5 AI advertising startups to watch
This edited article was originally published on Centric.
Using AI in marketing has been the new kid on the street for some time. With VCs sinking $5 billion into AI startups generally last year the sector itself is hot stuff. But advertising is where some of the lowest hanging fruit - and biggest deals - lie.
1. Tagxit
This MENA based camera app is one of the hottest artificial intelligence startups to come out in 2017.
It applies deep learning to improve image classification and categorisation to associate names and sentiments with specific images.
Tagxit is banking on the never ending hunt for social currency by millennials.
By capturing and categorising images taken and building an aspirational profile based on the locations and experiences captured, GCC companies working with the camera app have successfully executed activations and mystery shopper activities, while seamlessly recording the visual data points.
Depending on what categorisation is used on an image or experience, companies are tapping into location-based search marketing to redirect Tagxit users to their outlets or services, depending on the intent of phrases used.
2. Persado
Persado is a cognitive content platform for marketers. Its technology generates language that inspires action and increases return on equity (ROI).
As the MENA region primarily speaks English as a second or third language, knowing the attribution of words to their associations, positive and negative, is something all marketers need. It’s the difference between using the word ‘contribute’ instead of the word ‘donate’. The former can mean ‘be the change you wish to see in the world’ and the latter can mean ‘give me your money, punk’. A/B tests show that the former drove qualified actions for the 2008 Obama campaign, and the rest – as they say – is history.
3. Appier
To date, this Taiwanese company has raised $48.5 million from Pavilion Capital and Sequoia Capital.
Appier helps its clients optimise advertising ROI by delivering the right ad to the right person at the right time across different screens.
They do this by taking predictive analytics to a whole new level. Appier follows the digital journey of an audience member. Like Google’s in-market segment data, Applier creates patterns which inform real-time advertising optimisation engines about what stage of the customer journey the target is in. Based on that, ads that are contextually relevant are served.
While the idea is nothing new, the AI element of the execution is and therein lies the difference.
Appier holds data on purchase frequency and complementary products, which means that the buyer of shoes will not see ads for shoes for at least three months, but they will for colourful laces, socks, and shoe cleaning services. In a world where advertisers are scrambling to effectively battle ad fraud, services such as Appier appear to be the answer for contextual targeting backed by purchase ability.
4. Drawbridge
While the advertising industry rewards reach, the reluctance to adjust campaigns with frequency capping leads to an ad being served to the same person across all their devices.
Drawbridge is a programmatic advertising technology that claims, with a patent, to be able to map out all devices of a site visitor to help advertisers effectively cap ad frequency and reach a target segment across devices, while ensuring the ad is native to the device.
Representing the conversion side of the marketing funnel, Insidesales.com is one of the most valuable artificial intelligence startups, in that it has traction. It also has Microsoft as an investor which means that Dynamic CRM is part of the predictive analytics that enables smarter lead qualification by analysing all the variables.
As regions, such as MENA, experience an economic slowdown, companies will need to deploy their time and resources effectively, tapping into tools such as InsideSales to help them manage expectations.
Feature image via Pixabay.
