How valuable is your engagement with customers across channels? Which engagements are the most successful? Which aren’t working? Answers to these questions translate into real revenue for brands. That’s why Sitecore (@Sitecore), a customer experience management company, uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to figure out this puzzle.
Using Sitecore’s solution, marketers can optimize their consumer touchpoints across web and mobile for optimal success thanks to robust AI and machine learning technology. We interviewed Sitecore SVP of Product Management Ryan Donovan (@ryan_donovan) to learn more about how the tech helps marketers work smarter.
In a single sentence or statement, describe Sitecore.
Sitecore builds software to deliver and optimize customer experiences over digital touchpoints (web, mobile, etc.).
How does Sitecore use artificial intelligence (i.e. machine learning, natural language generation, natural language processing, deep learning, etc.)?
We use machine learning today to assess the value of customer engagement across digital experiences, to calculate winners in testing scenarios and identify customer segments. We also use it to analyze clickstream paths to determine which are most and least successful—and to identify the sequences most successful at driving desired customer outcomes. In our short-term roadmap, we will be adding capabilities to automatically generate content taxonomy (e.g. auto-tagging) and optimize send time for email campaign delivery.
What do you see as the limitations of artificial intelligence as it exists today?
AI is relatively nascent technology and is yet to be fully trusted. Hence, it is serving more as an analytical tool versus one to actually shape experiences in real-time (e.g. on-the-fly pricing adjustments).
What do you see as the future potential of artificial intelligence in marketing and sales?
As AI matures, it will evolve into automatically shaping customer experiences and optimizing on-the-fly with things such as content recommendations. It will bring Amazon-like recommendations to the masses at significantly broader scale.
What makes Sitecore different than competing or traditional solutions?
Sitecore is prioritizing the needs of the digital marketer: we use machine learning technologies to reduce complexity and deliver insights that would otherwise be difficult (if not impossible) to identify, helping marketers optimize their customer experiences.
Who are your prototype customers in terms of company size and industries?
Sitecore’s customers span from mid-market firms to very large enterprise across all industry segments.
What are the primary use cases of Sitecore for marketers and sales professionals?
Primary use cases include content management, web analytics, testing and optimization, ecommerce, and email campaign management
Any other thoughts on AI in marketing, or advice for marketers who are just starting to explore the possibilities of AI?
Start leveraging it with your datasets today and start optimizing on a controlled basis. From there, look at adopting AI technologies more broadly. But remember, always test to make sure the machine learning elements are tuned to deliver the best possible outcomes.