days. However, digital marketing widely differs from conventional advertising methods. 

One of the most important strategies is to gain customer engagement in online marketing platforms. Does Chatbot fulfill that criterion? Let us have a look. 

Let’s assume you buy a makeup product from an online website. You later face issues with the product you purchased or would like to return the product and repurchase a new one. You can’t get them when you try to contact the customer executive due to the unavailability of time slots. Isn’t it frustrating from a customer perspective? 

On the other hand, it can be challenging for brands to get in touch with their customers as soon as they receive a complaint because sometimes brands may have to answer many customer queries.

Here’s where the Chatbot comes to the rescue. 

With the help of the Chatbot as a customer, you can get instant customized replies according to your interaction; the Chatbot will communicate with you. You can get instant recommendations and feedback from other customers on the products you are looking to purchase. You can also get help from the Chatbot with troubleshooting errors you have been facing while on the website. 

Installing precisely detailed information is one of the best ways to gain customer engagement in any online marketplace. Additionally, it’s a plus since generative Chatbots can have human-like interactions, which makes the conversation even better.

Benefits of chatbots in online marketing:

We all know chatbots are very helpful for all of us, whether you are a student, an employee, or an employer. We have listed the three most essential benefits of chatbots in online marketing.

With the advancement of technology in NLP and ML, chatbots can adapt how they communicate with each customer according to their interactions, making it more personalized and easier.

Cost-effectiveness: 

Business can save their cost by hiring more employees for customer support. Providing solutions to multiple customers accurately throughout the day can be a hectic task for human beings. This can be eliminated with the help of Chatbots.

Scalability: 

We can all admit that answering precisely and quickly can be very difficult. Chatbots provide flexibility and scalability to brands by operating quickly and efficiently with the growing customer base. 

Language: 

Nowadays, users can communicate with Chatbots in their preferred language, breaking the communication barrier. During the beginning of the conversation, users should select their desired language to proceed further, and Chatbot will communicate via text or voice based on users’ preferences.

24/7 customer support:

People often face issues related to waiting time, globally differing time zones, and fast replies at all times. With the help of Chatbots, we can eliminate all these issues. 

They provide 24/7 support, and with their help, customers get instant solutions and customized interactions with the chatbots based on their conversations. Advanced chatbots like Generative can adapt and learn more about client interactions with the help of NLP, the leading technology behind it.

 Brands can reply to consumers spontaneously, which can be a hectic manual task. Customers worldwide can reach out anytime according to their preferred timings, and Chatbot handles it all, providing 24/7 customer support.

Personalization and experience:

Customers may need help with various issues when they are purchasing online. It could be related to finding recommendations from the items available on your website, troubleshooting a problem, or simply requiring more information about a specific product.

Using the analysis techniques based on a client’s browsing history, previous purchases, interactions, and provided feedback, Chatbot adapts and solves the user query in no time. 

Chatbots also interact using the consumers’ names, helping them feel more connected to the brand.

Lead generation and data collection:

Lead-generation Chatbots are highly efficient in holding fluent conversations, enabling the customers to stay connected without leaving the site. We know that the conversational approach is constructive when it comes to understanding customers’ requirements; this can be achieved with the help of lead-generation chatbots.

They offer many flexible options through which the customers can navigate and select their desired choices, which will help the Chatbot collect valuable customer data. Through the gathered information from the visitors, the marketing team can approach their prospective and potential customers, create more strategies that will help them achieve more sales, and recognize areas that require more improvement.

With the help of lead-generation chatbots, your website visitors can also be converted into customers. 

Social media integration:

As we all know, social media is vital in the e-commerce market. Brands on various social media platforms like Instagram, FaceBook, and YouTube have used chatbots. Integrating social media has its benefits, such as:

    • Chatbots send live updates/notifications to your customers.
    • It is more straightforward to connect with more clients from different social media platforms
    • Builds community
    • Creates social media campaigns that are creative and attractive
    • Users can easily purchase through social media platforms
    • Targets trends, curates creative content, and schedules posts, making it easier for the social media team

Analytics and insights:

Last, we cannot wrap the blog without discussing this critical factor: Chatbot’s Analytics and Insights.

Yes, chatbots can be very beneficial to the sales and marketing team because they collect user data and essential information from the customer using an interactive conversational method. Every time a customer reaches out, the Chatbot gathers information such as their name, products they are interested in, geographic location, etc.

In the analytics and insights section, you’ll also see customer ratings based on their satisfaction, feedback, the interactive flow of the conversation, the frequency of visitors, and gender.

69% of consumers were satisfied with their last interaction with a chatbot, with 21% remaining neutral and 10% unsatisfied.

Some brands develop a predefined set of questions that will be asked at the end of each conversation. Users have to choose and click their answers from the list of questions or options that appear. 

Marketers and sales teams can identify and plot strategies with the data collected from this section.

Challenges, ethics, and future trends:

Although chatbots have significantly grown over the past few years, one of the most important abilities it lacks is having a human-like conversation, which is one of the biggest challenges.

Don’t get us wrong, Chatbots have been advancing with the help of new technologies and advancements. It’s still growing and has yet to fulfill its main requirement: to converse with a consumer, a human being. But we must admit that Chatbot’s latest version is still better than the basic one.

Now let’s discuss ethics; in the previous section, we discussed Analytics and Insights, which make it clear that Chatbot stores your data, such as interactions, personal information, and feedback, yesterday. Although this data is essential for the brand, customers should know where it will be stored.

