We share a vast array of data through social media platforms which include photographs, thoughts and our buying patterns. As per estimates the total number of users in the world accessing social media is somewhere around 2.77 billion and is expanding at a steady rate. It is evident that the wealth of the user-generated data available is immense for various business sectors. But extracting the relevant information from this vast ocean of data is an extremely challenging task for any business. This is where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can provide an effective solution for analysing this huge storehouse of data effectively and efficiently.
There are plenty of companies which provide social listening services and the social analysts in these companies can use AI to help them with the basic tasks of sorting out the data. In terms of marketing, the traditional newspaper and TV based advertising patterns are being replaced by social media marketing techniques. Social media is an important platform for businesses to interact with influencers and customers and enhance brand value. Designed with specific algorithms, an AI can scan through user’s comments and posts to help businesses monitor a product development process or provide a more personalized experience to the customers.
Personalised customer service
The messenger apps, like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp have started playing a pivotal role in the field of marketing by enhancing customer interaction. It is being predicted that by 2020, around 80 percent of all customer service interactions will be driven by AI. The Chatbots that you encounter online can provide faster responses while remaining active for 24 hours. This allows for quicker interactions and also improve overall customer experiences. With the help of AI, brands are also able to personalize experiences to match the specific needs of a customer. The tweets, posts and comments of a customer provide a lot of information regarding their choice and preference patterns. Such data allows businesses like Airbnb to offer personalised trip recommendations and Netflix to suggest shows for you through social media advertisements.
Social influencers
As the role of influencers in social media gets more and more important, AI also helps in predicting the performance of a particular influencer with reference to the marketing objectives. An AI based marketing approach can also suggest the amount of incentive that an influencer needs to be given for promoting a particular concept or product. Businesses can also time their social media posts for generating the maximum impact by using the advantage of AI technology. It is evident that the effective combination of AI with social media marketing is the need of the hour.
The AI effects
Most of the social media groups have invested heavily in AI and the figures are all set to rise higher. Starting with AI based facial recognition, Facebook is presently using AI to flag those posts which represents suicidal thoughts. Based on analysis of such posts by human moderators, it is sending suicide prevention materials to particular users and is also implementing the same technology in Instagram. Pinterest has acquired Kosei which is assisting in developing an AI based interface that can provide personalised recommendations based on user-specific searches and interests.
LinkedIn has one of the largest pool of candidates for recruiters to pick and it uses AI based tools to select the best candidates for specific roles. It has acquired Bright, a company that uses AI to enhance job searches by analysing factors like hiring patterns and job locations. The AI algorithms can highlight which candidates are seeking a change and are most likely to respond to a new opportunity. Twitter is using AI to provide more effective face detection features and also to predict which parts of an image will have the most influence on a user.
The intuitive applications of AI are likely to get more prominence in the social media platforms in the coming days. With AI based features set to grow in leaps and bounds, the businesses have to wear their thinking hats to make the best use of these algorithms in meeting their goals.
