In today’s digital landscape, businesses are constantly seeking innovative ways to connect with potential customers and drive sales. However, the traditional methods of marketing and customer engagement have proven to be ineffective in achieving this goal. According to Stefanos Loukakos, a seasoned executive with experience at Meta’s business-focused Messenger division and blockchain org, online retailers face a significant challenge in creating tailored marketing campaigns that resonate with buyers.
The Problem with Generic Marketing Campaigns
Loukakos highlights the issue of generic social media, text, and email blasts that fail to engage customers and convert them into sales. "Businesses need a solution to create winning messaging campaigns and automate conversations with both leads and customers," he emphasizes. Moreover, Loukakos believes that marketing efforts should be tailored to ensure customers discover products they’ll love, while also helping companies gain a deeper understanding of their customers.
The Birth of Connectly.ai
It was during this time that Loukakos met Yandong Liu, the former CTO of Strava and a Yahoo researcher. The two shared an interest in messaging-based marketing, which sparked the creation of Connectly.ai in 2020. This innovative platform leverages AI to help businesses sell their products and services across any messaging platform.
How Connectly.ai Works
According to Loukakos, customers can send and receive messages without having to host, manage, or update software themselves. Connectly’s platform integrates with a range of messaging apps and services, including WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS, and web-based chatbots. This enables brands to create ad campaigns and automate basic conversations with customers.
Personalized Customer Engagement
Connectly.ai allows brands to customize the types of text messages that their customers receive. The platform uses AI fine-tuned on a retailer’s product catalog and preferences, plugged into the brand’s online store, to send texts informing customers about price changes, stock availability, and offers.
Automated Conversations and Audience Segmentation
Connectly also attempts to figure out which products customers are most interested in and automatically build audience segments. This enables brands to target specific customer groups with tailored marketing efforts.
The Benefits of Connectly.ai
By leveraging AI and messaging platforms, Connectly.ai offers several benefits to businesses, including:
- Improved customer engagement: Personalized marketing efforts increase the likelihood of converting customers into sales.
- Enhanced customer understanding: Brands gain valuable insights into their customers’ preferences and behavior.
- Increased efficiency: Automated conversations and audience segmentation reduce the workload for marketers.
Expansion Plans
The funds raised by Connectly.ai will be used to expand its platform and grow its San Francisco-based workforce from 65 employees to nearly 80 by the end of the year. This investment is expected to enable the company to further develop its innovative approach to conversational e-commerce.
Conclusion
In today’s competitive digital landscape, businesses need innovative solutions to stay ahead of the curve. Connectly.ai’s revolutionary approach to conversational e-commerce has the potential to transform the way brands engage with customers and drive sales. By leveraging AI and messaging platforms, this platform offers a game-changing solution for companies seeking to improve customer understanding and increase efficiency.
About the Author
Kyle Wiggers is a senior reporter at TechCrunch with a special interest in artificial intelligence. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as various gadget blogs.