A pop-up box should appear, stating that their data will be collected before they interact with the chatbox. This way, they can either choose to proceed further or not. This transparency is essential between a brand and its consumers, especially in this generation where privacy plays an important role.

Chatbot is developing day by day, and it’s still in the learning and growing phase. Innovations should be introduced, and with the help of NLP, chatbots are already getting better at understanding complex information. 2024 will have chatbots better at initiating conversations more naturally with even better adaptability. 

Customer Segmentation using ML algorithms

Customer Segmentation using ML algorithms

by with No Comment Artificial Intelligence

At Griffon Webstudios, we pride ourselves on remaining on the cutting-edge line of new technologies. We know the value of staying ahead of the general marketplace to ensure all our clients get the competitive advantages needed for better potential leads and branding.

One of the best ways to ensure you are squeezing every ounce of effort out of your marketing channels is through customer segmentation. For decades, marketers have known placing people in different segments based on their needs is beneficial, but now we can streamline this process for more effective results using machine learning.

We’re going to dip our toes into the world of high-end automation and try to explain how blending these two efforts together can transform your business results.

What is Machine Learning?

Machine Learning, or ML, is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on developing algorithms to learn and make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed. ML algorithms analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, make predictions, and automate tasks. In the context of customer segmentation, ML algorithms enable marketers to extract valuable insights from customer data, leading to more accurate and targeted segmentation.

What is Customer Segmentation?

Customer segmentation is the process of dividing a customer base into distinct groups based on specific characteristics. These characteristics can include demographics, needs, preferences, behavior, and purchasing patterns. By segmenting customers, businesses can better understand their target audience, personalize marketing messages, and allocate resources effectively. Want a fun trip? Go ask Google or Facebook for your customer data, and you will learn what kind of segments you’ve been put into for their ad services.

How Do You Blend the Two?

Step 1: Place Customers in Clusters Based on Needs & Demographics

ML algorithms analyze customer data to identify patterns and similarities. By grouping customers with similar characteristics into clusters, businesses can gain insights into their various needs, preferences, and behaviors. Clusters can be defined based on factors such as age, location, spending budget, or any other relevant attribute. This initial step sets the foundation for effective segmentation.

Step 2: Target Clusters with Campaigns Based on Data-Driven Results

Once customers are placed in clusters, businesses can design targeted marketing campaigns tailored to each cluster’s specific characteristics. By leveraging the insights gained from ML algorithms, marketers can create messages, offers, and experiences that resonate with each cluster’s preferences and needs. This data-driven approach increases the chances of campaign success and drives efficiency in marketing efforts.

Step 3: Adjust Marketing Campaigns for Segment Needs

Customer segmentation is not a one-time process. ML algorithms continuously analyze customer data, providing real-time insights into changing preferences and behaviors. Marketers can use this information to refine and adjust their marketing campaigns to better meet the evolving needs of each segment. This iterative approach ensures ongoing efficiency in marketing strategies.

Step 4: Rinse & Repeat for any Marketing Effort

The beauty of ML algorithms in customer segmentation lies in their adaptability and scalability. These algorithms can be applied to various marketing efforts, from product launches to promotional campaigns. By repeating the segmentation process and targeting specific clusters, businesses can consistently drive efficiency and improve their marketing outcomes.

$31,36 billion is the projected global machine learning platforms market size by 2028. (Proficient Market Insights)

Hopefully, that wasn’t too full of tech speak to get the point across. To put it as simply as possible, using ML allows you to better segment your target audience so you can adjust ads, emails, visuals, and promotions to their specific needs.

You wouldn’t want to send a Christmas promotion to users in February, much like you wouldn’t target an email meant for grandparents to consumers just out of college. It is all about finding how to best reach the clients most likely to interact with your brand through the proper marketing channels.

Still confused? No problem! Let’s schedule a time to sit down and discuss how our team at Griffon Webstudios can help revolutionize your marketing efforts through automation tools like ML. You never know when a simple tweak to your systems can lead to massive potential profits.

 

How AI is Overcoming Language Obstacles in Marketing

How is AI Overcoming Language Obstacles in Marketing

by Artificial Intelligence

In the realm of global marketing, language barriers have long been a formidable challenge that risks the profits of any sized business. The good news is that as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine translation become household names, these barriers are crumbling, paving the way for more effective cross-lingual communication.

If you want to remain competitive in today’s market, you need to be able to target international audiences willing to purchase your digital products or services. Luckily, there are plenty of tools to help you overcome such marketing issues and hone in on those hard-to-reach targets better than ever before. With these advances, you can experience many business benefits, all because AI offers you a new marketing avenue.

Let’s review some of these benefits so you can turn the language barrier into a competitive advantage.

Real-Time Language Translation

Step into a world where language ceases to hinder seamless communication. AI-powered language translation technologies have transformed this vision into a tangible reality. Seamlessly and instantaneously, AI translates messages into multiple languages, ensuring that content resonates with diverse global audiences.

From social media posts to email campaigns and website landing pages, AI harmonizes the message, captivating each recipient. Imagine being able to offer 24/7 live chat to your users in China so they can purchase your items in the UK.

Meta’s latest AI can translate 200 languages in real time. The new model beat existing benchmarks by as much as 70 percent.- Engadget

Personalized & Captivating Customer Experience

The power of personalization cannot be overstated in today’s marketing landscape. Astonishingly, a whopping 80% of frequent shoppers insist on personalized experiences. AI empowers marketers to deliver such tailored interactions, irrespective of language barriers. When your team can harness the might of machine learning algorithms, you’ll better address the unique needs of all consumers based on customer data, uncovering preferences, behaviors, and demographics.

personalized customer experience with AI

Armed with these invaluable insights, marketers craft content, offers, and recommendations that align precisely with each customer’s unique preferences, regardless of their native tongue.

