While AI has been associated with tech giants like Google and Amazon, there are good opportunities for small businesses to use AI as well.
As our last blog post stated, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in 2018 and will continue to generate a buzz for the foreseeable future as machine take up more functions both at home and in the workplace.
Deploying smart tech in customer service, marketing, competitive intelligence and other business areas will help your business stay lean and efficient while boosting productivity.
How can you utilize artificial intelligence? Check out these three tips!
#1: Improve customer service
Small businesses may not be able to deploy very sophisticated AI due to budget limitations. But easily available AI technology can still work very well for the purposes of customer care. Chatbots have become widely used on many websites. These bots are able to interact with humans, offering answers to repetitive questions. It is also possible to set up autoresponders for email and Facebook interactions. This is very helpful as social media has turned into a huge platform for customer interactions. It makes interactions even more convenient for your customers as well.
Smart Customer Relations Management (CRM) systems are able to filter calls and route them to the right person, automate routine answers, classify customer tickets, record calls and emails.Use of platforms like Digital Genius can help a small business offer 24-hour customer service, improve response times and improve customer satisfaction.
#2: Enhance your marketing
Facebook’s ad platform is the perfect example of artificial intelligence in marketing. You can use information from existing customers — such as name, phone number and address — and upload them. Facebook uses these details to generate ‘lookalike audiences’, who are potential customers with a profile of existing buyers. Showing ads to these filtered audiences makes marketing more targeted and eliminates the need for costly customer surveys.
AI can also be used to coach marketing teams. Tools like Gong and Chorus compare the characteristics of the highest performing salespeople with lower performers to identify gaps. AI analyzes calls for word choice and talking/listening time ratios then coaches lower performing salespeople.
Small businesses can use artificial intelligence to remain competitive. With many businesses maintaining an online presence, it is possible to track the competition using AI. Crayon AI is one such tool. It tracks the competition on different platforms, tracks PR activities and price changes. The data is then analyzed to help read the competition’s strategy. This can help a small business maintain a competitive edge.
Small businesses can harness AI to improve business processes, cut costs and deliver better marketing messages.
Tell us - How is artificial intelligence helping you and your business?
