Machine learning has been the term on the tongues of every tech-savvy businessperson in recent years, especially as major tech players like Apple and Google have made major moves to implement it into their consumer-facing technologies. Even with the excitement around the subject, like Apple’s announcement that the iPhone XS would include a devoted machine learning core, many people don’t yet know how machine learning will affect their life and business.
We think it’s important for businesspeople to understand the practical side of technologies that are rising to the forefront of modern business, so with that in mind, we’ll answer the questions “what is machine learning” and “how can it help marketers?
Machine Learning Can Hone Your Audience
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in marketing is missing your target audience. Every year, thousands of products sell less than they should simply because a marketing professional missed some minute detail about the audience or demographic for their product. Machine learning is helping to make that much less likely.
Because machine learning is centered around putting adaptive data to good use, marketing applications abound, particularly when coupled with the use of demographic data that already exists. Social media sites have generated endless valuable information in recent years, but making sense of what is largely referred to as “big data” is a nearly impossible task for even large teams. With machine learning tools, though, small teams can have intelligent algorithms parse massive stores of data, sussing out increasingly accurate details.
Machine Learning Can Save Time and Work
Technology exists to make life more efficient, safer, and, ultimately, better for all living creatures. If people are asking “what is machine learning” and not finding out that it is helping humans live better lives, the connection has been missed somewhere along the line.
As time goes on, our work should become easier thanks to technology, not harder. Smart applications of machine learning tools can do just that, allowing smaller teams to process marketing information that would have been impossible to analyze efficiently in the past. Instead of countless overtime hours poured into the rote labor, marketing firms can instead rest easy knowing their professionals are making the most of their time – and talent.
Machine Learning Tools Help Maximize Human Talent
If there’s one thing humans will likely always have over AI, it’s that we’re creative beyond imagining. If there’s one concept that isn’t the answer to the question “what is machine learning,” it’s “creative.” Machine learning tools are fantastic at analyzing and highlighting patterns from massive collections of data, but they can’t tell us what to do with that data.
Utilizing effective machine learning tools means freeing up human talent to do what humans do best: create. When most professionals pursue marketing, they don’t imagine doing countless hours of data analysis as the endpoint of their career. Realistically, most people imagine working with other people, developing strategies, and helping good products reach the eyes of the people who want them. Effective machine learning tools help humans work with humans, ensuring that marketing professionals don’t have to miss the forest for the trees.