Unlocking New International Markets

Venturing into new international markets has always presented complex challenges. However, AI has emerged as a game-changer in this regard. Through dismantling language barriers, AI technology facilitates effortless entry into untapped markets. Marketing materials, product descriptions, and advertisements are seamlessly translated, enabling businesses to communicate their value proposition to potential customers worldwide effectively.

This eliminates the danger of mistranslating a campaign or not grasping the subtle nuance of local similes and analogies – not to mention slang terms.

Refining Market Segments

AI’s impact on market segmentation is truly profound. Traditional segmentation based on demographics and location is now augmented by AI-driven customer segmentation, surpassing traditional bounds. Notably, a study reveals that 14% of users have already embraced AI for customer segmentation.

Leveraging the analytical prowess of AI, marketers gain profound insights into customer preferences, purchasing patterns, and motivations – specifically based on geographic user needs. This comprehensive understanding lays the foundation for crafting highly targeted market segments, leading to more impactful marketing campaigns.

Leveraging Localized Insights for Swift Decision-Making

In the fast-paced realm of business, nimble decision-making is the key. AI equips marketers with real-time localized insights, empowering them to make prompt, informed decisions. Through analyzing customer feedback, conducting sentiment analysis, and staying abreast of local market trends, AI ensures marketers possess the requisite information to adapt strategies swiftly.

That real-time customer feedback is crucial to adapting to international audiences. It ensures you avoid common footfalls of language or cultural norms.

Fostering Proactive Strategies

But AI does not merely assist with immediate decision-making; it also empowers marketers to shape their future success proactively. By predicting customer behavior, identifying emerging trends, and forecasting market demand, AI enables marketers to strategize ahead of time.

This proactive approach ensures businesses can anticipate customer needs, stay ahead in the competitive landscape, and position themselves for sustained growth in an ever-evolving global marketplace.

Conclusion

There is no 100% foolproof way to ensure you will not make a marketing booboo based on national nuances. Unless you hire marketing team members from every country or region you are targeting, you are likely to put your digital foot in your marketing mouth at least once or twice.

Using AI will help avoid these errors and bring a new level of customer support to your online storefront presence. Talk with our team today at Griffon Webstudios, and let’s discuss how to best integrate AI-enabled tools into your website design. We can help you remain at the top of your game in today’s ever-changing marketplace.

Top 10 AI Tools for Interior Design Firms

Top 10 AI Tools for Interior Design Firms

by with No Comment Artificial Intelligence

In the rapidly evolving world of interior design, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for success. With the exponential growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, interior design firms now have an unprecedented opportunity to transform their operations and unlock new levels of efficiency and creativity.

The only problem left is trying to figure out which of these interior design AI tools will work most effectively. Luckily, we at Griffon Webstudios have put together a great list for everyone from the working design team to the individual building a new addition.

According to Forbes, AI is projected to experience a staggering annual growth rate of 37.3% from 2023 to 2030.

It’s no wonder that 35% of companies have already embraced AI, while an additional 42% are actively exploring its implementation in the near future. The interior design industry is no exception, with AI tools revolutionizing the way designers conceptualize, plan, and execute their projects.

1. Midjourney

This is probably the most well-known art-generated AI that uses prompts you write to create stunning visuals. You can craft anything from photorealistic photos to entire bedrooms, complete with all the details and interior design themes you want.

2. Decorilla

Decorilla is more than generative art. You get a full suite of collaboration tools that is pretty affordable to use while also benefiting from the 3D virtual construction of your favorite rooms, all with virtual reality walkthroughs.

3. DreamStudio

This is a scalable web app that uses generative design tools to create all kinds of immersive visuals for your design business. It is like most others on our list by using a prompt system where you outline what you want, and AI births it out of thin air.

4. DiffusionBee

The goal here is to run Stable Diffusion on your machine without it overheating anything. Once you have it installed, you get a fantastic AI generator for text-to-image services. It is primarily utilized by interior designers working on Macs.

5. OpenArt

Elevate your interior design projects with OpenArt’s AI-generated art concepts. By leveraging AI, OpenArt helps designers integrate personalized artwork into their designs. You can easily transfer prompts from DALLE2, Midjourney, or Stable Diffusion and compare the outcomes.

 

6. RoomGPT

Using advanced machine learning, you can upload an image of a preexisting bedroom, living room, family space, or anything else, and this AI interior design tool will create color schemes, furniture placement, lighting, and more.

7. DALLE 2

DALLE 2 isn’t strictly for interior designers. This is another text-to-image tool powered by the team behind the massively popular OpenAI system (think ChatGPT). That means you get a much more robust backend to ensure quality room, furniture, and color scheme generation.

8. Planner 5D

Design accurate and immersive rooms using Planner 5D’s AI-powered room planning and visualization tools. With its intelligent algorithms, Planner 5D enables designers to create realistic and detailed room designs, helping clients visualize the final outcome effectively.

9. Foyr Neo

Enhance interior design visualization and presentation with Foyr Neo’s AI-driven capabilities. From 3D modeling to virtual reality experiences, Foyr Neo empowers designers to create immersive and interactive displays, impressing clients and stakeholders alike.

10. AI Room Planner

Optimize space planning with AI automation using AI Room Planner. By harnessing AI algorithms, designers can automate the layout process, saving time and ensuring precise and efficient room designs.

