Small businesses have a lot on their plate right now. Apart from the usual challenges such as limited budget, smaller margins, and bigger competitors, they also have to address inflation, an unstable supply chain, and a talent crunch this year. Technology has been a great enabler for SMBs but it’s changing fast. With AI taking the center stage and customer service optimization becoming crucial, it’s time to learn all the tech trends that’ll help your small business.
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Generative AI will get better
Small businesses that don’t have separate budgets for marketing and community development have found a great solution in the form of generative AI tools.Â
OpenAI’s ChatGPT and DALL-E, along with Midjourney, Google Bard, and Bing Chat are offering interesting use cases to help SMBs in day-to-day operations. From writing emails, replying to customer feedback, and creating social media posts to fine-tuning images and getting answers to different tasks — the AI chatbots will make sure small businesses keep up with other competitors.Â
But today’s AI models are far from perfect—they conveniently spit out nonsense that looks accurate on the surface. Since convenience is a big part of the AI arms race, most companies put little effort into fact-checking and bias reduction frameworks. Even though generative AI is not ready to be completely integrated into businesses today, it’ll be far more refined in the coming years.
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Automation will be more popular
Similar to generative AI, automation is going to be a key part of an SMB’s success. Thanks to the proliferation of SaaS tools, automation will help business owners do more with less and save time while doing so.Â
Tools such as Zapier, Feedier, HubSpot, and Intercom help business owners create customer journey maps, from marketing, nurturing, and closing to post-purchase communication and loyalty-based promotions. More companies will look to invest in no-code automation to reduce friction in everyday tasks, CRM, and finances. Since the fight for talent will continue to grow, automated tools can take a lot off your plate going forward.