Opinions expressed by entrepreneurial contributors are their own.
In an increasingly digital landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the sole domain of large companies. In Vistage’s survey of 1,467 leaders of small and medium-sized businesses, 13.6% indicated that they are currently using AI in their operations. Specifically, 6.9% are applying it for business functions and 6.1% for client interactions. A third of those surveyed, or 29.5%, believe that AI will soon be one of the most dominant technologies.
Citing studies by Deloitte and Stanford University, Spectrum Business says that one in four small businesses are using AI to perform various business functions.
As these figures show, the ground is set for small and medium-sized businesses to seize unprecedented opportunities to embrace the AI ​​revolution and compete equally with larger organizations. They are equipped with the necessary resources and capabilities to use the latest AI technologies to their advantage. Here are several ways small and medium-sized businesses can take advantage of AI to stay ahead of the competition:
Related: How AI Is Revolutionizing Small Businesses
1. Concept Validation
Small businesses can use AI to examine market dynamics, customer input and historical data to confirm the viability of new concepts. AI can predict the probability of success based on trends, insights and predictions.
2. Brand idea
The power of a business brand has the power to transform customer perception into lasting loyalty and transform everyday interactions into lifelong partnerships. Small businesses can use AI to scrutinize brand value, consumer sentiment and industry trends, creating creative brand concepts with targeted audiences. Machine learning can analyze people’s feelings about various brand elements, enabling fine-tuning in real time.
3. Documentation Management
There are few better tools than AI to streamline documentation processes that are often resource- and labor-intensive. AI can propose templates, generate reports and automate routine tasks inherent to documentation management.
4. Customer Service
Chatbots can intelligently handle a variety of tasks, including answering questions, booking appointments, and assisting with purchases. And the best part is that they can do all this 24/7. This not only frees up human resources but also provides timely service to customers.
5. Marketing Personalization
AI algorithms can analyze customer behavior and provide actionable insights that are highly accurate. This allows small businesses to increase their marketing efforts and reach their target customers without spending a lot of money. Additionally, AI may review customer feedback to suggest refinements or improvements to existing product and/or service offerings.
6. Cost effective advertising
AI enables small to medium-sized businesses to optimize advertising spend in a number of ways. By analyzing data, AI helps determine specific target audiences and their behavior. This allows businesses to use their advertising budget more effectively. AI dynamically adapts content based on user engagement and identifies the optimal time and platform for ad placement, ensuring maximum impact from every dollar spent.
7. Inventory Management
AI can predict stock needs based on historical data, so your business doesn’t run out of inventory or waste resources on excess stock. This can also lead to huge savings in warehousing costs.
Related: How Small Businesses Can Leverage AI to Fight Bigger Competitors
8. Process Automation
From onboarding employees to managing invoices, AI can handle repetitive tasks, reducing operational costs and human error. Automated workflow can save an employee up to 20 hours per week.
9. Operational Improvements
AI can assess current workflows, identify operational bottlenecks and propose improvements. Machine learning algorithms can improve processes by learning from data and getting better at learning.
10. Advanced Analytics
Real-time data analytics powered by AI can provide valuable insights on performance and user engagement, helping small businesses make informed decisions in a quick and cost-effective way. These analyzes can help companies formulate their strategies for the medium to long term.
11. Competitive Pricing
AI can set and track dynamic pricing models that are based on various factors such as demand and availability, market conditions, competitor activity and even weather forecasts. This ensures that small and medium-sized businesses can develop and maintain a competitive pricing strategy.
12. Business logic and examples
AI can help build persuasive business logic and create illustrative case studies that highlight the value of a company’s products or services. This can help attract investor attention and generate much-needed capital for future growth.
13. Proximity Service Exploration
Small and medium-sized businesses can leverage AI to dig deep into market data, uncovering potentially adjacent services that match their business goals and customer requirements. This enables companies to expand into new market segments with minimal risk.
Related: How to Use Artificial Intelligence to Boost Your Small Business
AI offers an opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses to level the playing field. By adopting AI technology, these companies can not only automate mundane tasks, but also explore advanced analytics and provide highly personalized customer experiences – things that were previously only within the reach of large corporations.
Do you know of any other ways AI can help small to mid-sized businesses? I would love to learn!