AI-led customer engagement platform: A modern-day imperative?

As consumer expectations evolve at a break-neck pace, brands face a formidable challenge of staying relevant today. The marketing tools that served as reliable guides in the past, are now obsolete.

The new rulebook demands agility, personalisation, and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour. Unfortunately, many brands find themselves trapped in a martech maze of legacy platforms ill-equipped to meet these demands.

Our recent survey of retail brands paints a clear picture. While 96% of the respondents (marketers) agree that consumer behaviour (preferences and likes) is rapidly evolving, only 38.9% are prepared to adapt to those changing expectations. Ergo, a majority of respondents remain unprepared to adapt.

The reason? A reliance on outdated martech platforms. More than half of the respondents mention that they use legacy tools to manage marketing automation and cross-channel customer engagement.

Intelligence needed

Over 54.7% of respondents feel their current tools and vendors don't empower them enough to meet evolving customer expectations. These legacy platforms struggle to keep pace with the dynamic nature of modern consumer interactions. They lack the flexibility, intelligence, and personalisation capabilities required to deliver the tailored experiences that consumers now crave.

In contrast, intelligent customer engagement platforms (CEPs) offer a more effective and efficient solution. Harnessing artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics, CEPs deliver highly personalised and omnichannel experiences that resonate with today's discerning consumers. Handling vast amounts of data with ease, these platforms understand customer preferences and journeys, enabling brands to deliver relevant engagement across multiple channels.

Customer engagement tactics with a sluggish martech stack can feel like sending a snail to deliver your mail: it is heartfelt but hopelessly outdated in today’s fast-paced environment. By employing ML algorithms and data analytics, intelligent CEPs can create personalised engagement at lightning speed.

The difference is obvious. What may take several weeks of planning, strategising, and executing, takes hours, if not minutes, with CEP.

Speed thrills, but wait for the spills

However, there is more to these platforms than their speed. They can quickly turn that speed into value in terms of higher engagement rates, better customer loyalty, and, ultimately, a healthier bottom line.

By reducing the time taken to launch campaigns, businesses can stay agile, responding to trends and customer feedback in real time. Imagine launching over 200+ campaigns for more than 100 million users in less than 12 weeks! Or slashing down the time required from eight days to 20 minutes to launch a multi-channel campaign. That's the kind of quick turnaround we are talking about with AI-powered CEPs.

Spooky, right? But in the most enchanting way possible. It is light-speed engagement in an era when every second counts. In this high-speed chase for customers' hearts and minds, CEPs definitely lead the pack.

As consumer expectations rise and the changes occur more rapidly, brands clinging to antiquated martech tools will find it difficult to stay competitive. Intelligent CEPs present a more proficient and effective method of connecting with end customers in the current digital era.

Navigating the intricate martech landscape and excelling in the competitive market across industries is given with these agile platforms. Harnessing AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics, CEPs empower consumer brands to achieve exceptional time-to-value and sustained bottom-line success.

- Narasimha Rao Ponnekanti, general manager GM—India and Middle East, MoEngage.