Artificial intelligence (AI) has huge potential for small businesses. AI can increase efficiency, improve customer service, drive new growth opportunities, and introduce cost savings.
According to a Salesforce survey, 75% of SMBs are investing in AI and over a third say they’ve implemented it in their operations.
Some applications and business areas AI tools can support
One of the simplest ways to start incorporating AI into your business is by enhancing your email writing. Popular email services like Gmail and Microsoft Outlook offer generative AI tools that can assist you in drafting email subject lines and body content, suggesting edits, and providing recommendations for clarity and tone.
It’s important to review the email content for errors or areas that need refinement. However, these AI tools can save you time and inspire ideas and concepts that you might not have considered otherwise.
Chatbots
AI chatbots are applications that can improve on traditional chatbots by using natural language understanding (NLU), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML) to hold conversations that feel more human-like and less like scripted dialogs.
To start using a chatbot, identify why your company needs it and what tasks it will handle, such as customer service, lead generation, or sales support. Focus on your customers’ needs and preferences and choose features that will benefit them most.
Also, pick a chatbot platform that fits your business goals and technical skills. You can choose from simple no-code options to more complex platforms for developers.
Accounting
AI can help make accounting easier and faster. It can help categorize transactions, analyze data for cash flow predictions, and manage accounts payable and receivable. AI can also spot mistakes or unusual activity in transaction data that might indicate fraud or security issues. To make AI adoption easier, many well-known accounting software companies are adding AI features to their systems.
CRM
AI-enabled CRM software can help identify marketing opportunities and boost sales by learning from customer behavior and data. For example, it can suggest promotions based on how much a customer spends and how often they buy.
AI can also improve sales forecasts by analyzing historical sales data, market trends, and economic factors. With this insight, you can spot upcoming trends and adjust plans. AI can also identify potential bottlenecks in your sales process and recommend strategies to close more deals.
Content creation
For small teams juggling many tasks, generative AI can help generate content quickly and efficiently. Whether it’s writing a first draft or changing existing content into a new format. It can also assist with idea generation, proofreading, transcribing audio, and creating social media captions, product descriptions, and other content.
However, AI-generated content should be used with caution. Be sure to review for quality and accuracy.
Market research and analysis
AI tools can also be leveraged for market research purposes, including automated survey creation, data cleaning, report generation, and more.
These tools collect data from various sources like social media, website analytics, and surveys. They use advanced techniques such as NLP, ML, and predictive analytics to create insights and ideas from the data they gather.
The data can be used to identify trends, predict future shifts, and simplify complex information into clear insights. Additionally, these tools assist with audience segmentation, competitor tracking, and generating detailed reports, enabling marketers to make informed, data-driven decisions.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity vendors are increasingly incorporating AI into their offerings to help small businesses improve their overall security posture. AI can analyze vast amounts of data in real time to identify unusual patterns and potential threats (phishing, malware, etc.), analyze user behavior, prioritize risks, and automate security responses.
Recruitment
AI tools can assist you in writing job descriptions and screening résumés to simplify the hiring process. These tools can analyze data from various sources, including online job postings, social media networks, and professional networking sites, to identify qualified candidates.
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