Use AI to increase sales: Turn customer data into liquid gold
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Understanding your customer journey is key to driving conversions in today's marketing landscape. The right message at the right time can make all the difference—and AI is making it easier than ever to understand customer intent and guide them toward conversion. AI can help you identify the “next-best action” to move your audience closer to a purchase by analyzing real-time data and providing insights into customer behaviors.
This article will walk you through how to use AI to interpret customer data, personalize offers, and maximize conversions. But first, let’s outline what information you’ll need to get the most out of AI tools like ChatGPT.
Checklist: What to Provide ChatGPT for AI-Driven Insights
Before diving into prompts, providing AI with relevant context and data is important. Below is a checklist of the key information you need to gather, along with example content, to help ChatGPT generate tailored suggestions:
1. Customer Data and Behavior
Audience Segments: Define specific customer groups.
Example: "New visitors to the site," "Returning customers who have made at least one purchase," "Cart abandoners who viewed product pages for over 3 minutes."
Behavioral Data: Provide recent customer interactions.
Example: "50% of cart abandoners visited the 'Best Sellers' page before leaving," "New email subscribers who clicked through from a social media ad."
Key Actions: Highlight what behaviors indicate strong intent.
Example: "Adding items to cart but not checking out," "Viewing a product page multiple times in a week," "Signing up for a free trial."
2. Campaign Details and Goals
Campaign Overviews: Share details about the campaigns you're running.
Example: "Running a Facebook ad campaign targeting women aged 25-35 interested in fitness," "A PPC campaign on Google Ads promoting our summer sale."
Goals & Objectives: Clarify what you want to achieve.
Example: "Increase email sign-ups by 20% this month," "Drive 500 more sales from Instagram ads," "Reduce cart abandonment by 15% in Q4."
Performance Metrics: Share key numbers to give context.
Example: "Average order value is $75," "CTR on Google Ads is 3.5%," "CPA on Facebook is currently $12, but the target is $10."
3. Channel Preferences & User Behavior
Channels in Use: Indicate where you want to communicate with customers.
Example: "Mainly using email and SMS for promotions," "Sending push notifications through our mobile app," "Using Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for social campaigns."
Preferred Communication Times: Share data on optimal times.
Example: "Emails have a 20% higher open rate on Tuesdays between 11 AM and 1 PM," "Push notifications are most effective in the evening for app users."
User Preferences: Describe known customer behaviors and engagement habits.
Example: "Customers respond better to short, visual social media ads," "SMS promotions with flash sales see higher conversion rates than regular emails."
4. Offer Types & Messaging Preferences
Incentives: Specify what offers are on the table.
Example: "10% off for first-time buyers," "Free shipping on orders over $50," "Limited-time bundles with free gifts."
Messaging Tone: Describe the brand’s voice and preferred style.
Example: "Friendly and conversational," "Urgent and sales-driven for flash deals," "Professional and informative for product launch updates."
Content Performance: Share what content has worked well in the past.
Example: "Instagram Stories with testimonials get the most swipe-ups," "Educational blogs with product comparisons drive higher traffic to product pages."
5. Target KPIs and Optimization Focus
KPIs: Define the metrics you’re aiming to improve.
Example: "Increase conversion rate from 2% to 3%," "Improve email open rate from 25% to 30%," "Lower CPA on Google Ads from $15 to $8."
Optimization Goals: Identify your specific areas of focus.
Example: "Optimize retargeting ads to lower cost-per-click," "Improve engagement on Instagram Stories with more interactive content."
AI prompts for the customer purchase journey
Once you have compiled the necessary data, you can use prompts to guide AI and maximize your campaigns. Below are examples of how you might apply this information across different scenarios.
1. Understanding Customer Intent in Real-Time
AI can track multiple customer touchpoints and predict what users will likely do next based on behavior signals. By providing details about your audience segments, past behaviors, and goals, you can use prompts to generate actionable insights.
