In a proliferated, multi-channel world, every brand needs to win the heart and mind of the consumer to acquire and retain them. They need to set up a foundation of empathy and connectedness.
Artificial intelligence combined with a human-centric approach to marketing might seem like a contrarian model. But the truth is that machine learning, AI and automation are vital for brands today to transform data into empathetic, customer-centric experiences. For marketers, AI-based solutions serve as a scalable and customizable tool capable of understanding the motive behind consumer interactions. This is the power of artificial empathy: When brands target individual consumer needs and connect with them at a deeper level than mere transactional exchanges. When it comes to empathetic machines, Hollywood may have made us think of the likes of Wall-E: robots with emotions. But artificial empathy is fundamentally about giving technology the ability to discover and respond to human emotions.
Technology provides us with insights about what the customer has done, but also nuggets and nuances that help anticipate future needs. But to mine them means analyzing reams of data to detect wider patterns or evolving preferences. Businesses cannot just rely on research and data teams to glean what customers are throwing back at them. The need right now is to be active listeners with ears on the ground and an ability to respond in real time.
Artificial empathy in marketing begins with a consumer-centric perspective and is embodied in insights that reflect what data is being collected from a brand’s customers and what meaningful next steps should be taken. It combines data intelligence with artificial intelligence and predictive modelling tools for all critical moments, including websites, store visits, social media or customer service. Some examples:
The digital consumer today is always on. Herein lies the opportunity to create exceptional experiences while retaining the hearts of consumers all the while. Many labs are designing software to understand and respond to how what humans say and how they feel. The applications of artificial empathy are wide-ranging, from market research to transportation to advertising to customer service.
Humana Pharmacy, for example,used an empathetic AI service to help its call centre teams handle customers more efficiently through emotion analytics. The solution deciphers the emotions of clients through the mapping of behavioural patterns such as a delayed pause, a rise in speech speed, or tempo. The analysis is relayed to the teams in messages such as “speaking a little fast” or “relate to the customer a bit more”. Such examples of empathetic AI will increase in the future.
