AI and the Future of Small Business: 5 Trends to Watch Out For

Artificial Intelligence or AI is becoming prevalent in every work. From influencing what we read to suggesting the product to buy, the video we watch online to precision marketing where you are targeted with the right content - AI is becoming a crucial part of our decision-making and operational business drive.

Before I delve deeper into the subject matter, let me briefly define AI.

What is AI? AI is a technological development in computers capable of imitating human intelligence in performing tasks. For instance, AI can translate and interpret speech, help in decision-making, and even communicate with humans to solve specific problems as a result of big data made available to the computer to utilize.?

Although AI is far from replacing humans at work, the technology has created more opportunities and innovations for small businesses to strive and have a competitive lead in the marketplace.?

Visualize AI playing a vital role in improving your business’s customer service to streamlining operations to save time and cost,? you will agree with me that AI has the potential to transform the way small businesses operate in the future.

In this article, I will show you 5 trends to watch out for as AI continues to shape the future of small businesses.

5 AI TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Predictive Analytics for Marketing:?

For a successful marketing campaign, a small business owner or marketer needs to study the trends and be able to forecast customers' behavior, activities as well as the customer interests that can help you meet their needs. These actions required more time and tedious processes to carry out by humans.?

With AI-powered analytics, small businesses can predict which marketing strategies will be most effective for their target audience for a better marketing decision to be made.

This tool can also help to predict the right product that fits the customers’ needs by studying customer behavioral patterns and activities over a period of time to give a precise result.

IBM Watson and Microsoft Azure are predictive analytics tools you can use to analyze customer data and predict which marketing strategies will be most effective.

AI-powered chatbots for customer service:?

No doubt, chatbots are becoming increasingly popular for small businesses to improve their customer service. There are tons of chatbot tools and software that are aiding small businesses in relating with their customers in real time.

The stress of helping customers to answer the same frequently asked questions, gluing to your computer device to respond to several messages, and resolving challenges all day long at the expense of other activities for the day has just been critically reduced by chatbots.

Customer supports and management just got more interesting with AI-powered chatbots providing answers to frequently asked questions, providing support, and even making product recommendations based on customer behavior. With these AI-powered tools, you can save more time focusing on other business needs and challenges to earn more income.

Tay by Microsoft, Meena by Google and Kuki AI Companion are good tools for creating AI-powered chatbots that can handle customer queries and provide support around the clock.

Voice-activated Assistants:?

As simple as this command prompt: “Alexa, create a meeting appointment for Friday with our suppliers in Lagos”, it goes a long way in managing your appointment and saving time. Voice assistants like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant are crucial for small businesses to manage appointments, make phone calls, and order supplies from recommended vendors. As voice technology continues to evolve every day, small businesses will have more opportunities such as to streamline their operations through voice-activated assistants.

AI-powered fraud detection and Cybersecurity:?

Cybersecurity cannot be overemphasized in the era of AI, especially when the cyber breach spike by 600% during the pandemic due to more time spent on the internet across the globe.?

As small businesses are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and fraud, there is a need for AI tools that can help detect and prevent fraudulent activities by identifying and predicting cyber threats. AI algorithms can analyze transaction data to detect patterns and anomalies that could indicate fraud. Small businesses can use fraud detection tools like Kount, Darktrace, Palo Alto Networks and Signifyd to analyze transaction data and detect potentially fraudulent activities and cyber-attacks.

AI for Human Resources:?

Aside from easing the process of recruitment, onboarding, rewarding,? training and development of human capital, AI can also help small businesses manage their human resources faster and more efficiently.?

In the last four years, the number of businesses adopting AI grew by 270%, showing that it’s fast becoming a vital tool in every area of business, including the HRM

AI-powered recruitment tools like Textio and Eightfold to streamline recruitment, identify top candidates, and provide personalized coaching. These tools can identify top candidates based on skills and experience, while AI-powered performance management systems can track employee progress and provide personalized coaching.

Conclusion

To wrap it up, AI is revolutionizing the way small businesses operate and providing them with innovative ways to streamline their processes, improve their customer service, and stay competitive in the marketplace. As the technology continues to evolve, small businesses incorporating AI into their operations will have a significant advantage over those not.

Therefore as a small business owner, it's time to start exploring AI-powered tools and software that can help you improve your marketing strategy, customer service, cybersecurity, and human resource management.

As a digital-based consulting business, we understand that it's crucial to keep up with the latest trends in AI and provide our clients with AI-powered solutions that can help them stay ahead of the competition. So, it's time to invest in AI and position yourself as a leader in the industry, contact us at Harlong Digitech to take you through the seamless process of adopting AI-powered solutions for your business success.

Take action today and explore the various AI-powered solutions available to help you improve your business operations and provide better value to your clients.