The small business landscape is often called the backbone of the American economy—a fitting description. According to a recent survey, more than 10 million small businesses were launched from 2021–2022, and that momentum does not seem to be slowing down in 2023. Small business ventures employ 61 million workers, accounting for 99 percent of all U.S. companies. In other words, if you have entrepreneurial ambitions, now might be the time to bet on yourself and leap into small business ownership.
Of course, running a small business is not without its challenges. Inflation rates and supply chain issues continue to wreak havoc, causing almost 50 percent of small business owners to agree it’s hard to be an entrepreneur in this current climate. Still, 89 percent believe their goals are attainable—sometimes, all it takes is a jumpstart to launch your business. Enter: artificial intelligence. This innovation is an absolute must for small business owners in 2023. So here’s how to leverage AI to turn your business idea into a reality.
What Is the Role of AI in Business Ownership?
The main function of AI is to automate and streamline processes that organizations use to perform manually. This can restore valuable time, curb operational costs, enhance customer service, and make your business more efficient overall. While 40 percent of surveyed business owners express concerns over being too reliant on AI, most see the benefits of this technology. These are just a few ways that entrepreneurs are utilizing AI:
- 56 percent use AI for customer service queries.
- 52 percent use AI for search engine optimization.
- 51 percent use AI for cybersecurity measures.
- 47 percent use AI for digital personal assistants.
- 46 percent use AI for internal communications.
- 46 percent use AI for customer relationship management.
- 40 percent use AI for inventory fulfillment.
- 40 percent use AI for brainstorming new ideas.
- 40 percent use AI for data collection and analysis.
- 35 percent use AI for content creation and production.
- 33 percent use AI for product recommendations.
- 31 and 29 percent use AI for writing website code and copy.
- 30 percent use AI for accounting processes.
- 30 percent use AI for supply chain operations.
- 26 percent use AI for recruitment and talent sourcing.
- 24 percent use AI for audience segmentation.
Organizations that adopt AI are also likely to notice a positive ROI. Over half of the surveyed companies agree it’s increased their revenue by 5–10 percent across all activities. So whether you harness this software to improve workflow, elevate the customer experience, or anything in between, this technology can do wonders to jumpstart a small business. On that note, the following action steps will show you how to seamlessly integrate AI into your business model, ultimately providing the boost it needs to take off.
Scale Your Content Marketing
The internet is like a global monopoly board—your small business must compete with many other brands for online real estate. The more space you claim, the more visible you will be to consumers, which drives website traffic and generates potential leads. So how do you obtain this real estate? You publish consistent, valuable, high-quality content. 69 percent of business owners will increase their content marketing spending in 2023, so your business needs a scalable content marketing plan if you want to be relevant and competitive. AI makes this easy to execute with the applications and strategies below:
- Increase the publishing rate of social media posts, blog articles, or other written content.
- Offer personalized browsing on your website with dynamic content automation based on each visitor’s location, search history, brand interactions, or purchasing behaviors.
- Collect user-generated content (posts, mentions, reviews, and ratings) about your brand.
- Tailor your e-newsletter campaigns to meet the interests or needs of unique audience segments in order to automate email content they’ll want to open and consume.
Gather Sales Forecasting Data
Revenue growth is the key to long-term success, but how do you calculate this metric for a business in its launch phase? The answer is simple—use AI sales forecasting. Platforms mine data from your target audience to track their search and purchase histories and other activities and communications across the web. Next, it funnels this information into predictive analytics software to estimate the likelihood of consumers purchasing your products or services. Sales forecasting helps you reach new customers, effectively allocate resources and make performance adjustments to increase profitability.
Attract and Retain Customers
The most effective way to boost revenue is through customer retention. Consumers who consistently follow and subscribe to a particular brand are 42 percent more likely to increase their overall spending on those products or services. A loyal target audience will repeatedly invest in your business, choose you over the competition, and refer you to their friends or family, so creating a memorable experience for them at every touchpoint is vital. If that seems like a tall order, fear not—AI has you covered in this area too. Here are a few examples of how AI can help your brand attract and retain long-term customers:
- Cybersecurity: Use AI software to protect sensitive consumer information from potential online data breaches. This will reinforce their trust in your business, which, in turn, elevates the customer experience and nurtures an emotional connection.
- Communication: Use AI machine learning chatbots to answer real-time customer service queries with functional, conversational responses that mimic human speech. This provides both the timely assistance and thoughtful touch your consumers expect.
- Sentiment Analysis: Use emotional intelligence AI to interpret a consumer’s emotions during an online interaction accurately. This feedback allows you to empathize with—and ultimately accommodate—customer needs, opinions, intents, and preferences.
- Personalization: Use AI algorithms to monitor consumer behaviors, so you can better understand who they are and what they care about. This data will enable you to curate a unique, personal customer journey for each individual who encounters your brand.
Understand Your Competitors
In this hyper-saturated e-commerce landscape, it’s crucial to keep tabs on other brands in your niche to maintain the edge. An AI competitive analysis program conducts this research for you. It gathers information on what’s working for your business sector’s current and emergent competitors—from marketing promotions to consumer interactions to new product innovations. This actionable data helps you learn, grow and benefit from their success. The more you know about these other companies, the easier it will be to strategize, pivot, and make informed decisions to stay ahead of the curve.
Take Your Business from an Idea to a Reality with AI
Whether your business idea is still in the conceptual stage or ready to launch, artificial intelligence can jumpstart your entrepreneurial ambitions. If you want to take this leap but are unsure where to start, contact our team of marketing experts here at 10x Digital. Schedule a consultation with us, and let’s work together to harness the impacts of AI technology for the long-term success of your new business.
