Touted as the biggest technolgical revolution since the introduction of the internet, AI/automation is poised to change everything in business – and in our everyday life. AI – artificial intelligence – is being eyed by business leaders for innovation and improvement in all areas, from marketing and SEO to leadership trends. In 2023, HubSpot Blog Research asked nearly 1,400 United States business professionals about their thoughts on the impact of AI. both now and in the near future. They spoke to professionals in the disciplines of marketing, sales, blogging, SEO, and customer support as well. (Click here for full report.)
How AI is Currently Being Utilized
AI is not a futuristic prospect – it is here and it is being used every day. Many people do not even realize that they rely on artificial intelligence for many of the tools they depend on at work and home.
Leadership: Leadership is responsible for making overreaching, big-picture decisions – so implementing AI-powered technology into their business decision making models and teams is a natural strategy. Corporate executives have embraced using artificial intelligence and automation in unique and diverse ways that include:
- 62% of business leaders report that their organization has already invested in AI/automation tools for employees to better perform in their roles.
- 43% of business leaders increased their investment in AI/automation tools throughout 2023
- 31% of business leaders report that AI/automation tools are vital to their comprehensive business strategy.
- AI has been an excellent investment for nearly three quarters of respondents – with 27% of business leaders revealing that their investment in AI tools has returned a “very positive ROI” and 44% reporting a “somewhat positive ROI.”
Marketing and Sales: AI and automation are proving to be powerful tools assisting marketers to simplify processes, analyze large amounts of data, and recognize patterns and connections that mere humans might not see. In fact, 79% of these professionals believe generative AI can improve the quality of their marketing content. For salespeople, the ability to automate administrative tasks and spend more time building relationships is changing the game. 67% of polled salespeople agreed that AI tools allow them to spend more time selling.
- 69% of marketers report that generative AI is essential to their overall content marketing strategy
- 53% use chatbots and 44% use visual tools to help perform daily tasks and roles
- 44% of marketers use text-generation tools and 45% use automation tools for content creation
- 48% report using generative AI for market research, identifying data sets, and creating article summaries
- 35% report using tools to automate data entry, note taking and scheduling tasks
- 34% utilize AI to generate data-driven insights for forecasting, socring leads and analyzing pipelines.
- 31% of sales professionals use generative AI tools to create sales content and prospect messaging
- 28% reported using AI to simulate sales calls for training purposes, as well as to analyze effectiveness
- 26% use AI chatbots to help with lead generation and lead qualification
Customer Support: Customer support professionals are essential for any reputable company. They communicate with customers to ascertain their needs and pass those insights on to decsion makers and team leaders.
- 53% of customer service executives agreed that AI/automation tools will continue to grow in importantance in customer service
- 49% believe that by 2024, AI tools will perform most customer service-related tasks independently.
- 67% of customer service executives think AI tools will significantly facilitate responding to customer service requests.
Bloggers and and Content Creators: Generative AI’s ability to produce written content is perhaps one of its most familiar capabilities, making the conversation particularly interesting to bloggers and SEO professionals. While some fear being replaced entirely, AI and automation can help bloggers in their tasks – deveoping better content, optimizing web pages and improving SEO rankings.
- 35% of bloggers strongly agree that by 2024, most SEO professionals will use AI and automation
- 75% of bloggers/SEO pros believe that AI/automation tools will be able to do most SEO-related tasks completely independently by 2024
- 70% state that AI/automation is most powerful for optimizing websites for SEO purposes.
Whatever your personal feelings about the rise of AI, there is no doubt that it is here to stay, and poised to create seismic wave in how we do our jobs.
Are You Ready For What’s Next?
At Alliance IT, we specialize in helping small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) access the advanced tools and capabilities they need to stay competitive. Call today to learn more about how we can partner with your team, maximize your resources and provide access to the hardware, software and networks you need.