Up until a few years ago, the AI acronym appeared mostly in computer and science fiction publications but as of late, the term artificial intelligence has become a hot topic in the business world as one of the hot, forward thinking technologies of the era. It is interesting to note that AI actually is decades old and harks back to the days of Alan Turing and his concepts of a ‘thinking machine’. But what exactly is AI? And more importantly, how can it help small businesses? In the most basic terms, Artificial Intelligence refers to machines or programming that can learn from data inputs and can make decisions and perform tasks that humans normally undertake. For small businesses, AI technology could offer competitive advantages that can optimize and supercharge outward marketing, positively impacting customer traffic and sales.
Keeping an Eye on the Competition
The one major resource that is scarce for small business owners and managers is time. Smaller organizations may not have the human assets available to really look outside ‘the box’. Every business has competition and capturing more of the market is essential for growth and driving profitability. Technology that utilizes AI based infrastructure can monitor the competitive landscape in real time and deliver reports on competitor movement and presence in the marketplace. Having the ability to analyze social media platforms, marketing channels, current price levels and online presence in real time allows the technology to quickly identify gaps and weaknesses in the competition and can give small businesses a distinct advantage when developing their own marketing strategies. Advanced platforms can even make suggestions or offer strategies to counter or exceed competitor initiatives based on trends, historical and real time data points. AI can be an indispensable tool when it comes to positioning within a certain market.
Can Technology Keep up With Customer Service?
Smaller sized businesses can easily offer outstanding customer service experiences which is one of the major differences between their big box counterparts. Another major difference is resources and smaller organizations may not have enough frontline assets to acknowledge customers on first contact. AI technology can offer telephone, online chat and on-site engagement that acknowledges the customer right away and can address basic inquiries and questions. This type of infrastructure can act efficiently as a ‘gateway’ to customer service by greeting the customer early and answering questions promptly and accurately through a database of interaction possibilities. Artificial intelligence systems will also learn the business better over time as it is presented with different scenarios and inquiries. AI software can also quickly identify questions or inquiries it cannot process and will ‘hand off’ the ‘warm customer’ to the appropriate individual on the team. While some will say this is an impersonal way to initially engage customers, time is an important facet of the customer service experience and being able to quickly engage customers as soon as they make contact starts that experience off on the right foot. Having this type of technology as a ‘gateway’ can also free up human assets, reserving their valuable time for more complex customer engagements.
AI Drives the Marketing Machine
Small businesses are the backbone of any modernized economy, but work with less resources and must maximize every marketing opportunity available to drive customer traffic. From local store marketing to national and international presence, AI technology can offer advantages that not only speed up marketing initiatives, but deliver detailed reports and solutions based on those results. This all in one type of infrastructure can be automated to scan and research business market presence, compare offerings and pricing against competitors and develop detailed solutions and recommendations on opportunities to increase brand presence. AI can learn from historical data and make recommendations on marketing strategy or identify unused marketing channels. AI can also optimize and manage online ad spends by searching for the best opportunities in real time. This amount of work could take weeks to compile and understand while AI can perform these tasks and update them hourly, daily or weekly, depending on the business needs. Marketing and brand presence is crucial for small businesses and optimizing and extending reach by using AI technology can add an effective and efficient tool to organizations’ marketing tool box.
The Bottom Line
The outlook for small business remains positive but staying competitive could mean adopting technology to expand and grow the business. As AI becomes more mainstream, smaller organizations can benefit from this cutting edge technology by employing platforms and software in certain outward aspects of the business. Realtime market analysis can help businesses stay ahead of the competition while assistive AI tech can provide consistent and always on, first contact customer service. AI powered technology can also drive business by optimizing marketing, identifying weak spots in presence and can offer suggestions, or even make decisions that will increase marketing presence and penetration. As the technology becomes more accessible, AI can be a valuable tool for businesses that cater to smaller geographic areas and buying groups.