Trends in data analytics and AI in marketing today

Claude Spiese(left) & Tom O’Connor

The world is undergoing transformative changes due to digital transformation. What areas are Vietnamese businesses looking to transform the most?

Claude Spiese: At Grant Thornton Digital Advisory, we see a lot of interest in digital transformation of the sales and marketing function, but many companies don’t know where to start.

Tom O’Connor: Data and AI-driven marketing is what we do at XperX AI to support businesses to scale and automate marketing and social media campaigns, and I am always eager to discuss practical ways to start using these highly cost-effective technologies.

Claude, what do you tell your clients at Grant Thornton when they ask about data analytics and AI for sales and marketing in today’s business environment in Vietnam?

Claude Spiese: As you know, Grant Thornton Digital Advisory focuses on practical real-world applications, so after explaining the huge ­potential of data analytics and AI, we focus on what companies can do, starting tomorrow, to boost sales and reduce cost using these digital technologies.

Tom O’Connor: Yes, companies who want to boost sales and immediately save marketing costs should find a partner who offers software as a service (SaaS) automation, analytics, and AI-enabled tools. The benefits are not only to identify insights into existing customer buying habits, but also to efficiently tap into a whole ecosystem of new customers, and apply those insights to sales and marketing communications through digital channels where customers reside and respond positively to incentives. All of these functions can now be easily managed on one centralised platform, without the need for your marketing, sales, and customer service teams to be software developers.

How does this work from a business point of view?

Tom O’Connor: Companies use these solutions to digitally manage all aspects of their customer database and marketing outreach on one platform. Benefits include: managing all social media and marketing outreach channels; creating and launching large-scale marketing campaigns using an automated design toolkit, with simple drag and drop of websites and pop-ups, among others; automating and managing workflow, sales leads, and account management to achieve operational efficiencies; and deriving deep analytic insight into customer and transactional data to track 360-degree analytics on individual leads or visitors to their website, or clicks on their ads.

Claude Spiese: For our clients, a big concern is cost. We explain data and AI-driven marketing is not something only for big corporates. Local Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can definitely get in on it, by giving it a try, starting small without a large investment, and then increasing their usage as it is proven effective.

Tom O’Connor: SMEs should insist on low monthly pricing to get started, which increases incrementally as they grow their revenue and customer base. The platform should require minimum time and effort to implement. And for businesses that do not want to manage these functions, providers should offer managed services custom tailored for each business’s needs. At XperX, for example, we basically guarantee a positive return on investment.