AI-powered tools enable designers to visualize their ideas more accurately, experiment with various design concepts, and automate routine tasks. For instance, AI algorithms can analyze a space’s dimensions and offer optimal design solutions within seconds. It can suggest furniture arrangements, color schemes, and decor styles tailored to the client’s preferences and the room’s purpose.

AI technology is not just a trendy tool in the interior design industry; it’s a groundbreaking paradigm shift that is revolutionizing the design process from its core. The future of interior design has arrived, and it’s resoundingly AI-powered.

Automation Tools to Make Your Business More Efficient

Automation Tools to Make Your Business More Efficient

by Artificial Intelligence

In the age of digital transformation, it can be difficult to keep up with all the new technology and tools available. AI and marketing automation are two of the most powerful tools that businesses can use to increase efficiency and generate more leads. Let’s take a look at some of the best AI and marketing automation tools on the market today.

Marketing Automation Tools

Marketing automation tools are designed to streamline common marketing tasks so you can focus your time on higher-value activities. Popular marketing automation tools include MailChimp, Hootsuite, and HubSpot. These platforms help you create, schedule, and track campaigns; manage social media accounts; capture leads; and optimize content for search engine optimization (SEO). They also provide detailed analytics reports so you can measure the success of your campaigns.

The latest marketing automation statistics show that the global market is projected to grow from $4,438.7 million in 2020 to $14,180.6 million in 2030 (Research and Markets, 2021).

MailChimp

MailChimp is a great option when it comes to automated email campaigns. It offers a wide range of features, including email list segmentation, automated emails based on user behavior, and tracking of open rates. MailChimp also provides detailed analytics so you can monitor how successful your campaigns are. Finally, it integrates with other platforms like Shopify and WordPress for an even more streamlined experience.

Crowdfire

Crowdfire is another great tool for automating your marketing efforts. It helps manage all of your social media accounts from one place and allows you to schedule posts in advance. Crowdfire also helps you track various metrics such as followers and engagement rate so you can see what content people are responding to best. Additionally, it has powerful features such as hashtag research and competitor analysis that will give you an edge over other marketers in your field.

HubSpot

HubSpot is a comprehensive platform that allows businesses to automate their entire customer lifecycle—from lead generation through sales conversion and post-purchase retention. Its Visual Workflows feature allows users to set up triggers that respond automatically when certain conditions are met—for example, sending an automated welcome email when someone signs up for a newsletter or offering discounts after a certain amount of time has passed since a purchase was made. HubSpot also provides detailed analytics so you can monitor how successful your campaigns are over time.

AI-Powered Chatbots

Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming increasingly popular in customer service departments, as they provide customers with instant answers to their questions without requiring human intervention. There are many different types of chatbot software available, such as Flow XO, MobileMonkey, and Botsify. These platforms allow you to create custom chatbots with natural language processing capabilities to engage customers in conversations or provide quick answers to their inquiries.

ChatGPT

This is a powerful dialogue system developed by OpenAI that can generate natural-sounding conversations. It has been used for a variety of applications, from customer service chatbots to creative conversation experiences like in virtual assistants and voice-based games.

The primary benefit of ChatGPT is its ability to generate human-like conversations with minimal user input. By leveraging the power of natural language processing, ChatGPT can create conversations between two or more people on a wide range of topics – from mundane everyday chit-chat to complex philosophical debates.

Another major use case for ChatGPT is creating automated customer service agents. By automating customer support functions, companies can save time and money while improving the overall customer experience.

ChatGPT can effectively understand user queries and provide answers quickly and accurately, allowing companies to increase their efficiency while providing better services to their customers. This technology also has potential uses in various other fields such as education, healthcare, e-commerce, legal advice, etc., where it could be used to improve the accuracy and speed of responses given by professionals in these industries.

 

Cloud Storage Solutions

Cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox and Google Drive make it easy for teams to collaborate on projects from any location in the world. They offer secure data storage options with scalability so you don’t have to worry about running out of disk space or dealing with hardware failures. Plus, their integrations with other cloud services allow users to access their data from any device with an internet connection.

AI and marketing automation tools can be incredibly useful for businesses looking to increase efficiency and generate more leads. From automated email campaigns to AI-powered chatbots, there are plenty of options available depending on what your business needs are. Investing in these types of solutions will help you save time while maximizing your ROI—so why not give them a try?

How Is Artificial Intelligence Transforming Digital Marketing

How is Artificial Intelligence Transforming Digital Marketing

by Artificial IntelligenceDigital Marketing

Marketing has transformed dramatically with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). From an era of straightforward billboards or newspaper ads, marketers are now using AI to learn about customer behavior and predict their potential actions. This new level of insight allows them to be more responsive than ever before—and also helps them develop better strategies for reaching customers in the first place. But why is this happening now? And how can you take advantage?

AI can be used to improve the customer experience and target the right people at the right time, increasing conversions and reducing costs. AI is also helping improve data analysis tools, so marketers can make better decisions with more information at their fingertips. This is all to understand customer behavior and build stronger relationships in an era where personalization is the key to higher sales.

Automation in AI

AI can be used to automate repetitive tasks. For example, a machine learning algorithm could be trained to do it if a company needs to send out hundreds of emails. This makes sense since most people don’t enjoy repetitive tasks and would rather spend their time doing something else.

A similar argument can be made for data analysis, customer service and retention, satisfaction, and acquisition. AI in digital marketing also has the potential to help with sales by finding new customers based on essential characteristics such as age group or income level through targeted ad sales that effectively analyze and categorizes demographics from massive data dumps available on search engines, social media, and the landing pages of businesses everywhere.

