How Can SMBs Utilize Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is something mankind has been working on for a long time, but a lot of us still feel that it is the stuff of Sci-Fi, and not something that is being utilized as you read this article. The reality is that AI has made its way into many areas of our lives, and is doing a lot to revolutionise business in many ways.

We spoke with TechQuarters, one of the most highly trusted IT support companies supporting SMBs in London. They gave us a rundown on how AI can be utilized by SMBs right now to enhance the success of their business.

Social Analytics

One of the most crucial types of data an SMB needs is market data, and one of the most rapidly growing sources of market data is social media – any SMB that is not utilizing social media channels is missing out. For example, TechQuarters has been providing business IT support London companies have been relying on for over a decade; in the last 5 years or so, social media has become a crucial element of their business model, because of how well it enables them to identify and connect with their target customers.

Artificial intelligence makes the process of data analytics infinitely more efficient and insightful. Through machine learning, we can garner insights that might otherwise be impossible to identify just by human observation. Applying this power to social analytics can do wonders for SMBs looking to study their market.

Digital Marketing

Tying in closely with social analytics is the discipline of Digital Marketing. Once you know your market, you need to be able to connect with them and make them aware of your product or service. The challenge many SMBs face with marketing is how to develop a precise and effective marketing strategy – because, unlike larger businesses, SMBs are not able to invest lots of money in mass marketing campaigns that are guaranteed to reach their audience by virtue of widescale reach.

Artificial intelligence has already done the hard work of targeting your audience. There are many different types of internet platforms – such as search engines, social media and e-commerce platforms, video streaming sites, etc. – and they all collect user data, and they all offer business opportunities to advertise themselves to these users. Purchasing ads that will be displayed to your target audience on these platforms is both precise and cost effective – a great strategy for SMBs.

Customer Service

One of the reasons TechQuarters’ IT support services are so successful is that they know the value of customer service – their IT helpdesk is populated with friendly engineers. It is important for SMBs to also have excellent customer facing personnel, but it also doesn’t have to rely on human interaction; in some cases, it can be useful to keep your personnel free for higher priority customer service – often customers queries are general questions that many customers before have asked, which is not the best use of time for customer service personnel.

An increasingly popular solution is to hire a chatbot. These AI-driven customer service solutions enable a business to field customer service queries quickly and efficiently – and these bots are getting better all the time; developments in natural language processing and data searching means chatbots are highly effective at finding answers and resolutions for customers. An SMB may choose to implement chatbots, rather than hiring more customer service personnel, as a cost-effective way of covering their demand.