Lean AI

Chapter 5. Framework of an “Intelligent Machine”

While it’s helpful to think of AI in terms of doing things differently within your existing business processes, it’s also true that AI can help you explore and benefit from entirely new approaches and redefined processes. Gaining efficiency is of course a big, obvious win, but today’s new breed of intelligent algorithms enable us to engage customers and prospects in new ways, create entirely new experiences, and even develop new business opportunities we have never considered before—if you can successfully get your company behind your AI-powered vision of the future.

When we were getting started with AI in the realm of marketing automation, we found it helpful to think in terms of a framework for building an “intelligent machine.” The basic elements of this framework include:

• An understanding of your customer journey, experience, and life cycle.

• Creatives or content designed to impact the customer journey at different stages in their life cycle—the more variety, the better. Be sure to map multiple creatives, offers, etc. to different stages of the life cycle for optimal results.

• Data for understanding the customer journey and breaking behavioral cohorts into targeting segments.

• API-based access to your preferred marketing channels—Facebook, Instagram, Google, Snapchat, your email service provider, etc. to allow for campaign creation and orchestration.

• A working feedback loop for reporting and ongoing optimization, likely ...