Machine Learning and AI

Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence, but one that has specific uses in digital marketing. This type of data analysis can be used to make predictions about future behavior or outcomes, which helps improve the effectiveness and optimization of processes. It can also be used to make decisions (for example, by analyzing the results of previous campaigns) and recommendations based on user preferences.

This revolution is evidenced by advances like chatbots. These are useful tools for answering commonly asked questions. Businesses can use chatbots to answer simple questions and provide quick responses, like product information or store hours.

AI in Digital Marketing Enhances Outreach

Artificial intelligence can help businesses target the right people at the right time, increasing conversions and reducing costs. By better understanding your audience, you can deliver a more relevant message to them. AI also helps you understand what your customers want by analyzing their data. This enables you to create personalized experiences that improve engagement and boost sales.

The best part about AI is that it’s still evolving. A small advancement in something as minimal as delivering pop-up ads at the right moment could mean drastic sales differences for any business. Streamlining these AI processes is not a passion of the future. It is a critical part of any modern marketer’s bag of tricks.

Wrapping it Up

AI is an exciting and powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes reap the benefits of digital marketing. This allows businesses of all sizes to engage customers in more high-value locations with the critical products and services they want the most. The more things can be personalized to the individual lead, the better the response rate and sales growth.

That is precisely what our team at Griffon Webstudios can do for your business. We have years of experience leveraging the latest advances with AI in digital marketing and can apply these innovations to your advertising, marketing, engagement, and messaging so you grow a more involved and loyal customer base. Reach out today, and let’s have a discussion about how AI can transform your operations.

5-winning-marketing-strategies-for-2019

5 winning marketing strategies for 2019

by Digital Marketing

If you own a business these days, then you know that the competition just keeps getting stronger, so you have to be ahead of the game when it comes to winning marketing strategies. Here are five of the best upcoming trends for 2019 to help your business stay successful:

1. Vertical Video via IGTV by Instagram is expected to be big

Visual content is the thing in 2019 in many ways, especially when it comes to social media marketing trends. When you use any sort of content marketing in 2019, you had better include vertical videos via IGTV on Instagram in your next marketing strategy, as 80 percent of what people are consuming online these days is video content, according to the marketing experts.

Vertical videos are the newest hot trend, especially after IGTV by Instagram launched a way to show longer videos that can actually be up to an hour in length. Plus, you don’t have to turn your phone sideways to view this kind of content marketing videos! IGTV is dedicated to showing vertical videos, which are especially great for mobile optimization strategies, which bodes well for businesses who want to reach mobile-only audiences.

IGTV is great for all kinds of video from animated content to interviews, 360-degree virtual reality, live streaming, and just about any other type your business could ever need to bring in the customers. So be sure to count it in during your next marketing strategy meeting.

2. Content marketing is still going strong

Some may think that content marketing is an old strategy, but the truth in 2019 is that it is still kind and still going strong. In fact, today’s content marketing is opening the door for your business to have one on one conversations with your clients and create a successful relationship that will help grow your brand and spear it on to greater success.

Content marketing can be used as a tool to meet a precise objective, so you need to have a strategy that fits your company, not something generic. You can start with something like generating leads or getting better SEO and from there tweak it so it precisely meets your business’ niche and needs. Studies by Content

Marketing Institute showed that 65 percent of the companies with the best success used properly aligned content marketing strategies to spur their brand to success.

For instance, do a content marketing assessment to figure out where you stand, then use it to your advantage. Salespeople might decide to use content of some kind to boost their sales pitches, while your brand manager could find a way to use it to produce good will, and your recruiting staff could use it to attract top candidates by posting specific types of content where the kind of people you need might read it, i.e. posting something on LinkedIn.

3. Influencer marketing has become a top way to deliver content

The whole idea of publishing content is to reach your target audience, so why not get the help of someone or someplace they are already paying attention to?

Influencer marketing is when you leverage the reach of someone who is popular in your niche that has a big following and a strong reputation to help you support your own business brand. That helps you get the clients you need because it increases your own brand’s product awareness and drives new sales.

These days instead of relying on celebrities to do influencer marketing, micro-influencers and nano-influencers are the ones with the most pull in 2019. Micro-influencers have between a thousand and 100K followers and nano-influencers have less than 1,000 followers, but they still have a lot of influence and credibility in small specific markets.

That’s because people connect better to the “little people” and trust that they are more genuine and honest. That helps you to sell the fact that your brand is also genuine and honest, which in turn makes more people want to buy your products and services. So, it’s time for your company to find some appropriate influencers to help you stay ahead in 2019.

4. Voice search and Mobile Optimization has become huge for 2019

Research done by Search Engine Land showed that voice-based sales in the US were nearly two billion dollars in 2017, and are predicted to hit 40 billion by the year 2020.

Additionally, in 2020 it’s predicted that about half of all the search engine requests will be made via voice because people love talking into their devices. So, now’s the time to jump on that bandwagon.

That’s because it reduces their screen time for one thing. So, to make things work in your favor, you need to do some mobile optimization to make your search options more voice-friendly so it recognizes conversational questions.

Expect to see a lot more than people just choosing to use it while they are driving around in their cars and they can’t hold their phones.

Mobile Optimization

Did you know that way over half the online page views is done on a mobile device? Any business these days that expect to grow it’s Internet customers must have a top-notch mobile ready website along with appropriate mobile apps.

No customer in 2019 or beyond will wait around for a website that doesn’t work on their phones and if you don’t keep up with the proper mobile optimization, your business will fail.

