I think that we’ve all faced the music: AI is (whether we want it to or not) changing the way that we do business. And, in my humble opinion, I’m not mad at it. Its offerings have been pretty beneficial thus far.
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But even if you’ve accepted this fate (or maybe you’re cautiously on the fence), you’re likely part of a select group of people who are still wondering what AI is really doing to empower both small and large-scale businesses. And if you are, don’t worry. You’re in the right place.
In this post, I’ll explore specific ways that AI is transforming businesses of all sizes, why it could be a worthwhile investment, and I’ll also share what you need to know to get your business up to speed, equipped for anything, and ready for future developments in tech.
Table of Contents:
- Benefits of AI in Business
- Why Use AI in Business in 2024?
- How AI Can Give You a Competitive Advantage
- AI or Not, The Choice Is Yours
Benefits of AI in Business
You’ve probably heard a lot of different things from a lot of different sources about what AI can/can’t do for your business.
Regardless of what rumors you’ve chosen to believe or ignore, I’m happy to provide you with a solid list of concrete ways that AI could revolutionize the way you and your employees not only collaborate but innovate their individual work styles. Check out my thoughts below:
1. AI makes customers happier.
According to HubSpot's 2024 AI Trends for Sales Report, 26% of sales folks are using AI for customer research and sales enablement copy; this means that, in the long run, your audience is more likely to convert (because they’re being well-prospected to, which is half of the customer retention battle) with AI involved.
By personalizing experiences, providing instant support, and anticipating specific needs, AI significantly enhances customer satisfaction and, ultimately, secures customer loyalty.
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2. AI makes employees happier.
Your employees may not be vocal about it, but they’re happy that they no longer have to spend two to three hours on one important task. Instead, they might just spend two to three hours working on project developments that, in the long run, make huge differences.
By automating tedious assignments and providing valuable feedback (summarizations, analytics, etc.), AI reduces employee burnout and increases job satisfaction.
3. AI fuels decision-making confidence in business owners.
If you’ve ever been between a rock and a hard place about what to do, AI may not be able to give you an exact solution, but it can provide data-driven recommendations that will guide you toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
With AI-powered analytics, you’ll get valuable insights to help businesses make informed choices, reducing any uncertainty (shoutout my high-anxiety folks, I see you) and boosting confidence, so you can get back to doing the things that bring you joy.
4. AI helps you think smarter, not harder.
Do you ever wish that you could run ideas by someone else without having to actually talk to them? Well, you can.
Most popular generative AI platforms have intuitive-enough features to offer input that is personalized to you and your requests. Want to know how an email sounds? Maybe you’re looking to get a second opinion on a project proposal? Perhaps you’re looking for another pair of eyes to take a look at that spreadsheet?
Whatever the need is, just know AI’s got you.
5. AI makes product innovation easier.
Have you ever bought a product/service and thought to yourself, “I could’ve done this better myself.” Well, what if I told you that there’s a way to avoid having your own product/service be on that same chopping block? All you need is AI on your side.
With AI at your fingertips, you can identify new product opportunities (i.e., analyzing market trends, competitive landscapes, etc.) and improve product quality by optimizing design, testing, and manufacturing processes.
Plus, no more getting business advice you didn’t ask for (AI’s very mindful of boundaries in that way).
6. AI makes tasks easier to complete.
From automating mundane tasks (like data entry, scheduling, follow-ups) to generating creative content (email and social media copy), AI can simplify workflows, boost productivity, and handle repetitive tasks.
With AI available, you and your employees can concentrate on producing more strategic and goal-driven work, leading to increased efficiency, problem-solving, and, hopefully, developing more groundbreaking ideas.
7. AI saves money.
If you’re a business owner who’s just starting out and can’t afford to get folks on payroll immediately, investing some dollars into an AI-focused tech stack could be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
Plus, even if you do have a few employees, spending some allocated dollars on enterprise-level AI products (and less on things like subscriptions or consultants) for them to experiment with could be more of a worthwhile expense, one that saves you both time and money.
8. AI makes extensive processes less of a hassle.
Things that take too long to complete are a pain. I think we can both agree on that.
But with AI at your disposal, you can take prolonged tasks that require significant effort or often take hours and transform them into quick and easy processes.
This means:
- No more staring at your computer summarizing notes from that one really long meeting that happened last week.
- No more trying to organize that idea dump you had at 1 AM into an easy-to-read format.
- No more going crazy, losing sleep, or getting stumped.
The future looks bright with AI, y’all. I promise.
9. AI can predict the future … or something like that.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that AI is a magical crystal ball.
However, it does do a pretty decent job at tracking patterns, which can be super helpful if you’re looking to get a pulse on your business’s performance. Through its ability to suggest predictions that can help you make educated decisions, AI empowers businesses to stay ahead of the curve.
Whether you’re looking to anticipate market shifts, determine customer behavior, or potential challenges, AI’s smart algorithms can provide valuable insights that help you avoid chaos and understand the impact of your business decisions.
10. AI streamlines operations (thank God).
Regardless of what sort of business you own, AI can optimize and enhance overall business efficiency. The great thing about AI is, as you work with it, it begins to learn your preferences, creating a substantive knowledge base (that you/your team can access at any time) of your specific needs and goals.
This personalized approach allows AI to provide tailored solutions and recommendations, further boosting your business's approach to doing, well, business.
