How Can SMEs Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Drive Growth?

In 2023, Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a potent instrument, revolutionising industries worldwide amid economic uncertainties. The rise of this new breed of generative AI technologies has demonstrated in recent months that it is no longer limited to university research or Silicon Valley tech titans. Its ability to analyse large amounts of data, detect trends, and generate accurate forecasts provides vital insights to businesses, allowing them to manage difficult economic times successfully. As more businesses adopt AI, it becomes clear that, when applied right, this technology may hold the key to being resilient.

According to a recent survey conducted by Deloitte and Stanford University , 25% of small firms are currently utilising AI in some way, such as chatbots, predictive analytics, and marketing automation. While this adoption may appear to be slower than that of major corporations (40% of which use AI), small firms have a unique potential for emerging technology.

Source: PCMag (https://au.pcmag.com/business-3/91323/small-businesses-are-using-ai-sometimes)

AI is frequently portrayed as an innovation that large corporations with enormous budgets embrace. On the other hand, small enterprises not only have access to the same technological opportunities but may also have a stronger incentive to use these tools. AI has a wide range of applications, including cybersecurity, customer relationship marketing (CRM), and customer support.

AI-Powered Cybersecurity Software

Every day, security firms identify new dangers to corporate and consumer data. Business partners may expose you to cyber dangers even if your company is low-tech. Banks, credit-reporting agencies, and large merchants have all exposed their customers’ information.

AI-powered cybersecurity may provide more protection than other sorts of programs. AI security programs check for odd behaviour rather than dealing with dangers after losses. They can halt attacks or issue alerts sooner. AI can detect abnormalities in other systems, such as inventory and accounting. It may detect evidence of illicit activities.

AI-Powered Market Research Tools

AI and machine intelligence tools can help your business learn more about future clients’ demands by analysing social media conversations, online reviews, and other sources of customer feedback. This can help to analyse consumer opinion, discover trends, and measure brand success, allowing you to make more educated decisions.

Businesses can utilise powerful AI technologies to generate customer segments and send customised marketing messages, such as email campaigns, social media adverts, and other focused materials that speak directly to each customer’s requirements and interests, to adopt personalised marketing. For example, Hotjar AI is an AI-powered survey assistant that Hotjar recently launched. This product experience insights solution provides website behaviour analytics and feedback data to help organisations better understand their customers, supplementing standard web analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Mixpanel.

AI-Powered Content Creation & Optimisation Tools

Small firms can utilise AI to optimise content development in addition to personalised marketing. AI-powered technologies can analyse data to recommend topics and headlines depending on which forms of content perform best with various audiences. Furthermore, AI can automatically generate material such as product descriptions, news stories, and even photo and video content. Businesses should, however, ensure that the content is of good quality and consistent with their brand voice and messaging.

In terms of creating online authority, content is still king, and one approach to differentiate yourself from the competition is to create better material your audience wants to read, like, and share.

The key to obtaining a quality, compelling AI-generated content is the quality of the prompt it is provided. A well-structured request can result in a blog post, how-to article, FAQ section, web page, or social media post requiring minor changes and personalisation before it is ready for your audience. If not, you can re-prompt the AI for a better version, and it will continue to learn and provide better, more relevant content over time. The phase of analysing and modifying the content to verify its uniqueness should not be overlooked. AI is known for ‘hallucinating’, a smart way of expressing that it is occasionally wrong; hence, all work must be reviewed for correctness.

Poll the People is an OpenAI-powered market research platform combining AI and human intelligence to help rapidly and efficiently analyse and understand data. It offers analysis tools to determine whether design resonates with customers using AI-backed word clouds, audience demographics, and data. The platform also includes an insights page that rapidly summarises the outcomes in a test report, providing users with all the information they need to make a decision.

Customer Experience AI-Driven Tools

As companies attempt to improve customer experience, AI is emerging as a valuable tool for customer service. Chatbots are getting more popular due to their ability to simulate human-like conversations and do mundane jobs. Small businesses can use chatbots to provide rapid and smooth customer support, lowering wait times and staffing expenses. Furthermore, chatbots can learn from client interactions, enhancing their accuracy and efficacy over time.

Chatbot platforms driven by AI, such as ChatGPT, offer enterprises a streamlined and personalised experience. These platforms can successfully recognise and respond to consumer enquiries by leveraging natural language processing, ensuring that customers receive personalised attention, which enhances overall satisfaction.

How to Implement AI in Small Businesses

1. Consider problems from the AI perspective
   Machine intelligence has advanced, yet we are still years away from human-like intellect. However, until then, we can comprehend how robots can learn from data. Data can be categorised, segmented, analysed, or extracted depending on the use case, and regressions can be done on it. Examining your business processes (and data) in this light is your entry point to the world of AI.

2. Start with small
   No matter how simple the software, new tools and technologies can be daunting. Not only because of the newness but also because of the change surrounding it. As a result, setting up a first experiment – or pilot – with a high possibility of proving a positive return on investment might be worthwhile.

3. Scale
   A phenomenon known as the ‘network effect’ helps scale AI – but not in the way of a social network or a messaging app. AI applications are growing more valuable as the amount of data analysed expands. So, once the use case has been proved, it is in the business’s best interests to integrate as much data of the same type as possible.

Final Thoughts

As we continue to see the impact of AI in numerous industries, it becomes evident that firms that strategically harness AI may be better positioned to function in unpredictable times. Businesses may position themselves as leaders in their respective areas by leveraging the potential of AI to streamline operations, improve customer experiences, and drive innovation, thereby contributing to economic stability and growth. Small business owners may play an important role in crafting a resilient and prosperous future as the world changes.