Get In Front Of Your Target Customers In The Age Of AI

Adam Coffey, founding partner of The Chairman Group . Best-selling author of The Private Equity Playbook. In the not-so-recent past, most businesses had to focus the lion's share of their marketing efforts and resources on strategies like these if they wanted to succeed.

Now, doing so could be a recipe for failure. The AI revolution has touched almost every part of our world, and how we acquire customers is no exception. Across the board, my clients—more than 70 businesses in dozens of industries across the globe—have seen their ROI from traditional marketing strategies decline significantly.

If so, you know that finding a way to get back in front of your target customers is crucial to your continued success. That's why I want to share some actionable steps you can start taking right now to modernize your marketing efforts and begin acquiring customers again. All of this means that ranking highly in search engine results, not to mention paying for clicks, may not be as effective as they were for acquiring new customers.

Let's say you sell portable greenhouses. In the past, your goal would probably have been to rank at the top of a Google search when a prospective customer typed in something like “best portable greenhouse.” Now, though, to stand out from the competition, you should also make sure your company's products are the ones AI references when a customer types in something like: “Can you give me some recommendations for the best portable greenhouses for my area that are durable but don't require electricity?” The same advice applies if you have a service-based business. Let's say you have a chiropractic practice.

Not everyone will be going to Google and typing “chiropractor near me.” Instead, some are asking ChatGPT who the best chiropractor in their area is for the type of pain they're experiencing. When they do, you want your name to be the one it references first. While there are many ways to increase the likelihood of getting referenced, one of the best I've found centers around building your brand's authority. Alternative viewpoints and findings: See here