Digital Marketers, 3 Tips to Machine Learning Success

As digital marketers, you see Machine Learning technologies being used by all types of companies and in various ways. As a graduate student at Northwestern University, I have found 2 articles that provide important insights into these new technologies and how they are developed and used by digital marketers today. 

1. “Machine Learning is About to Turn the Marketing World Upside Down”

link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/advertising-week/machine-learning-is-about_b_12649810.html

Authors and LinkedIn address:

Steven Wong: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenwong2

Derek Slater: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekcslater

In this article, Steven Wong and Dereck Slater talked about how machine learning can revolutionize the way we think about digital marketing. For example, they discussed machine learning algorithms such as K-Means and Clustering Analysis, as well as how marketers today are using them to do market segmentation. In addition, they also talked about methods such as K-Nearest Neighbors and its importance in building a recommendation system on online retailers like Amazon. In all, this article would be a great starting point for you to learn the idea and application of Machine Learning.

Link to the image

2. “Google's Journey into Machine Learning: What Marketers Need to Know”

link: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Googles-Journey-Machine-Learning-What-Marketers-Need-Know/1013999

Author and LinkedIn Address:

Justin Cutroni https://www.linkedin.com/in/justincutroni

Analytics Evangelist at Google

As the largest online advertising platform on planet Earth, Google has always been the leader in integrating machine learning methods into their advertisement platform. In this article, Justin Cutroni, an Analytics Evangelist from Google, talked about Google's view of machine learning and its potential impact on digital marketing. Regarding the future of machine learning, he commented, "It's big data, it's customer analytics, it's visual analytics". This article gives us a holistic view of how machine learning applications can change the way company interacts with their customers. 

After reviewing these two articles and from my work at Northwestern where I specialize in Data Analytics, I have 3 action items to consider as you explore machine learning systems and their relationship with marketing:

•       Automation Means Opportunities - Machine Learning applications give digital marketers a variety of tools to explore, monitor and understand their customers, and digital marketers could utilize the tools to find great opportunities in their companies.
•       Revolution Is HERE NOW - Equipped with the power of predictive analytics, Machine Learning applications would help digital marketers better understand customers’ purchasing pattern and transfer those insights into actions.
•       Machine Learning = Profits - Digital and online marketing focuses mainly on improving a campaign’s conversion rate, and Machine Learning helps marketers achieve this goal.

The Era of Machine Learning has come, and digital marketers still have time to catch up with the trend and utilize machine learning applications to improve your marketing effectiveness.

About the Author
Runzhe Cen
I am currently a graduate student at Northwestern University, pursuing a degree at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing, with a specialization in the Data Analytics track. I will graduate in December 2017, and my intended career fields are data analytics, digital marketing and consulting. 
www.medill.northwestern.edu
You can contact me through Twitter at  @Runzhe_Cen or through LinkedIn at Runzhe Cen