How Can Artificial Intelligence Help Your Small
Business?
What if a small business owner had a dashboard of their business activities that could help them
paint the broader picture of their business’s financial health? Artificial Intelligence (AI)
technology has the power to enable you to do just that, all the while solving a myriad of
problems you may be facing as a small business owner.
Artificial Intelligence or machine learning is advanced technology that can learn to perform
traditionally human-driven tasks. AI is able to gather, read, understand and convert data to
problem-solve and troubleshoot. While AI is typically associated with large corporations, this
technology is becoming increasingly affordable and is transforming small businesses across the
globe, so much so that an article by Maryville University states that “in just over a decade, AI will
outperform humans in a variety of tasks, from writing essays to retail work.”
How Will AI Help My Business?
Small businesses can use AI to anticipate the needs of the company, find patterns and ask new
questions using existing data. AI will provide recommendations on everything from emerging
trends, marketing campaigns, logistics, scheduling, customer support, workflow and
problem-solving.
As a small business owner, you can incorporate AI into every element of your workflow that
involves data. While insights from data capturing and interpretation leads to advancements in
speed, accuracy, and overall workflow of any business; AI can be particularly beneficial for a
small business where you and each employee shoulders more than one responsibility. Let’s
look at some of the ways in which AI can help your small business:
Data and Analytics
AI will scour every corner of the web to collect data and then categorize and interpret it to create
new insights for your business to use. Data and analytics generated by AI systems have the
potential for a small business to solve existing problems, in a very short space of time.
Since no two businesses are the same, it is difficult to assign a blanket solution for all small
businesses. You will have to find an AI solution that best suits your business’s needs. By honing
in on specific goals, and identifying what you want to gain from using AI programmes, you
should be able to find the appropriate AI-based data and analytics solution for your business.
The Face of eCommerce
AI has revolutionized the face of e-commerce. If your small business has any online selling
opportunities, then AI can help improve everything from your website to optimizing customer
service response times.
For instance, in terms of creativity, AI can assist and aid you and your design team to streamline
your design processes. Web design is an essential element of any business, with the entire
customer experience rooted in the website and its navigation from product to cart to check out.
AI can determine the intent of your business and the aesthetic of your site. From there, this
technology can help you make intelligent data-driven decisions about any creative aspect of
your website, from the layout to the color palette, for optimal success.
Categorizing products or services is equally as important as the design of your website. AI
programs can automatically tag and categorize products with the most suitable search words,
saving you time and making navigating your online portal a breeze.
A Customized Marketing Tool
As the future of AI becomes more accurate and efficient, you can use the insights generated
from your data to create more personalized content for customers — in fact, this is arguably the
most effective way to make use of AI, to assist with a range of content-generating tools.
By understanding the unique needs of each customer, their preferences and online movements,
you can generate content suited specifically for them. This process includes an analysis of
numerous platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Google searches, etc.) that would be virtually
impossible without the help of AI.
That being said, you still need to have a smart and comprehensive marketing plan as a small
business owner, as you cannot rely on AI alone. As stated in the article by Maryville University,
“AI can determine which marketing channels are performing best based on how potential
customers engage with content. Then, the AI can automatically allocate additional marketing
dollars to the most viable audiences.”
Streamlining Logistics
With the arrival of AI, human error is a thing of the past. The success of e-commerce
businesses lies in the customer experience, which extends beyond your website to the end of
the product chain.
Every small business strives for an effective logistics process to deliver a flawless shipping
experience for customers and suppliers alike. AI can generate an algorithm suited specifically to
your business, as it relies on the insights coming from your data. With automated systems Ai
technology streamlines the delivery process from A to B; ensuring timeous, accurate and
cost-effective results.
Customer Support Like Never Before
Are you looking to improve employee and customer satisfaction? AI can change the way you
interact with your customers, and provide a more intimate and personal connection with them,
without making use of an employee as a resource.
In an Entrepreneur article titled “5 Ways Small Business Owners Can Benefit from Artificial
Intelligence Today”, author Artur Kiulian details how AI-powered chatbots are revolutionizing
customer support for small businesses. Human customer support can be a costly element for
small businesses, making chatbots a budget-friendly alternative. Chatbots try to mimic human
conversations with a customer, offering various avenues and platforms to answer their
questions before customers need to interact directly with an employee.
AI can also elevate your businesses’ response time with automated responses that can answer
basic or common customer queries. This system reduces the average handling time for
customer concerns; and in turn, will streamline your customer support process while also
analyzing your data and offering improvements.
----While you cannot rely solely on AI to take your small business to new heights, there’s no doubt
that it can significantly help in developing effective systems to execute a winning business
strategy. AI can radically change the way you operate your business, and with the right tools,
help you quickly realize success.