AI is disrupting search engine marketing – are you ready?
3 tips for data-driven marketing
When Seth Godin says marketing is about to change – people listen. He has been at the forefront of digital marketing from the birth of cookies to the evolution of search marketing. At Dun & Bradstreet’s Power of Data event, Seth spoke about the AI-driven disruption that has begun and how data-driven marketing models will need to adapt. "If you think there's a lot of data flowing by now, just wait until AI gets involved”, says Seth. “We’re going to face a deluge. But more data is not going to help us do marketing better – unless we turn it into information.”
Marketing’s brittle infrastructure
“The people in marketing have built a brittle infrastructure”, Seth continued. “It’s brittle because we were confused about the difference between marketing and advertising. We used to make average stuff for average people – and push it out into the world. Then folks like me started showing up with tiny scraps of data. This made advertising easier, because if we can understand the threads of data we have and turn them into information that lets us understand the building blocks of how humans work, we can become technology-proof.”
Seth then went on to talk about the disruption that AI is likely to cause, and challenged the audience to, “Stop defending yesterday as opposed to understanding tomorrow. We all need to start working with AI to get first-hand knowledge of how our world is changing right before our eyes.”
If you think there's a lot of data flowing by now, just wait until AI gets involved.
The end of search as we know it
It may seem strange to talk about the end of a 'traditional' model that has only matured in the last ten years, but the search engine marketing ecosystem is already starting to be disrupted by AI.
AI chatbots answer questions directly – rather than listing web pages for you to look for the answers yourself. This provides a more immediate user experience. But it also provides a “zero click” interaction that cuts a lot of the current search marketing and customer data ecosystem out of the loop. It bypasses promoted listings on the search page (SEM), optimised organic listings (SEO), and even the source websites themselves – as well as the ads hosted there. Of course, search engines won't disappear – they are already evolving – but early signs suggest that organic traffic will be the first to feel the impact.
How to stay data-driven when your data starts to disappear
Dun & Bradstreet Sales & Marketing specialist Fredrik Strauss then offered practical tips on how companies can adapt. He set the scene by saying that “No one can know for sure exactly how things will change – but we can be ready”. He then shared some of the latest data-driven marketing techniques businesses are using that don’t rely on the Search ecosystem.
- Clone your customers (or find their twins)
Your most valuable customers are the ones you already have – because what you offer matches their needs – and they’re willing to pay you for it. Fredrik’s first tip was to find more prospects just like them. By comparing your customer list to global data sets, you can use firmographic and demographic data to identify lookalikes whose needs most closely match your offerings. This is the fastest way to build a targeted list of high-potential prospects.
- See who’s checking you out (and what their intentions are)
It’s not only Search that’s facing disruption – third party cookies are on their way out as well. But you can still put a first-party script on your own website to identify which companies visit it. This allows you to see which pages they visit and which offerings they may be interested in. From there you have a good basis for understanding the problems they need to solve – and an ideal starting point for account-based marketing.
- Love the ones you’re with (and know if their feelings are changing)
Fredrik’s last tip was to love the customers you’ve got – and to keep an eye out for those who might be about to leave you. By identifying customers who have not interacted with your products for some time, for example by logging in, you can identify those at risk of churn. This lets you set up tailored marketing activities to encourage them to re-engage and start using your products again.
Being ready for AI disruption will mean being ready to move quickly – with caution. At Dun & Bradstreet we deliver Sales & Marketing solutions that help our clients use data to make smarter decisions. Talk to us about how we can help you embrace the AI disruption to come.