International affiliate marketing network Webgains claims to be the first performance marketing agency to partner with IBM Watson, as it seeks to develop cognitive solutions to increase both the efficiency and efficacy of digital ad placement for brand owners.
Using artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions, Webgains insists it will ensure clients are able to present the most timely and relevant content across a strategic range of digital publishing partners.
The company is developing a suite of products and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) with IBM. The first phase will see Webgains develop a virtual assistant (VA) to support staff and clients with front line customer service tasks.
The product will use APIs from the IBM Watson Developer Cloud portfolio, including Watson Conversation, AlchemyLanguage, Retrieve and Rank, and Tone Analyzer. The virtual assistant is designed to improve response time and efficiency, helping with basic tasks and questions as well as uploading promotional assets and assisting with invoices. It will be trained in English, German, French and Spanish.
Learning over time, it is claimed that the VA will allow Webgains to analyse customer intent and trends in order to feed learnings into future service. Webgains will build, test, configure and train the VA in conjunction with IBM Enterprise Services to maximise the full potential of AI.
The second phase will see Webgains focus on intelligent ad placement. By processing extensive data, including prevailing external trends, web queries, user data and social media analysis, it is predicted that Webgains’ insight will enable brands and retailers to make more informed decisions for their digital marketing strategies.
Webgains chief executive Richard Dennys commented: “The introduction of AI into Webgains’ suite of technology enables clients, publishers and staff to have more flexibility. Our account managers will have the tools to enhance efficiency and to make more intelligent decisions which will have a real impact on clients’ sales figures and ROI. This investment will make our service more valuable than ever.”
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