There is a significant shift in the way businesses and industries are operating. The new trend is data-driven companies that rely on AI technology to make better decisions. This is proving to cause some major disruption across a number of industries, as smaller businesses are unable to compete with AI-driven analytics that can predict market trends, opportunities for expansion, and a host of other strategic business decisions.
However, there are also opportunities for start-ups and small businesses that can adopt emerging technologies, provided they build and implement a strong business model.
In this article we’ll take a look at how AI and big data are disrupting various markets, and how to take advantage of the massive opportunity to grow your business.
Data-driven Decisions in the Age of AI and Big Data
Regardless of which industry you operate in, there are certain areas that are generating a large amount of data and information, which can now be used to make data-driven decisions. Some of these key areas where AI and big data are having the most impact include:
- IT and Web App Metrics: IT infrastructure, server vulnerabilities, web app performance, and performance are all measurable with the click of a button and correlated with each other to create real-time data to make quick decisions, which can impact the speed at which a web app can be scaled up and down. You can read Appoptics tips on things like the top AWS metrics to evaluate, or the best web app monitoring practices, for a better idea of how to implement a data-driven approach to web monitoring.
- Sales and marketing: AI is being used to predict consumer preferences, helping businesses identify new product lines, areas of improvement, and customer segments for different products.
- Investments and finance: AI and big data are the best tools to analyze and invest money wisely. Over a period of time, businesses have begun using AI to analyze various market forces, trends, and predictions to help them make smarter, more strategic investments.
- Consumer information: Data collected by businesses and governments can be used to create the most accurate consumer profiles in the world. AI and big data can give you the insights to know the exact level of demand and awareness for products, thus enabling you to price your products correctly and enhance your marketing strategy.
- Manufacturing and supply chain management: The consumer’s buying preferences have helped provide clear, data-driven insights in supply chain management for companies. More than just individual sales, AI helps companies manage their inventory, make supply chain decisions, and optimize sales forecasting.
How does this impact small business owners?
Adopting AI and big data isn’t exactly hard, as there is a wide range of tools and platforms available to all levels of business owners that can utilize machine learning and predictive analytics.
However, this presents a new set of problems for small business owners – how exactly do you analyze the data to build a model, which you can then use to make data-driven business decisions? How can you convert data into insights and then make a decision based on it?
Large enterprise companies are able to afford teams of data scientists and advanced analytics specialists, which can help them make their own data-driven decisions, but this is not affordable or even a possibility for most small business owners.
What can SMBs do to stay relevant and competitive?
Not all is lost in this new age of big data and AI in the hands of enterprise companies. There are many small businesses out there that can benefit from these technologies.
It’s a matter of how easily a business can adapt to this new age, and whether they’re willing to learn new platforms and workflow processes that help them scale up their business and grow. It’s about moving away from the traditional operational structure of running a business to one where software and technology is simply part of it.
A New Era of “Personalized” Marketing
Personalized marketing isn’t the name of a new app or service. It’s the way we’re currently buying things. It’s the way that companies, especially in the e-commerce world, have achieved product or service pricing that resonates with their audience.
Brand advertising is no longer the holy grail of effective marketing, as it’s often treated as a relic of the past by young digital-native brands. Rather, a company’s future depends on a bottom-up, “based on personalization” approach to marketing.
The emergence of AI is helping marketers make better, data-driven decisions about what type of marketing activities to perform, when, and how they can better tailor the type of marketing to target their audience.
The more we know about our audience’s demographic profile and activities, the more we can craft personalized advertising that drives more clicks, sales, and sales conversions.
