by Vicky Drew

Everybody’s talking about AI (Artificial Intelligence) , whether you’re in a business meeting, making office small talk, or down the pub with friends. At Hi Digital, the burning question from our clients is “how can AI improve digital marketing for my small business?”. The truth is it probably already is, albeit discreetly.

AI is bringing benefits to small businesses online in several areas such as driving efficiencies from a time or cost perspective, increasing website traffic and improving conversion rates for lead generation. Your website is likely already be earning some of these benefits from AI without even trying but it’s time to understand these and leverage the opportunities that align well for your brand and its target audiences.

In this article, I discuss 5 ways small businesses can benefit from utilising AI within their digital marketing activities alongside 3 potentially negative impacts of AI for your brand’s online presence.

What is Artificial Intelligence (AI) ?

Google Cloud defines AI as:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is a set of technologies that empowers computers to learn, reason, and perform a variety of advanced tasks in ways that used to require human intelligence, such as understanding language, analysing data, and even providing helpful suggestions.”

For example, AI can be a customer support assistant through the guise of a chat bot on a website, helpfully guiding website users to the information they seek easily – equally, it can misunderstand and frustrate them as they’d rather talk to a human. In this scenario, AI works best as the first point of contact for simple queries and has the ability (intelligence) to direct customers to a human customer support agent when appropriate. This can minimise the number of customer support staff needed reducing costs or it can make having a customer support service accessible to a smaller business that could not afford this previously.

The key learning here is to acknowledge the support or collaboration that AI brings, it is not a direct replacement nor should it be from the perspective of your customers who are likely to be human!

5 Benefits of AI for Small Businesses

The headlines and gossip surrounding AI and what it’s capable of can feel overwhelming, particularly to small businesses that are already stretched in terms of resources – AI is yet another thing to research and explore. Below are five key opportunities and benefits to consider embracing first in the near future:

1. Increased referral traffic: Hi Digital clients are seeing an increase in referral traffic from AI sources such as Chat GBT and GA4 is now tracking ‘AI Assistant’ as a traffic channel making it easy to understand where a website is now in terms of AI traffic and monitor growth. If your on-site SEO is good and you’re regularly publishing new keyword optimised content, such as webpages and blog posts, then your website will start to capture high quality AI search traffic too. However, to take your content strategy a step further it’s time to start creating content that focuses on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). AI likes structured, direct content that leads with answers to “why” “what” “how” etc.

Tip! If you don’t have an FAQ page on your website now is the time to publish one.

2. Image generation: AI powered design is becoming very popular, however, results are mixed and with all designs, opinion or success if subjective to the viewer. AI design tools and generators are very accessible and work using simple instructions. One of the easiest ways a small business can utilise AI design is for image generation.

For example, you can ask a tool such as Canva’s Magic Design for ‘a beach at sunrise’ or ‘a beach at sunrise with footprints in the sand’  or ‘ a beach at sunrise with footprints in the sand going into the sea’ and you will get a beautiful image. However, for something a bit more ambiguous like ‘an image for an article about marketing and AI’ will generate very cliched images of robots, futuristic landscapes, glowing finger tips, data charts etc. so you may spend a lot time giving further instructions. Generating images with AI can be fun and there’s also the potential to animate them and create videos, just don’t lose track of time whilst you have a play!

Tip! For simple design needs AI can be a useful tool but often the image you’re looking for exists in an stock image library so do check first.

3. Content creation: You’ve likely had the sneaky thought to ask AI to write an article for your brand’s website, or create a Linked In post. I’d like to know, have you actually done it? The time you could save in research, planning, copywriting and design is very tempting and specific AI content creation tools do exist. These tools are getting smarter and their copy is starting to feel more human but there are risks. For example:

– Is your request that unique? Your AI generated content could be very similar to a direct competitor’s content.
– Will you be able to answer questions on that topic meaningfully should a client ask later?

If you create content frequently and it is outsourced but you’re not happy with the quality of the content being created, it could be time to trial AI – or appoint a better copywriter!

Tip! If your brand values include authenticity, personal, bespoke etc. then using AI to create content is not advisable as you may alienate your target customers. The best content is carefully crafted to engage and build a strong relationship between a brand and its clients.