Plus, Google is now taking a customer’s mobile experiences to heart when they assign a search ranking for a business.

If your site loads too slow or otherwise works crappy with mobile devices, it will be ranked way low in the search results. That is death since we all know that most customers pick the first companies on the list of options when they are searching for specific products or services.

In $ dollar terms, this means that if your website typically earns $100,000 a day, this year you could lose $2.5 million in sales

You also have to take into consideration that most mobile customers don’t have keyboards so it can be hard to enter text or other such tasks.

So, your mobile site must have properly designed controls that are placed optimally for your mobile users. It should have, for instance, fewer buttons, fewer reasons to have to scroll, plus it’s time to get rid of Flash since it doesn’t work for instance on iOS systems and get rid of pop-ups since they could cover up the whole screen of some mobile devices.

5. Artificial Intelligence and chat boxes are the way some customers communicate

The world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing in leaps and bounds, and things like chat boxes are getting more popular. The Grand View Research people predict that by 2025 the chatbots market all over the world will grow to more than a billion dollars. That means almost half of the end users out there prefer using a chatbot for their customer service needs.

Using AI can help make your business more efficient if it is used properly. AI can do many tasks that take humans more time to do, and AI does it more efficiently in most cases too. A business can use AI to do things like monitoring their customer’s online habits, and then suggest products and services they may want or need.

Businesses need to use AI to be able to determine things like the type of content their potential clients are consuming, no matter if this refers to some type of technical support or other usages.

This, in turn, will help a business personalize its offerings to better meet a customer’s needs. For instance, you can use specific algorithms to study how your marketing campaigns are going and be able to change them in real time so as to increase your business’ return on investment.

All in all, these five trends will help your business succeed in 2019 and beyond.

SUPERCOMPUTER

Why Countries Are Competing To Build Supercomputers?

by Artificial Intelligence

Controlling supremacy in the technology world largely involves computers. Countries have realized this fact hence the effort in investing in supercomputers. Supercomputers are defined by speed and efficiency. Companies with a vision to lead different industries are at the forefront to acquire modern equipment and invest in fast processors.

The rapid changes in technology leave no room for delay in investment. While we still want to explore other factors to identify winners in different industries based on business strategies, nothing beats the investment in supercomputers.

The modern supercomputer

The size and performance of a supercomputer are compared to the size of a parking field with a capacity of 50 cars. The computation capability is immense; it takes a day to solve complex calculations that would take thousands of years with an average computer. However, personal computers are also improving in performance in the same way as supercomputers.

There are various terms you have to learn to understand how supercomputers work and how they differ from personal computers. A ‘bit’ is a unit of data measurement, ‘bytes’ is a measure of digital information storage and ‘flop’ is a measure of computation speed. Floating-point otherwise known as flop allows computers to process long numbers and post results within a short time. This is a distinguishing characteristic of supercomputers

Who controls the best supercomputers?

As mentioned, every country is keen to invest as much as they can in the development or acquiring fast processors that distinguish supercomputers from average computers. Of course, there are super economic powers in the globe that you will expect to be on top of this list. The United States, UK, Japan, China, and selected EU states battle for the top position in controlling supercomputers.

It is difficult to point out a specific country based on their investment level; however, we can filter these major players in the tech industry by analyzing the top supercomputers.

Here are the top 10 supercomputers in 2018

1. AI Bridging Cloud | Japan | 130 petaflops
2. Sunway TaihuLight | China | 93 petaflops
3. Tianhe-2 | China | 34 petaflops
4. SuperMUC-NG | Germany | 27 petaflops
5. Piz Daint | Switzerland | 20 petaflops
6. Gyoukou | Japan | 19 petaflops
7. Titan | United States | 18 petaflops
8. Sequoia | United States | 17 petaflops
9. Trinity | United States | 14 petaflops
10. Cori | United States | 14 petaflops

While featuring in the top 10 list of 2018 is big for any country, it does not amount to controlling the industry. The availability of resources and share of developing tools is key. On this basis, China beats all the countries. It enjoys a big share of supercomputers’ resources thus controlling the industry.

Why do countries compete for supremacy?

China hosts 500 supercomputers, which is way ahead of America’s 144 supercomputers. While how a country uses supercomputers matters more than the number, China still enjoys the top position by controlling 35% of supercomputers’ resources in the world. The United States of America follows at 30%.

Why all the statistics? Why are countries competing in developing the best supercomputers?

The answer is in the use of supercomputers. As mentioned, the distinguishing characteristic is the speed of solving long numbers. This is important in analyzing data in weather forecasting, nuclear weapons, biology, and astrophysics. Scientists and engineers of any country will benefit from the fast speeds hence boost innovation and efficiency in various industries.

High computation speeds increase the profitability of the private sector and boost service delivery in public sectors. A country’s economy is guaranteed to rise with supercomputers. Geopolitical standings and military accuracy and efficiency are also dependent on supercomputers. Countries are competing for supremacy in developing supercomputers because it is the future.

Breaking the exaflop barrier

Of course, the United States is not bowing to China, especially after the 2017 statistics. Soon after the 2017 results, President Obama launched the National Strategic Computing Initiative, which is a partnership between the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and the National Science Foundation.

The initiative comes along with huge funding to developers in the private sector to come up with the best processors in terms of speed and quality. The initiative targets to develop the first exaflop computer, known as Aurora, which is equivalent to 1,000 petaflops.

The computation speed is unimaginable; it is compared to 500 supercomputers and a trillion times faster than a personal computer. The exaflop computer is set to be released in 2021 to help with research and accuracy in the FBI, Homeland Security, and NASA.

