At the Marketing AI Institute, we read dozens of articles on artificial intelligence every week to uncover the most valuable ones for our subscribers and we curate them for you here. We call it 3 Links in 3 Minutes. Enjoy!
Wouldn’t it be nice to double your company’s conversion rate in just two years? Well, with the help of artificial intelligence, it’s entirely possible–just ask Olay.
According to VentureBeat, the Procter & Gamble child company started leveraging AI in 2016 with the launch of the Olay Skin Advisor. Users take a selfie in the online tool and it generates a report with an accurate skin-age estimate, plus recommendations for care.
In the background, the AI-powered engine uses the selfies to match users with certain products and care regimens. The system was built by Nara Logics, a company that specializes in content matching and works with a variety of high-profile clients, including the CIA.
Since introducing Skin Advisor, Olay has not only doubled their conversion rate, but also increased their average cart size (it increased by 40 percent in China alone), and cut the bounce rate to a third of what it previously was.
New AI Podcast for Real Business Applications
“Beyond the hype, what can AI actually do for my business?”
If you’ve ever asked yourself this question, Alex Shee, Head of the Office of the CEO and Director at Element AI, may have an answer for you. Meet The AI Element, a podcast about AI business applications.
As shared on Medium, The AI Element intends to break down how AI is transforming industries. Every episode, Alex Shee will sit down with “industry influencers and deep learning pioneers to explore how AI is being used to innovate and disrupt in the fields of retail, insurance, cybersecurity, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, and more.”
Six episodes have been released so far and they have covered topics such as AI strategy, ethics, cybersecurity, and startups. Listen here.
Amazon Alexa Gets Smarter Thanks to Yext
Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa can tell you the best Mexican restaurant in your neighborhood and how many calories are in a Big Mac. However, until yesterday, it couldn’t tell you what time that Mexican joint opened or how long it would take to drive there. That is all about to change.
Announced this week by Bloomberg, Amazon and Yext are partnering to bring more than 1 million business listings to the Echo speakers. With that, Alexa will be able to utilize hours of operation, addresses, and phone numbers straight from the businesses themselves to better answers users’ questions. This pairing pushes Amazon deeper into Google’s turf, as it is already the starting point for more than half of all product searches.
Within hours of the news being released, Yext shares jumped 4.5 percent to $19.80.
Ashley Sams
Ashley Sams is director of marketing at Ready North. She joined the agency in 2017 with a background in marketing, specifically for higher education and social media. Ashley is a 2015 graduate of The University of Mount Union where she earned a degree in marketing.