The winning insight: Improving audience engagement for greater impact

Ever felt like you're always playing catch-up with your audience? Believe it or not, we've all been there!  

Whether you're marketing locally or worldwide, you’re bound to encounter a few challenges concerning audience engagement along the way. 

From knowing your audience to keeping up with the ever-shifting tech landscape, it's a rollercoaster ride. In this blog, we’ll be providing practical insights and strategies to empower you to overcome all your challenges. 

As you revisit your audience engagement tactics, here are the top six insights from the conversation that took place between Nino van Zandwijk, international e-commerce & digital transformation specialist at Stage Entertainment, and Ernesto Schmidt-Mumm, Sprinklr’s solutions consulting director, at Socialverse 2023. 

Unlocking the power of AI in social media marketing: insights from Stage Entertainment 

Stage Entertainment is a musical production company known for bringing musical magic to life with productions like The Lion King, Aladdin and the Tina Turner musical. Nino wears many hats, from social media guru to conversion wizard and web analytics whiz. But what truly sets him apart is his mission to put a face to the data-driven, customer-centric approach within Stage.  

Listening to Ernesto and Nino, it becomes clear that leveraging AI is crucial to the success of your social media strategies.  

AI isn't just efficient — it's essential in today's expanding digital landscape. It streamlines communication, enhances customer experience and ensures seamless interaction. 

For businesses and especially for marketers, AI is a big deal. With countless touchpoints and conversations, it becomes the key to deciphering this complexity. It extracts vital insights that brands such as Stage Entertainment need to monitor and understand, ultimately leading to improved business outcomes. 

As we dissect this conversation, it's evident that AI isn't merely a tool — it's a transformative force. It bridges the gap between storytelling and audience engagement while ensuring an exceptional customer experience.  

Cracking the code of audience preferences 

The topic of understanding audience preferences takes center stage when it comes to social media management. Nino’s insights throw light on how you can effectively grasp audience preferences and gather audience data to create tailored content. 

Understanding audience preferences is an ongoing journey, and these strategies provide valuable insights into how organizations can go about doing this successfully. By embracing a holistic view, structuring data effectively and constantly adapting, brands can create content that truly resonates with their audience. 

AI — the catalyst for personalized content and engagement 

Nino and Ernesto touched on a crucial point during their interaction – the role of AI in enhancing personalized content delivery and social media engagement.  

Interesting Read: How to measure social media engagement effectively 

Nino relies on social listening insights neatly packaged into reports, unveiling audience sentiments. AI doesn't stop at insights — it streamlines content planning and smart scheduling. Plus, AI used for benchmarking helps in analyzing social performance, thereby facilitating decision-making. 

Decoding AI success: metrics that matter 

The metrics for measuring the success of AI content strategies emerged as a critical topic during the conversation. Here's a complete breakdown of the metrics that Stage Entertainment leverages to evaluate their AI-first social media strategy: 

The classics — reach, engagement and follower growth  

Nino recognizes the vital role of the usual social media metrics that every social media manager keeps a close eye on – reach, engagement rates and follower growth. These numbers give an idea of how well their posts are doing. They are like the ABCs of social media, and AI can help make them even better.  

Imagine AI as your behind-the-scenes assistant, analyzing data to show you what kind of content your audience loves. It can help you create posts that truly resonate with your audience, boost interactions and grow your followers. 

Learn More: 7 key social media metrics to track 

Social media's extended cut 

Stage Entertainment doesn't stop with these metrics. Nino highlights the importance of tracking the number of mentions and awareness levels surrounding its productions. These metrics reveal how much buzz its shows are generating in the digital sphere, helping it understand the impact and visibility of its content. 

Tracking mentions and awareness levels adds a layer of depth to audience engagement insights. It reveals the real-world influence of your content, similar to how a review can make or break a blockbuster movie. 

Time to market: agility is key 

Time is a valuable resource, and Nino stresses the significance of time to market. He said: “We also look more at the qualitative side, like the time to market — how fast are we to hop on trends.” These days, AI can be a big help in cutting down the time it takes to create and publish content. “So, we calculated that last year we saved 2000-plus hours in scheduling, posting, scheduling any posting, and that time eventually we can use in analyzing our data and making more efficient content [sic].”  

Time to market illustrates a brand's capacity to stay current in a rapidly evolving digital landscape, and AI accelerates this process. 

Imagine you run a fashion brand and you're all set to drop a fresh collection of dresses. Now, the old-school drill here is a real time-eater — you've got design work, photoshoots, writing descriptions and then the whole publishing rigmarole.  

Enter AI! It takes the reins on a bunch of these tasks, like coming up with design ideas, creating chic product shots and even crafting those snappy descriptions. Thanks to AI, you can speed up the launch and stay right on track in today's fast-paced digital world. 

Stage Entertainment measures the success of its AI content strategies through a combination of traditional metrics and forward-looking indicators. It understands that AI not only enhances reach and engagement but also empowers it to stay agile and allocate resources wisely. The result is a more efficient and impactful content strategy. 

5. Unleashing the power of AI with Sprinklr 

Next, the spotlight fell on how Sprinklr's AI has revolutionized social media management for Stage Entertainment.   

Let's see the unique ways in which Sprinklr's AI has driven efficiency and transformed the brand’s approach. 

Holistic strategy with personalization at its core 

Nino pointed out that Sprinklr's AI has played a crucial role in shaping Stage Entertainment’s complete social media plan. It's not just about reaching people — it's about doing it in a way that feels personal and special. It adds an exclusive touch that makes Stage Entertainment's online presence match its mission of creating amazing experiences. 

Generative AI — paving the way to the future 

Nino's insights extended beyond the present. He shares a glimpse into the future — the possibility of integrating generative AI with Sprinklr's technology. This innovation promises to take personalization to the next level, surpassing conventional expectations by crafting content and experiences that are uniquely tailored to each individual. The integration of generative AI showcases the continuous evolution of AI technologies, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in audience engagement. 

Interesting Read: Will ChatGPT and Generative AI shape the future of customer service? 

Fostering a data-driven and customer-centric community 

Nino underlines the critical role of Sprinklr's success manager in facilitating an internal cultural shift. “We're able to create this community internally that is focused on being data-driven and customer-centric and being ready with AI to step up our game. So, it's really a mentality shift that Sprinklr helped us with,” he said 

Beyond technology, Sprinklr has played a pivotal role in nurturing a mindset that aligns with the future of marketing — one that's data-savvy and customer-focused.   

Time to embrace AI — the audience engagement alchemist 

In this illuminating conversation with Nino, we've witnessed how AI is reshaping the marketing landscape. As Nino aptly put it, AI is not just a tool — it's a mindset shift, and it's a shift that's already underway.  

The statistic that by 2025, AI will power 95% of customer interactions is a resounding call to action. It's clear that AI isn't just the future — it's today's reality. So, whether you're a local brand or a global player, embracing AI can help you craft personalized, data-driven experiences that captivate your audience.  

As you venture forward, remember that the AI revolution isn't just about technology — it's about forging deeper connections with your audience in this ever-expanding digital landscape. 

REQUEST DEMO