13 Business Cases for Computer Vision in Marketing

Role of Computer Vision in Marketing

Computer Vision (not Gen AI) is still in its infancy in marketing, but it is gaining traction with the recent rise of Gen AI. The capabilities are impressive, but interfaces still lag the developments of LLMs like ChatGPT.

The next push in AI will most probably come from image processing and business understanding the value of integrated computer vision in daily, weekly or monthly activities that consume many hours of manual labor prone to mistakes.

To truly capitalize on the power of computer vision and drive growth in a marketing department, it’s essential to understand the activities that computer vision can support, how to calculate business value, including both cost savings and upside potential, and identify the tasks that would most benefit from their implementation.

Marketing Tasks That Benefit Strongly From computer vision Implementation

Now that you understand how to calculate business value, let’s explore some marketing tasks that could benefit significantly from computer vision implementation:

Use Case 1: Dynamic Brand Visualization

• JTBD: Develop a consistent and appealing visual branding.

• Activity: Automated analysis and alignment of brand visuals across platforms.

• Benefits: Ensures brand consistency and appeal.

• Cost of Inaction: Inconsistent branding leading to reduced brand recognition.

Use Case 2: Authentic Communication Analyzer

• JTBD: Establish the right tone and style for communication.

• Activity: Use ML to analyze and determine the most authentic and engaging communication style.

• Benefits: Enhances brand authenticity and engagement.

• Cost of Inaction: Communication that fails to resonate, weakening brand trust.

Use Case 3: Emotional Narrative Builder

• JTBD: Develop stories and narratives that connect emotionally.

• Activity: Image processing to create compelling visual narratives.

• Benefits: Strengthens emotional connection with the audience.

• Cost of Inaction: Weak brand storytelling leading to less customer engagement.

Use Case 4: Brand Guide Compliance Monitor

• JTBD: Create a comprehensive brand guide.

• Activity: Automated compliance check for brand visuals.

• Benefits: Ensures adherence to brand guidelines.

• Cost of Inaction: Misaligned branding efforts, diluting brand identity.

Use Case 5: Brand Perception Insight

• JTBD: Implement feedback tools to understand brand perception.

• Activity: Sentiment analysis on brand-related visuals and social media content.

• Benefits: Provides actionable insights on brand perception.

• Cost of Inaction: Lack of understanding of public perception, risking brand image.

Use Case 6: Audience Insight Generator

• JTBD: Identify relevant data sources for target group information.

• Activity: Image analysis to gather demographic and psychographic data.

• Benefits: Enables targeted marketing strategies.

• Cost of Inaction: Ineffective targeting, lower marketing ROI.

Use Case 7: Competitor Visual Strategy Decoder

• JTBD: Analyze competitors’ approach to target groups.

• Activity: Comparative visual analysis of competitor marketing strategies.

• Benefits: Informs strategic marketing decisions.

• Cost of Inaction: Missed opportunities to differentiate and capitalize on market gaps.

Use Case 8: Customer Persona Visualizer

• JTBD: Create detailed customer profiles or personas.

• Activity: Utilizing image processing to analyze customer behaviors and preferences visually.

• Benefits: Helps in creating more accurate and relatable customer personas.

• Cost of Inaction: Generic marketing strategies less effective in customer engagement.

Use Case 9: Visual Content Effectiveness Tracker

• JTBD: Create appealing and relevant content for marketing campaigns.

• Activity: Employ image processing to assess and optimize the visual appeal and relevance of marketing content.

• Benefits: Increases engagement and effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

• Cost of Inaction: Campaigns may fail to capture attention or resonate with the audience, resulting in wasted resources and opportunities.

Use Case 10: Event Visual Engagement Analyzer

• JTBD: Ensure brand consistency in all external touchpoints, including events.

• Activity: Analyze event photographs and videos to assess brand consistency and audience engagement.

• Benefits: Provides insights to refine event strategies and enhance brand presence.

• Cost of Inaction: Inconsistent branding and missed opportunities to optimize event engagement.

Use Case 11: Automated Brand Crisis Detection

• JTBD: Develop strategies and protocols to effectively respond to potential brand crises.

• Activity: Real-time monitoring of online visual content to detect potential brand crises early.

• Benefits: Allows for prompt and effective brand crisis management.

• Cost of Inaction: Delayed response to crises, potentially causing irreparable brand damage.

Use Case 12: Online Presence Visual Optimizer

• JTBD: Ensure the website is user-friendly and appealing.

• Activity: Analyze user interaction with website visuals to improve layout and design.

• Benefits: Enhances user experience and website effectiveness.

• Cost of Inaction: Poor website experience leading to high bounce rates and lost potential leads.

Use Case 13: Social Media Visual Trend Analyzer

• JTBD: Develop effective social media presence and content strategy.

• Activity: Track and analyze trending visual content on social media for strategic alignment.

• Benefits: Keeps social media strategies current and engaging.

• Cost of Inaction: Outdated or irrelevant social content leading to poor engagement and brand perception.

These are just a few examples of how computer vision and image processing can generate significant business value when implemented in the right marketing context.

Calculating Business Value: Balancing Costs, Upside Potential, and ROI

To calculate the business value of image processing for marketing, consider the following factors:

1. Resources saved (S): Identify the resources that would be saved if a particular marketing task were automated or made more efficient by image processing. This could include time, money, or human resources.

2. Upside potential (U): Estimate the additional revenue that could be generated by implementing image processing. This may include increased sales, improved customer retention, or higher conversion rates.

3. Implementation costs ( C): Consider the costs associated with implementing and maintaining image processing in the marketing department. This might include licensing fees, hardware and software costs, integration expenses, and training costs for employees.

4. Net benefits (N): Calculate the net benefits by adding resources saved (S) and upside potential (U), then subtracting implementation costs ( C).

5. ROI (Return on Investment): Calculate the ROI by dividing the net benefits (N) by the implementation costs ( C). The higher the ROI, the more value image processing is providing for your marketing efforts.

By taking these factors into account, you can determine whether image processing will generate positive business value for your marketing department.

Making Informed Decisions for Marketing Growth with Computer Vision

In conclusion, while image processing has the potential to generate significant business value for marketing departments, it’s essential to recognize that they will not automatically contribute to growth.

By understanding how to calculate business value, including both cost savings and upside potential, and identifying the tasks within your marketing department that would benefit most from computer vision implementation, you can make informed decisions about investing in this technology.

Ultimately, the key to generating business value from computer vision in marketing is to make informed decisions based on a thorough understanding of the potential benefits, costs, and upside potential. By focusing on tasks that can benefit most from image processing implementation and consistently evaluating the ROI of your investments, you can ensure that your marketing department drives meaningful growth and maximizes value.

In the ever-evolving world of technology and computer vision, being informed and strategic about your investments is crucial for long-term success. By leveraging image processing and similar solutions in the right marketing context, you can set your organization on a path toward sustained growth and prosperity.