Artificial Intelligence (AI), or more specifically, generative AI, has become one of the most talked about technologies across the globe, with increasing numbers of businesses using it to streamline processes and improve efficiency. According to the latest McKinsey Global Survey, 65% of organisations regularly use gen AI, nearly double the percentage from ten months previously.
Unsurprising then, given its rapid uptake, that discussion abounds about the use of AI, and its place in sales and marketing, and lead generation specifically. Recently, there have been multiple articles cautioning against using AI, or warning of companies making false claims about what it can achieve.
As a company that’s not only utilising AI but is proud to be blazing a trail with its innovative proprietary tech, we have a unique perspective on the topic. And whilst we can’t control what others say, we can make sure that at Interlink, we’re clear and transparent about when, how and why we use AI in our processes.
We use AI to ‘Discover’ priority accounts based on trigger events
Leads either exist or they don’t; AI can’t manufacture new contacts, so don’t believe anyone who says it can. But what it can do, and how we use it, is to analyse and then rank your leads, so you’re prioritising those prospects that are most likely to buy.
To do this, we’ve developed an AI-powered tool called Discover, which searches realms of publicly available online information for up to 12 trigger events, such as a new client win or product launch. These are recognised as precursors to a purchase – things that happen to a company that are likely to trigger a change in the business and therefore a lead.
Traditional lead generation models use intent data, identifying people because of the content they’ve downloaded. Our method goes one step further and highlights pre-intent data, allowing us to predict when intent is likely to be shown, so you can act on it earlier.
Trigger events we identify
- Won new clients
- Received funding and financing
- Launched new product(s)
- Merged with another business
- Acquired a company
- Expanded their physical office
- Partnered with another organisation
- Hired new people
- Won an award
- Launched integrations with other technology
- Went public
- Has vulnerability problems
We use AI to better segment lists which drives conversion rate improvements
But identifying the trigger events is just the first part of the process.
Discover then analyses the data and learns which trigger or triggers mean a prospect is most likely to convert. Future campaigns can be segmented and automatically prioritised according to the findings, giving you a head start every time.
Using AI in this way allows us to optimise campaigns much faster and more efficiently than if they were managed by humans, and the very nature of machine learning means the more we work with you, the more Discover understands the prospects and the accounts you care about – and the better our results.
We use the insight from AI to personalise email follow-up
We all recognise the importance of personalisation in marketing but gathering even the most basic of insights can be a time-consuming task. The more detailed you want to get or the larger the scale, the more complicated it becomes. 39% of B2B marketers struggle with personalising their ABM campaigns through lack of time and inaccurate data.
Here’s where we bring AI in again, combining the information we’ve gathered on a prospect’s job role and the trigger event detected to create communications that speak directly to customers’ needs.
In this way, we take personalisation – and results – to another level, but we don’t do so lightly. Data protection regulations such as GDPR exist for a reason, and we take them seriously. All the information we use is either publicly available or individuals have given their consent for it to be used to provide them with relevant, targeted communications.
While AI and machine learning can provide us with valuable insights at lightning speed, we recognise that to really connect with a customer requires the human touch.
We don’t believe AI can replace humans
That’s why, no matter how quick and clever the technology, we’ll only ever use it to support the content creation or copywriting process, not replace it. Forging genuine relationships with prospects and customers requires communications that feel authentic, empathetic and genuine, and crafting these involves a level of emotional intelligence and a depth of understanding that’s impossible for a machine to replicate.
Even the insights provided by AI are only valuable if they are understood and used properly – by humans – which is why employ an in-house team of lead generation professionals who can make intuitive decisions and think strategically. They use insights from Discover to provide our clients with a prioritised list of leads, and because they’re in-house, we have more control over the quality of those leads.
At Interlink, we don’t use AI for the sake of it, because it’s a current buzzword or something our competitors are talking about. We use it because we recognise that combining its supercharged analytical abilities with marketers’ creativity creates something spectacular. We use it because it allows us to work smarter and faster, to prioritise your accounts and optimise your campaigns. We use it because it truly helps our human lead generation teams to deliver higher quality leads that are more likely to convert.