The US government-funded channeled $600 million dollars to the development of the following exaflop computers.

  • ORNL System delivered in 2021 and accepted in 2022 (ORNL system)
  • LLNL System delivered in 2022 and accepted in 2023 (LLNL system)
  • ANL Potential System delivered in 2022 and accepted in 2023 (ANL system)
  • Definitely, China is also working on an exaflop computer, probably a more superior one.

 

Benefits of supercomputers

Scientists reap a lot from the continuous enhancement of supercomputers. Accuracy and high computation speeds are everything in research and decision-making in biology, security, agriculture, and other crucial fields in a country. The efficiency of artificial intelligence also depends on supercomputers.

AUGMENTED-REALITY-AR-IN-MARKETING

Augmented Reality in Marketing

by Artificial Intelligence

At the moment, Augment Reality (AR) is still new and under-explored. This novelty makes it the latest solution for sharing information. It is set to beat the amount print, online, and TV advertisements combined. AR can capture people’s attention for at least 85 seconds, raise interaction by 20%, and raise the click-through rate to buy by a further 33%. Soon it will be the mainstream and competition will rise—as is the case with all other industries.

With time, there will be more companies focusing on AR-inspired experiences. A rise in people incorporating AR into marketing will yield an equal rise in competition. The quality of campaigns will improve in quality as companies seek to impress audiences. Creativity will determine the best performing products. You will, therefore, need to improve your ingenuity and innovativeness to retain relevance.

Here’s Why Apple Acquired a Small Augmented Reality Startup

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook predicts that AR will become part of our daily lives. It is, therefore, of vital importance for marketers to learn how it works. Let us explore companies that already utilize the technology. These leading companies focus on innovativeness and are keen on taking risks on future technology.

Sephora

Purchasing products online is continuously easy and convenient for most people. However, there are certain products such as makeup, which needs trying on first. Women make up the target group for beauty products and face a problem of having to try on desirable products.

 

Sephora’s Virtual Artist App with ModiFace is an AR tool responsible that helps you view makeup on a similar face. Not only does the app reveal how your face will appear when you apply that product but also suggests tools you need. It also shows the appropriate equipment for application and things you would need to accompany the product.

Virtual Artist also reveals the long-term effects of the consistent use of skincare. This is not possible with beauty professionals.

 

Timberland

Many people are not fond of utilizing dressing rooms when shopping. They prefer to try outfits in the comfort of their homes. Most stores allow returning dresses, shoes, hats, and other items if they do not fit. As a result, many shoppers choose to purchase items but retain the right to return them if they are not satisfied. No one likes to carry a pile of clothes into a public dressing room and wait in a line.

Timberland created a virtual fitting room to help people who want to avoid the hassle in stores. It is, therefore, designed for convenience and comfort. Using Kinect motion sensing technology, the AR lets shoppers view their image. You can see a model body with your size in various outfits.

 

Home Depot

Decorating homes is trendy and exciting but very cumbersome and involving. It is not easy to predict the outcome of a color, for example. Working on your house requires a predictive image to confirm if you will like the results. Products may seem impressive online but fail to give you the level of satisfaction you expected. You may end up with a bathroom that is too bright due to the wrong kind of paint.

Furniture can also go wrong. A piece of furniture may fail to impress you. For example, you may purchase a bulky coffee table at a high cost that does not fit in your living room like you wanted. Going through the hassle of acquiring and transporting an item that does not fit is demoralizing.

Project Color App is Home Depot’s AR tool. It uses patent technology to depict the outcome of colors in rooms. The technology is capable of incorporating a variety of conditions. For example, it takes into consideration, the lighting, objects, and shadows in the room of choice. You can see the real version of your room and share with friends to help you assess it.

 

StubHub

For Super Bowl lovers, StubHub provided an AR feature on their mobile app. The app allowed ticket buyers to view a virtual 3D model of the U.S bank stadium. They could visualize their experience at the stadium before purchasing it.

The different views helped them select seats. Hesitant buyers could not resist the offer. Sales increased tremendously.

 

Pepsi

Pepsi is responsible for designing one of the most exciting tools with AR technology. The tool was made in a London bus shelter. One side of the structure appears as though thrilling objects such as flying saucers, and a tiger is headed for the commuters.

This AR technique was used to amuse the public. It reveals the playful personality of the company. It entertains the Londoners with an exceptional experience. A video of the shelter’s exceptional design made 6 million views on YouTube. This became the most viewed advertising campaign ever.

 

AMC Theaters

AMC Theaters sought to enhance delivery of latest movie trailers in time. When movie lovers come across a movie poster in a theater, they can launch the AMC app and scan the poster. They will instantly receive information about it and a trailer too.

Technology accuracy and timing has given mankind a vital piece of technology of the future.

AI

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence and it’s Future.

by Artificial Intelligence

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence

Technology is the backbone of everything we do or even say in our modern life. This has necessitated the advancement of technology even further. Artificial intelligence is the imitation of human intelligence in machines. It is the equipment of machines with the ability to assess their surroundings and react accordingly.

AI is the study as well as the design of systems that sense and understand their environment and act in ways that highly increase their chance of success.

By the end of 2018, more than 3 million workers globally will be supervised by a “robo-boss.” Robo-bosses will increasingly make decisions that previously could only have been made by human managers…

Investments in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence borrows from natural intelligence which is what living things have. Machines are made by humans and due to the advancement in technology, human beings are always looking for ways to outdo themselves. Since the majority of brilliant minds are always inventing new ways of making life easier, major steps have been taken towards technological advancement.