4. Website design: Website creator tools have existing for a long time, they promise easy-to-use features and beautiful design. However, their templates are often quite limited in terms of functionality and customisation, then they’re often quite glitchy and fail to perform to expectation. AI is taking website design a step further. An AI tool, such as Claude Design or Loveable, can work as a designer who you can converse with via an online chat to share your brief and subsequent edits to achieve your desired website design page-by-page. It’s really quite impressive, however, as with all design projectsAI design is led by clear briefs and edits so an understanding of great functional website design or an idea of what you really want is essential. In theory, this method should save you time and money, but in reality you could actually waste a lot of time getting nowhere before you admit defeat and call in the human experts for help.

Website design is very complex and a lot of thought and planning is involved to expertly showcase brands and create the optimum user experience. At Hi Digital, we specialise in custom website design for small businesses.

Tip! Always consult a website designer or agency if you want a website that is fit-for-purpose to drive leads or sales, they can be bring an unrivalled level of real life expertise to your project particular if you’re a small business or operate within a niche industry.

5. Customer service and sales support: We’ve all encountered a chat bot on a website. Did we have a positive encounter? Did we already find the same information they told us in the FAQs? Would we rather just chat to a human? Chat bots typically follow rigid scripts for every website user which creates a very limited interaction. AI Chat Agents are taking virtual customer service and sales support a big leap forwards, they use real time website behaviour, past conversations and CRM data to deliver a personalised chat experience which better meets an individual customer’s needs.

 AI Chat Agents can improve conversion rates for orders and lead generation. They engage visitors (potential customers and clients) as soon as they arrive on your website, answer their questions and guide them smoothly to enquire or purchase whilst on your website, then they can stay in touch via email to further facilitate the sales pipeline. . Think of them as a sales support team but for a much cheaper monthly cost than employing an actual sales person.

Tip! If your small business’s website has a conversion issue it’s essential to check it’s foundations first. For example, is it well structured? does it promote your brand and services well? Before you invest in AI tools conduct a Digital Audit and ensure your website is fit-for-purpose and growth.

3 risks of AI to digital marketing

In terms of the risks AI is posing to small businesses and their digital marketing activities, there are few that all brand’s with a presence online should be aware of. These include:

1. Decreased organic traffic: I’m sure you’ve noticed that at the top of Google search results there is now an AI Overview. It has been reported by Forbes that these handy overviews are so convenient that users don’t bother clicking through to the content behind. And what about that content below? Our traditional organic search results we’ve all been working so hard to appear in for years may not even get a view. These traffic dips are for questions i.e. “how to” or “when”, so if you typically gain traffic for this type of content it’s time to rework it for AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation).

If your website content is optimised for your local geographic area i.e. Solicitor in Leeds, then organic traffic dips caused by AI should be minimal. However, it’s important to monitor traffic at a search query level regularly (i.e. every quarter) so that you can react to changes and identify opportunities to grow website traffic.

2. Poor quality branding and design: Yes, AI can design logos or anything you like such as flyers, emails, websites etc. However, the success of each project relies on a clear brief from a human who understands good branding and design. In real life, the design process is led by human conversation, strategic creative briefs and real world creative experience. The role of a brand designer is extremely valuable, and collaboration is at the heart of creating any brand identity, website or creative asset. AI can certainly aid design, for example, duplicating graphics with minor content tweaks at scale, but it cannot completely replace powerful, thoughtful design.

3. Lack of originality and USPs. Are all brands and their messaging going to end up the same or too similar? It’s a possibility. The best differentiator is often the humans behind the brands who are present from the initial idea to the service and products your customers admire and keep coming back for. In a predominantly digital world, brands need to stand out amongst all the noise rather than just be amongst it.

Let’s refresh your Digital Marketing Strategy

AI is a huge topic and it is literally everywhere powering more than we think. It can feel overwhelming to us as individuals, so as small business owners  it’s important not to panic and make rash decisions. If you’re seeing a dip in website traffic or conversions, or you’re struggling to launch your brand online with any significant impact amongst your target audience – it’s a good time to talk about it and get some meaningful advice. At Hi Digital, we offer a full range of effective and bespoke digital marketing services exclusively to small businesses. Please get in touch and schedule a 1-2-1 consultant with our team.