11. AI protects your business.
If you’re not a cybersecurity genius, that’s okay. Let AI be that for you.
With platforms like Halcyon.ai and EXL now in existence, AI can help protect your business from cyber threats, data breaches, and sensitive information leaks. By continuously monitoring networks, detecting anomalies, and responding to threats in real-time, AI makes advanced security solutions pretty much hands-free.
I don’t know about you but … I think that’s pretty awesome.
12. AI helps mitigate risks.
AI is kind of like an eye that’s always watching. As I mentioned previously, once AI learns everything it can about your business, it’ll be able to detect when something isn’t right … or when something is about to go terribly wrong.
Once you’ve identified your business’s best ways of using AI, you’ll be able to train its technology to recognize unusual patterns and, eventually, develop contingency plans in response to them.
13. AI gives your business a competitive edge.
And, if all twelve reasons above haven’t truly convinced you yet, AI is simply worth batting an eye at because it's, well, “in” right now.
You’d be selling yourself short if you didn’t give AI a little bit of a chance. Even if AI isn’t meant to be used for everything, it’s certainly meant to be used for something.
Why Use AI in Business in 2024?
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If you want an honest answer on why your business should be giving AI a chance in 2024, I can tell you this: Every industry is already using it.
Marketing, sales, customer service, you name it. Each of these business areas are all – not even exaggerating, here – utilizing AI to do more with less. But if you’re still not totally sold on how you/your employees could leverage AI tools in this same way, I’m here to debunk your doubts. Check out some recent data that might change your mind:
1. Marketers are using AI to create content.
According to HubSpot’s 2024 AI Trends for Marketers Report, 43% of marketers are using generative AI to “tackle content creation.” Here’s a breakdown of how they’re doing it:
- 47% of marketers are using AI for image generation.
- 46% of marketers are using AI for social media posting.
- 45% marketers are using AI for writing copy.
- 44% of marketers are using AI for content quality assurance.
- 38% of marketers are using 38% of AI for long-form blog writing.
2. Salespeople are using AI to personalize prospecting.
HubSpot’s 2024 AI Sales Trends Report mentioned that 26% of salespeople are specifically using AI for customer research. Here are a few other notable ways they’re utilizing AI for prospecting efforts:
- 42% of sales professionals use a combination of generative AI and CRM integrations to strengthen prospect communications.
- 64% of sales professionals use AI to lead more personalized prospecting efforts.
- 26% of sales professionals use AI to refresh sales enablement materials.
3. Customer service folks are using AI to improve customers’ experiences.
HubSpot’s 2024 State of Customer Service Report revealed that 86% of customer service experts believe that AI will “transform the experience customers get with their company.” Check out some other AI-related customer service insights below:
- 45% of customer service reps said AI is useful in helping human staff resolve customer service issues.
- 88% of customer service specialists use gen AI to write responses to customer service requests.
- 75% of customer service folks agree that AI/automation tools help improve customer service response time.
How AI Can Give You a Competitive Advantage
1. AI can help you go to market faster.
Little by little, AI can significantly accelerate how quickly your business gets in front of new customers. With the help of AI-powered tools, you’d be able to:
- Get detailed feedback on your product/service (from a totally unbiased perspective, might I add)
- Outline full campaigns, calendars, etc. (Pro Tip: Try prompting ChatGPT with the following: “Design me a [number of days] marketing campaign with a full social media calendar designed for [insert platform name] audiences. I’m a [insert type of brand].”)
- Identify your business’s ideal persona
Here’s a quick snapshot of what happened when I tested that prompt above, by the way:
2. AI can help you market your business more effectively.
If you’ve been musing about how you can use AI to market your business more effectively, here are a few of my suggestions for how to make it do the hard stuff for you:
- Use HubSpot’s AI Hub, Breeze, to design custom content (landing pages, blogs, etc.)
- Save prompts (templates) that you’ve noticed produce the content you like (i.e., if you use ChatGPT and you’ve used a prompt
- Identify what generative AI stack works for you (I personally like using ChatGPT for research and Google’s Gemini for content editing, you can also figure out which platforms you prefer for certain tasks, too)
The State of Artificial Intelligence in 2024
New research into how marketers are using AI and key insights into the future of marketing.
- Marketing AI Tools
- Practical Tips
- Trends and Statistics
- And More!
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3. AI can help you recruit talent.
AI knows a thing or two about talent scouting. When prompted correctly, you can use it to sift through resumes and candidate profiles, search for skills, previous roles, even experience with tools/software that your company uses.
Pro Tip: If you’re an active LinkedIn user, consider using some of LinkedIn’s embedded AI technology to write and publish job postings for your business. Take a look at the screenshot below to see a faux-listing that I created for one of my favorite magazine publications, DAZED Magazine.
AI or Not, The Choice Is Yours
At the end of the day, the decision to integrate AI into your business is yours to make. However, the evidence is clear: AI offers a wealth of opportunities to improve efficiency, business operations, and enhance customer experiences.
Don't let fear hold you back from reaping the rewards of AI. Take the first step towards a more efficient, innovative, and successful future. You (likely) won’t regret it.
The State of Artificial Intelligence in 2024
New research into how marketers are using AI and key insights into the future of marketing.
- Marketing AI Tools
- Practical Tips
- Trends and Statistics
- And More!
Download Free
All fields are required.
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