Selling To Generative AI: Marketing Strategies For New Algorithmic Customers

[Note: This article was originally published on Forbes on April 24th, 2023.]

Have you sold anything to an AI today?

As AI continues to revolutionize our world, shaping how we live, work and communicate, businesses must adapt their marketing strategies to stay ahead of the curve and confidently answer this question with a “yes."

One groundbreaking trend poised to redefine marketing as we know it is the rise of generative AI as a customer persona. Sophisticated AI-driven decision engines, like ChatGPT, are rapidly becoming an integral part of the consumer journey, offering personalized recommendations and molding brand perceptions. By acknowledging the influential role of AI-driven platforms, organizations can unlock a new frontier of opportunities to effectively promote their products and services.

To harness the potential of marketing to algorithmic customers, it is crucial to look more closely at automated or algorithmic personas and their impact on the business world.

The Rise Of The Algorithmic Customer

In today's data-driven world, pinpointing and focusing on customer personas is vital for thriving businesses. Yet, many organizations overlook digital, online personas—or “algorithmic customers”—encompassing the search and recommendation engines significantly influencing your products’ and services' visibility to potential customers.

As search engines like Google and Bing emerged as the primary gateways for most customer journeys, businesses shifted their focus towards search engine optimization (SEO) to cater to their digital-savvy customers.

By meticulously refining their websites and content for search engines, organizations endeavored to secure higher rankings in search results, thus amplifying visibility and propelling sales. In this context, Google, Bing, and their counterparts epitomize the first generation of "algorithmic customers" to which businesses strategically "sell" content.

In recent years, algorithmic customers have gained much more prominence, so understanding them, monitoring their evolution and catering to them will be essential for companies seeking a competitive edge.

The Evolution: Recommendation Engines

The massive popularity of social media platforms and user-generated content led to the emergence of a new breed of algorithmic customer: recommendation engines. These advanced algorithms in platforms like Amazon, eBay, TikTok and Instagram use user reviews and influencer marketing to give users personalized recommendations for goods and services.

In response to this evolution, companies have been working to improve customer reviews and harness influencer marketing to boost business and elevate their online presence. By tapping the potential of these second-generation algorithmic customers, the result is often an improvement in brand awareness and revenue growth.

The New Frontier: Generative AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances, a generation of algorithmic customers is taking shape: generative AI. ChatGPT and its relative peers have transcended traditional recommendation engines by producing customized content, propositions and interactions for users.

Amid this transformative shift, businesses must quickly adapt and innovate to capture the attention of generative AI. By explicitly developing intriguing content and experiences for these sophisticated algorithmic customers, organizations can seize their interest to shape user decisions and nurture brand allegiance.

By targeting AI platforms as "customers," businesses can improve their chances of being featured in AI-generated recommendations to stay competitive in the digital marketplace. Moreover, businesses that can successfully appeal to AI-driven platforms will be in a much better position to benefit from the next wave of game-changing technologies and trends.

Strategies for Marketing to AI

To tap into the potential of selling to AI, organizations must think about how to resonate with AI-driven platforms. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Create high-quality, semantic-optimized content: AI algorithms prioritize relevant, engaging and optimized content based on context and intent behind users’ input, rather than focusing on specific keywords. Writing to answer questions and solve problems rather than trying to capture the attention of search and recommendation engines can increase the chances of AI platforms recognizing your brand.

2. Data-driven storytelling: Integrating data and statistics into content can improve credibility and relevance, making it more likely to be recommended by AI platforms, which generally prioritize informative and accurate information.

3. Forge alliances with AI developers: Building partnerships with AI developers can grant valuable insights into the inner workings of AI platforms and extend generative AI capabilities by offering specialized plugins, enabling businesses to refine their marketing strategies accordingly.

4. Monitor and adapt to AI trends: As AI technology advances, businesses must remain vigilant about the latest developments and trends, ensuring their marketing approaches stay relevant and practical.

5. Foster online community engagement: Encourage conversations and interactions around your brand on social media, forums and other digital platforms. This strategy can generate more data points for AI algorithms to analyze, potentially boosting the chances of being mentioned in recommendations.

6. Address ethical considerations: While influencing AI-generated recommendations offers exciting possibilities, organizations must also weigh the ethical ramifications of such practices, ensuring their actions adhere to responsible marketing guidelines and maintain transparency.

By adopting these strategies, businesses can better position themselves to engage with generative AI and fully capitalize on the opportunities offered by this new frontier in marketing.

Embracing The Future

Embracing generative AI as a critical component of modern marketing has transitioned from a futuristic concept to an essential strategy for businesses striving to remain competitive.

As we continue to witness the rapid advancement of AI technologies, companies that acknowledge and leverage the influence of generative AI will position themselves to thrive, capturing the attention of both human and algorithmic customers alike.

So ask yourself again, "Have we sold anything to an AI today?" because the answer to that question could very well determine the future success of your business.