In one of our previous articles, we have discussed the potential of artificial intelligence taking over the creative fields. While this is still a tricky topic, we often forget that AI is already in our lives — and in more ways than we can imagine. A great example of that presence is called machine learning.
What is machine learning?
First of all, machine learning is a branch out of the artificial intelligence field. Programs with this technology work by quickly analyzing and sorting out huge chunks of data. As a result, they provide patterns, predictions, and valuable insights into how customers behave under specific circumstances.
The tasks performed by machine learning systems can usually be done by humans, but computers make them much more efficient and accurate. What would take us hundreds of hours (or even years) can now be done in seconds, without the potentially missed comma due to tired eyes. All this increases the capacity of growth for businesses exponentially, as they can efficiently reach more customers in less time.
However, machines can’t do all this work alone, and that’s where we, humans, get a sigh of relief. Phewww, nothing like the existential rush of being needed!
How to work with machine learning?
For machine learning to work properly and provide us with the amazing results it is able to, we need to feed it with proper data. Think of it like the difference between feeding a child with a nutritious, homemade meal rather than a fast-food burger. Both are delicious, but only one can be consumed often if you want the child to grow healthy.
That’s our mission as the human part in this AI interaction. In the same way parents need to ensure their kid is eating properly, we need to ensure programs run to the best of their abilities. And with great power, comes great responsibility: data provided to programs shouldn’t only be tremendous in quantity, but also up to date and relevant to desired outcomes.
According to Google, there are a few strategies to keep in mind if you want to use machine learning for your business:
- Have clear goals: machine learning programs work better when you know exactly what you are trying to extract from them.
- Provide quality data: As mentioned before, the more specific and organized the data is, the better the results will be.
- Hire a diverse team: You can have the most amazing results, but if your team isn’t able to analyze and understand them fully, then the benefits of this technology go down the drain. Marketers, data scientists, and an experimental mindset in general help making the most out of machine learning.
Machine learning looked like magic, right? But after all, it’s solely the fruit of a well-structured approach, coordinated by a great group of humans behind it.
Okay, but where can I apply all of these machine learning skills?
Now that you know what this technology is and how to use it in your favor, it’s time to take a look at where it is being applied in marketing nowadays, and how it can make businesses grow and improve.
Here are some examples:
- Personalizing customer journey: machine learning can predict the preferences of each unique visitor, and therefore make more accurate product recommendations for them.
- Predicting user churn: through pattern analysis, machine learning can observe tendencies in specific segments and help marketers increase retention rates.
- Helping with online stocks: machine learning can make sure stocks in online stores don’t run out, and also help customers by providing similar alternatives.
- Unlimited customer support: with the growing use of chatbots, machine learning can help provide around-the-clock support for customers and increasingly satisfactory experience.
- Reading feelings: some programs are equipped to read a message and determine if its content has a positive or negative impact, therefore addressing issues or finding ambassadors for brands becomes easier.
This list is short of ending, but it can give you an idea of how machine learning has been making our lives smoother. And as with any emerging technology, the future possibilities are endless and unforeseeable.
In Conclusion…
If any of the information presented here was surprising for you, know that big brands such as Google, Amazon, Netflix, Sephora, IBM, and others have all been using the wonders of machine learning to provide better experiences for their customers.
Machine learning can be an exciting technology to work with since it turbo boosts what once were human tasks and provides faster, more accurate, and virtually unlimited results. It makes it possible to improve our marketing strategies, experiments, and customer interactions while saving time to focus on what our brains do best.
Also, it doesn’t hurt to know that machine learning still needs human input to work properly. With artificial intelligence collaborating with humans instead of simply taking over, the future of AI in our world can be less frightening.
Between that product recommendation which fits exactly what you were looking for, or that newsletter arriving in sync with your thoughts, the truth is that machine learning already knows a lot about us.
