We live in a noisy world where brands constantly compete for customer attention, 24/7. In this age of AI, marketers often struggle to stand out amidst this clamor.
Ready for AI agents?
Customer engagement platform Iterable aims to help brands cut through the noise with new AI-driven features announced at its annual Activate Summit. "As consumers ourselves, we have brands we love," stated Andrew Boni, Iterable's CEO and co-founder. The goal is to enable brands to communicate effectively without just “shouting.”
“It’s about empowering marketers to be more agile and strategic through AI,” he added.
Marketers' FOMO Toward Generative AI
Iterable, in collaboration with Wakefield Research, surveyed 1,200 global marketers and found that 91% are already utilizing AI in their work. Furthermore, 49% believe generative AI will simplify their roles. Bela Stepanova, Iterable’s SVP of Product, remarked, “The AI revolution is faster than any previous tech revolution.” Marketers feel that adopting AI is crucial to avoid falling behind.
This trend highlights significant growth in the AI-powered customer engagement market. According to Markets and Markets, the global customer engagement solutions market is projected to reach $32.2 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of around 11%. Additionally, ReportLinker predicts the retail omnichannel commerce platform market will hit $16.9 billion in the same timeframe, showing a CAGR of 16.4% since 2020.
Iterable faces competition from companies like Pega, MoEngage, Adobe Marketo Engage, and HubSpot. Founded in 2013, Iterable reached $200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and serves clients including Priceline, DoorDash, and Volvo.
Utilizing AI for Customer Journeys
Mapping customer journeys is essential for marketers, helping them understand interactions and informing next steps. Iterable's new Journey Assist simplifies this process, enabling users to create or enhance customer journeys with a single prompt. The platform provides commonly used templates to streamline workflow.
Boni likened customer journeys — encompassing awareness, consideration, purchase, and advocacy stages — to flow charts. For example, if a customer signs up for Priceline deals, the journey can trigger a welcome message, which could lead to a sequence of 200 follow-up steps.
“Journeys allow for a sequence of messages,” Boni explained, acknowledging that the complexity can quickly escalate. With Journey Assist, marketers can now design these journeys in under a minute.
According to Stepanova, the first month of customer experience is vital for driving conversions beyond initial purchases. “Journey Assist can accommodate various use cases in both simple and technical language, with AI generating the journey flow automatically.”
Building Specific Segments with Smart Segmentation
Marketers frequently express frustration over data accessibility and the complexities of data systems. The Smart Segmentation feature from Iterable allows quick segmentation using multiple attributes and event signals, facilitating more informed audience engagement decisions. Marketers receive contextual information on data use and behavior, along with intelligent recommendations.
“They have so much data — making timely decisions with context is invaluable,” Boni observed.
Wolt's senior CRM and marketing automation manager, Selen Kucukarslan, praised this capability, highlighting how Iterable has enabled them to create scalable and targeted audience segments. Redbubble’s Josh Geiser echoed this sentiment, noting, “The most exciting benefit of Iterable AI is that it allows us more time to brainstorm and innovate.”
Enhanced Customer Insights and WhatsApp Integration
Today, Iterable is also enhancing its Brand Affinity tool, which evaluates customer sentiment through cross-channel engagement. The tool now offers detailed insights and analysis on customer affinity trends, helping marketers monitor how engagement affects sentiment over time.
“Brands often manage hundreds of campaigns simultaneously,” Stepanova noted. “Understanding customer sentiment across campaigns can be complex. Our focus on data sets us apart.”
Moreover, Iterable is now integrating WhatsApp, the world’s leading messaging app with over 2 billion users, into its platform. This feature will enable users to send personalized messages, engage in quick-reply conversations, and automate their customer lifecycle campaigns.
“Brands can connect with customers globally on one of today’s most popular messaging platforms,” Stepanova concluded.
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