Boosting SMB Growth: Make Artificial Intelligence Your Ally

As a small business, you’re probably used to operating with limited resources. But why should that limit your potential?

Artificial intelligence is like the great expander, helping SMBs do big business in less time and a fraction of the cost. Whether you need to amplify your marketing, create more content, or automate your operations, these tools are your friend.

Ready to enlist AI to help drive business growth? Ahead are three ways to get started – plus some possible pitfalls to watch for.

Three Ways AI Can Instantly Boost Your Business

News about AI really hit a fever pitch about a year ago. But the truth is many small businesses had already been using it – some without even realizing it.

As Mike Morton, VP of Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft’s business management platform for SMB tells Forbes: “Just like AI has quietly enhanced the vehicle driving experience over the last few years through automated driving or route recommendations, and without the fanfare of this being AI-powered, the same is also true for business and consumer software that leverage highly targeted machine learning models to accomplish specific tasks.”

Some of those specific tasks include:

• Market research and prospecting: It would take an eternity to pour over all the competitive analysis, user experience feedback, and existing product reviews needed to truly understand your target market – muchless make contact with them. However, it’s a near-instant ask for the algorithms that power AI. Rely on them to point you in the direction of untapped opportunity or forecast purchasing trends that may impact your strategy.
• Content creation and optimization: We know AI tools can quickly generate quality written, visual, and video content. (Though most drafts still require some human editing.) Once the final product is approved, did you know those same content creation tools can also help you personalize and optimize its online performance? Thanks to behavior analytics, you can be reasonably sure you’re speaking to your key consumers with relevant content that engages their attention. Not sure which piece of content would perform best on which channel? Let AI suggest improvements and plan the timing, theme, and keywords to use in your captions or hashtags based on past performance and audience demographics.
• Operations and process improvement: Could more AI tools mean less staff hires? Potentially! Not only does that equate to higher cost savings for SMBs, it also reduces the likelihood of human error in your most important workflows. If heavy workloads and time-poor staff are a concern, let AI optimize your operations.

Where to Exercise Caution… 

Again, no piece of content or process is ever perfect. That’s particularly true if it’s AI generated.

Instead of becoming overly trusting and totally dependent on AI tools, ensure you always have human checks in place. That means fact-checking, editing, and reviewing every word or image produced. The goal is to act as a co-pilot, helping you work smarter and more efficiently, not for AI to work totally independently.

Assuming you have the money earmarked for new technology, you’ll also want to make sure your team has the digital literacy skills needed to utilize the technology in a way that doesn’t open up your organization to more risk.

“Implementing AI often requires an upfront investment that might be steep for smaller businesses,” cautions Dmytro Sokhach, Digital Entrepreneur and Founder of digital marketing firm, Admix Global in one US Chamber post. “There’s a learning curve and training period needed to effectively use AI tools. Finally, privacy and security concerns can arise, as AI systems often handle sensitive data and could become targets for cyberattacks,” he added.

Getting Started and Going Forward

We all have inherent talents and growth edges. When used responsibly, AI can help you amplify your abilities by allowing you to focus on where you naturally excel.

It’s also important to bring what AI cannot – an empathetic human touch. Let it analyze all the data in the world, but recognize that human creators are still the heart and soul of your organization. Using your sincerity to make a genuine connection with your customers remains the best way to realize your true growth potential.

Content created and provided by Extu.