Prompt Example for Customer Intent Analysis:
“Analyze the past 7 days of website and app data for user activity. Identify the top three behaviors that indicate a customer is likely to make a purchase within the next week. Suggest a next-best action to move them closer to conversion.”
Example Information to Provide:
Audience segments: "Returning visitors who added items to the cart."
Behavioral data: "Users who viewed the checkout page but left without purchasing."
Goal: "Increase conversions from returning visitors."
Outcome: AI highlights behaviors like repeated cart activity or time spent on checkout pages and suggests a personalized email reminder with an offer or an on-site pop-up to encourage checkout.
2. Turning Insights into Actionable Offers
AI is particularly powerful in personalizing offers and messages across different channels. Providing customer preferences, channel data, and offer guidelines enables the AI to craft timely, relevant actions that maximize conversion potential.
Prompt for Crafting Personalized Offers:
“Based on user data from our e-commerce site, identify customers who have abandoned their cart in the last 24 hours. Generate an email template offering a 10% discount to encourage them to complete their purchase, and include recommended products based on their browsing history.”
Example Information to Provide:
Abandonment data: "Customers who left items in the cart worth over $50."
Preferred tone: "Friendly and encouraging."
Offers: "Provide a 10% discount valid for 48 hours."
Outcome: AI creates a personalized email template offering a discount and recommending complementary items based on browsing history, increasing the chance of conversion.
3. Examples of AI-Driven Customer Journeys
Integrating AI into your marketing workflow allows you to create tailored experiences across the entire customer journey. Here are some examples and the information you’d need to provide ChatGPT to generate the right prompts:
Abandoned Cart Follow-Up:
AI can analyze customers' behavior who left items in their cart and suggest the best ways to re-engage them.
Prompt Example:
“Identify users who abandoned their cart within the last 48 hours. Recommend a multi-channel follow-up strategy, including personalized emails, SMS, and push notifications with varying incentives based on cart value.”
Example Information to Provide:
Cart data: "Users with items valued over $100."
Channels: "Email for initial contact, SMS for reminder 24 hours later."
Incentives: "15% discount for high cart values, 10% for others."
Outcome: A detailed multi-channel approach with timing and messaging tailored to cart value, driving customers back to complete their purchase.
Personalized Upselling:
After a customer makes a purchase, AI can recommend related items based on their purchase history and browsing behavior.
Prompt Example:
“For all customers who purchased running shoes in the last 7 days, create a personalized follow-up email offering related products like running socks, athletic wear, and hydration packs. Highlight cross-selling opportunities based on similar purchases.”
Example Information to Provide:
Purchase history: "Recent buyers of specific running shoes."
Upsell items: "Socks, sportswear, and accessories."
Messaging style: "Helpful and informative, highlighting product benefits."
Outcome: A well-crafted follow-up email that suggests complementary items, increasing the average order value.
Dynamic Website Recommendations:
As customers browse your site, AI can provide real-time recommendations based on their interests and browsing behavior.
Prompt Example:
“Analyze current site activity and suggest dynamic product recommendations for each user based on browsing behavior. Highlight trending items and products frequently bought together.”
Example Information to Provide:
Current site behavior: "Frequent visits to new arrivals and best-sellers."
Recommendation preferences: "Show top-rated items in each category."
Placement: "On product pages and checkout page for upsell."
Outcome: Real-time product suggestions that enhance the user experience and improve the chances of conversion.
Building Stronger Customer Journeys with AI
AI allows marketers to analyze behavior, craft personalized interactions, and create a seamless customer journey that maximizes conversions. You can generate highly tailored and effective insights and actions by providing ChatGPT with specific data about your customers, campaigns, and brand guidelines.
Ready to get started? Begin with small prompts to analyze customer behavior and test personalized messages or actions. As you see the benefits, expand AI’s use across more of your marketing channels to boost engagement and drive results.