AI Marketing Strategy: Practical Applications for Any Business
AI Explored Podcast Episode | Released on July 15, 2025
Host: Michael Stelzner
Guest: Susan Westwater, AI Strategist and Co-Author of "Voice Engaging Customers Through Conversational AI"

Introduction

In this episode of AI Explored, host Michael Stelzner delves into the practical applications of AI in marketing strategies across businesses of all sizes. Joining him is Susan Westwater, an AI strategist and founder of Pragmatic Digital, who shares her extensive experience and insights on integrating AI into marketing processes to drive growth and efficiency.

Susan Westwater’s Journey into AI

Susan Westwater begins by recounting her journey into the field of AI, highlighting her transition from a medievalist to an AI strategist. She emphasizes the parallels between the democratization of information through the printing press and the current AI revolution.

Susan Westwater [03:24]: "I've seen the parallel with AI, especially conversational and voice, in democratizing information, making insights accessible, and powering better decisions."

Key Points:

• Early Adoption: Susan and her partner Scott recognized the potential of AI as early as 2017, deciding to immerse themselves in learning and developing AI strategies.
• Democratization of Knowledge: She draws a comparison between historical technological shifts and AI, focusing on how AI makes specialized knowledge accessible to a broader audience.
• AI as a Decision Partner: Susan views AI not just as a tool but as a partner that enhances decision-making processes.

The Importance of an AI Strategy

Michael and Susan discuss why having a comprehensive AI strategy is crucial for businesses rather than merely adopting individual AI tools. Susan likens AI tools to musical instruments, emphasizing the need for a conductor to create a harmonious outcome.

Susan Westwater [08:25]: "AI tools are like instruments. Without a conductor, it can just be noise or a singular effort as opposed to an incredible symphony."

Key Points:

• Operationalizing AI: A strategy ensures that AI integration aligns with business objectives, enabling systematic and scalable implementation.
• Defining Success: Establishing what success looks like helps in prioritizing resources and measuring the impact of AI initiatives.
• Avoiding Random Implementation: A strategic approach prevents haphazard adoption of tools, ensuring that each AI component serves a meaningful purpose.

Developing a Practical AI Marketing Framework

Susan introduces a four-pillar framework for developing AI-driven marketing strategies:

1. Get Business
2. Delivering Excellence
3. Operate Leaner
4. [Fourth Pillar Not Detailed in the Transcript]

Pillar 1: Get Business

The first pillar focuses on intelligently acquiring customers by optimizing lead generation and personalization.

Susan Westwater [11:28]: "From a marketing perspective, that's how do you acquire smartly… optimizing signals to noise."

Tools Discussed:

• Voiceify: A conversational AI platform used to create voice-based interactions, enhancing lead generation through personalized conversations.

  Susan Westwater [16:01]: "Voiceify allows you to build a voice experience that sounds like a person, making interactions more natural and scalable."

• Lindy AI: An agentic AI tool that automates tasks such as setting up meetings and generating prospect dossiers, acting as a virtual assistant.

  Susan Westwater [17:08]: "Lindy allows me to make agents capable of performing tasks like setting up meetings and generating lead information."

Case Study: A local utility company utilized Voiceify to streamline their customer interactions during sports event breaks, improving engagement by simplifying queries about their business and residential programs.

Pillar 2: Delivering Excellence

This pillar revolves around retaining customers by understanding their needs and proactively addressing potential churn.

Susan Westwater [18:52]: "We can predictively look at usage or attitudes to retain customers without spending extra time."

Key Strategies:

• Churn Forecasting: Utilizing AI to predict which customers are at risk of leaving and implementing targeted retention strategies.

• Personalized Follow-Ups: Employing tools like Reply IO to automate and personalize email sequences based on customer interactions and behaviors.

  Susan Westwater [20:55]: "With generative AI, we can handle more sophisticated follow-up sequences that respond to customer signals dynamically."

Tools Discussed:

• Reply IO: An email automation tool that personalizes follow-ups and adapts based on customer responses.

• Exceed AI: Supports multi-channel communication, including email, chat, and SMS, facilitating more interactive and responsive customer engagement.

  Susan Westwater [24:05]: "Exceed AI allows for email, chat, and SMS interactions, enabling more versatile follow-ups."

Pillar 3: Operate Leaner

The third pillar emphasizes enhancing internal operations through AI to improve efficiency and data-driven decision-making.

Susan Westwater [40:12]: "Using conversational AI to interact with dashboards allows for real-time data insights without manual reporting."

Key Strategies:

• Automated Reporting: Implementing AI tools to generate and interpret reports, saving time and reducing manual errors.
• Knowledge Management: Using AI to capture and retain institutional knowledge, especially crucial in industries with long sales cycles.

Tools Discussed:

• Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio): Enables natural language queries to interact with data dashboards.

  Susan Westwater [42:01]: "Looker Studio allows you to ask natural language questions about your data and receive insights in real-time."

• Voice Flow: A platform for building private conversational assistants that can securely access and relay company-specific information.

  Susan Westwater [43:41]: "Voice Flow simplifies building conversational assistants that pull answers from your own secure information repositories."

Additional Insights:

• Automation Opportunities: Identifying repetitive tasks that can be automated to free up time for strategic initiatives.
• Inclusive Implementation: Involving team members who perform daily tasks to identify automation opportunities and assess risks.

Navigating Data Privacy and Security

Addressing concerns about handling personally identifiable information (PII) with AI tools, Susan underscores the importance of involving legal and IT teams from the outset.

Susan Westwater [33:43]: "We ensure that legal and IT representatives are part of the AI implementation discussions to address data security and compliance."

Key Points:

• Data Policies: Adhering to existing data policies and ensuring that AI tools comply with industry-specific regulations like HIPAA and GDPR.
• Secure Integration: Selecting AI tools that offer robust security features and can be integrated securely into existing tech stacks.

Recommendations for Small Businesses

For smaller businesses without extensive AI needs, Susan suggests leveraging built-in features of existing CRM and marketing platforms.

Susan Westwater [35:15]: "Tools like Plaro and HubSpot offer functionalities that can provide basic churn forecasting and customer insights."

Tools Mentioned:

• Plaro: An overlay tool for CRM systems that enhances data analysis and workflow automation.

• Amplero: Applies machine learning to predictive marketing, aiding in customer segmentation and risk identification.

  Susan Westwater [36:23]: "Amplero helps with customer segmentation and predictive marketing without requiring extensive technical expertise."

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Susan Westwater encouraging listeners to explore various AI tools tailored to their specific business needs and to adopt a strategic approach to AI integration. She highlights the availability of Pragmatic Digital’s AI Toolkit for those seeking a comprehensive guide to AI applications in marketing.

Susan Westwater [46:54]: "You can find our AI Toolkit at Pragmatic Digital AI Toolkit, which includes over 30 tools and a detailed framework to guide your AI strategy."

Final Takeaways:

• Strategic Integration: Successful AI adoption hinges on a well-defined strategy aligned with business objectives.
• Tool Selection: Choosing specialized AI tools can streamline processes and enhance efficiency without the need for extensive technical skills.
• Continuous Learning: Staying updated with AI advancements and continuously refining strategies ensures sustained growth and competitiveness.

For more insights and resources discussed in this episode, visit SocialMediaExaminer.com/aipod.