The goal of every business is to find a way to increase its ROI, reduce expenses and improve its relationship with customers. Creating a great product or service is the first step towards doing so, but plenty of companies with top products are struggling to turn a profit due to a higher global inflation and the increasing costs of implementing cutting-edge technological tools in their business plan.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help you achieve these goals by disrupting traditional business solutions and replacing them with more sophisticated software. The technology can automate a wide variety of work processes, from accounting practices to IT solutions and much of the brunt work employees are burdened with.
This ultimately reduces the amount of time and money you spend on human labor, while also increasing your revenue streams.
Here are six ways AI is impacting businesses in 2018
1. The rise of social media platforms as advertising platforms has pushed companies to develop technological tools for marketing purposes. A 2017 Salesforce study found that more than 60% of marketers see AI as a tool to create everything from websites, dynamic landing pages, programmatic advertising and media buying. The technology is playing a role in social media marketing by creating more personalized, real-time content that can lead to a 20% sales increase.
Customer targeting algorithms can help your company learn information from buyers, such as when they enter a professional site and look for business articles. The technology can then suggest and create posts for you to target that user at the time of the week and day that they usually search for that topic.
2. Machine learning is another hot topic in the AI world, as these sophisticated algorithms can help you garner a better understanding of data and logs in order to develop patterns that lead to probable outcomes. With the right team, your business can create algorithms that reduce idle time in the workplace and have devices that work 24/7.
3. AI is also making strides to help those in the finance world by helping these workers transform paper invoices into electronic transactions. Optical character recognition software can easily transcribe paper invoices into machine-readable forms. Additionally, the technology can interpret electronic invoices, assign general ledger codes and create alerts for any invoices that require human intervention to solve a discrepancy in the invoice.
4. Chatbots are also gaining popularity, mimicking human conversations via text on a customer service or online support platform. You can use these digital robots to offer customer service 24/7. This tool is useful if you are in retail or if your business offers services. These bots can quickly access a customer’s personal information and their history to offer timely and specific support interactions.
The technology further proves that we live in a time where consumers want to be connected with a company around the clock in case they have any questions or concerns regarding a service or product.
5. Logistics and supply chain has historically been a difficult department to crack for plenty of businesses as it requires plenty of planning, an anticipation of unforeseen circumstances and ability to adapt. Your company can offer logistical services or improve your logistical system with AI.
The technology can help you run your business successfully with localization and mapping technology to ensure your cargo vehicles reach their intended destination without a hitch.
6. Finding the right candidate for a job opening is also an easier process with AI, which offers a more data-driven. approach to recruiting. The technology improves upon traditional HR information systems as it can recommend career paths for certain employees based on their skills and background.
AI can also help motivate and engage your employees based on their personality and characteristics. This way, your business can make better use of their resources when recruiting and retain employees.
So let’s bring about a change and outfit our teams with AI to bolster our business goals and create opportunities.