Artificial intelligence covers a huge chunk of the technological field. Every day, there are new ways of approaching AI that is created amongst researchers.  

Major approaches of AI

Despite the many ways that are invented from one day to the next in artificial intelligence, they all borrow from the major approaches to AI. They deviate in a few ways but generally almost always achieve the same goal which is machines ‘thinking’ for themselves. The major approaches to artificial intelligence include:

  • Fuzzy logic
  • Neural network
  • Genetic Algorithm
  • PSO – Particle Swarm Optimization

 

businesses-are-in-a-constant-state-of-change-02

Fuzzy logic

What is Fuzzy Logic?

  • It is a powerful problem-solving methodology.
  • Builds on a set of user-supplied human language of rules.
  • Fuzzy Systems convert these rules to their mathematical equivalents.

This is the creation of intelligence in machines so that they use logical reasoning in executing their tasks. Human beings are known to use logical reasons in making their decisions and when they use fuzzy logic they are trying to design machines that emulate this behavior.

Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning

Currently, fuzzy logic is in the process of evolving even as human beings continue evolving. Machines are able to rationalize situations and come up with solutions promptly. The major advantage of this approach in machines is that they are not governed by their emotions and as such, they are able to make split-second decisions.

The advancement in this approach as a major approach to AI is that more machines are being manufactured and used instead of human beings to make crucial decisions. The machines are able to use a collection of attributes concerning the situation to get the most suitable solution.

The drawback to this approach is that the world is ever-changing and so are the factors to consider when mitigating a problem.

Fuzzy logic uses pre-existing conditions to give solutions. In the case where an alien factor is introduced at the last minute, the decision arrived at would most probably be a wrong one.

However, In the future fuzzy systems in machines will be able to make split-second decisions no matter when or how new factors are introduced to the system. Better ways of enhancing fuzzy systems are discovered daily and the future where your phone decides for you whether to pick a call or not is almost here.

Neural network

This approach imitates the functioning of the human brain. The artificial neural network is an exact copy of the human brain. It is, however, safe to presume that since it is the human brain that invents such a system, the human brain is still more superior. In the same way that the neural network in living things consists of neurons that analyze and send information, the concept is the same in machines with the only difference being that machines use artificial neurons.

Neural-Network

In the same way that human beings learn through repeated actions from time to time, the machines are taught in the same way. The machines are trained to identify similarities or patterns in all operations and they end up working as though a human was responsible for the thought process of the entire work. In the same way that human beings adapt to their surrounding as well as tolerate much of their surroundings, so do artificial neural networks. They are tolerant of the fault and they adjust accordingly to different situations.

Currently, machines that are reliant on neural networks for their operations are advancing in development. They think better than earlier machines and adapt easier. Machines nowadays stop operation in the case where only one component is not working, or they may choose to isolate the weak link and continue operating but at a lower capacity while sending a signal that one part is down. This emulates the way pain is in the mind. When we are in pain we may not move at all or we may slow down while doing normal activities while looking for ways to heal the broken parts.

In the future, our suitcases would be able to identify when we need to unpack and open them or they may ‘think’ we are on the move and follow us. In fact, such suitcases may already be in production. If this were the case, then in the future they may just go ahead and calculate how long you intend to stay away and recommend what to pack and where to put each item for maximum use of the available space. If this were to happen, human beings would be lazier than they are perceived to be right now.

Genetic Algorithm

Based on the evolution theory that living things evolved from simple organisms into more complex organisms, an idea was formed in the minds of brilliant scientists. Throughout the years, human beings have tried to establish the validity of the theory. Nevertheless, researchers and computer engineers decided to replicate the theory in machines to determine if it would hold.

Genetic Algorithm was developed to illustrate that natural evolution worked and continues to work. It is an algorithm used in machines to create machines that are intelligent from machines that are not.


There are four steps that summarize all Genetic Algorithm (GA) is all about:

  • A pool of solutions is generated to solve a presented problem.
  • The solutions that exist are mated to give new solutions
  • The current solutions are mutated in ways that are a replica of natural genetic variation
  • The weak population (machines that are not adapting well) are eliminated via natural selection.

Genetic Algorithm

This mechanism applies the mantra “survival of the fittest” in the machine world to get better and more sophisticated machines. In the past, if you needed to work on a machine you had to physically see it.

Currently, applications such as team viewer allow a person to remotely access a computer. Machines in the future may not need to have visible microprocessors in them. A wireless link may be developed such that a person may not need to physically see the machine to use it. An alternative would be to teach a machine to learn how to do things on its own based on the genetic algorithm in it.

Particle Swarm Optimization

It is an optimization technique that heavily relies on the behavior of different swarms. The setting is always a multi-dimensional search space. The algorithm uses repetition as well as speed and positions of the members of the swarm or in the case of machines, swarm particles. In machines, PSO is applied in the case where:

  • The machines are randomly placed in a search space.
  • They are then located in the search space
  • The objective task at each machine’s position is evaluated
  • A machine with the highest chance of succeeding at a task is identified and all other machines are adjusted towards performing just as well as the benchmark machine.

gamestat

In the effort of getting the intelligent machines, this technique is used to establish the machine with the highest probability of success and the assumption made is that all the other machines will be able to get the work done just as well as the benchmark machine.

Conclusion

AI in its elemental form is a fun way of using machines. It is very impressive to know that human beings invent better systems every day. However, in spite of the many things AI has and is yet to bring, the human race should remain active because, at this rate, machines may just take over the world.