Here’s why betting on AI could be the best thing for your business

“Charles Babbage was the father of computers.” Growing up in the 2000s, this was the first thing we were taught about the history of our now inseparable counterpart in school. From learning how to use a QWERTY keyboard and discovering HTML codes to now transcending into using artificial intelligence to run point, we’ve come a long way since then. All thanks to Babbage. Without him, a tsunami of numerics would’ve swallowed us whole.

The arrival of AI tools has created a shift in the way we work every day. Whether it’s using chatbots for research and grammar assistance or doing the digital heavy lifting for running a business, there’s a lot that AI can do to make work more impactful. It’s a blessing for small businesses that use these tools to take on the load of conducting customer research, running analytics, and creating social media strategies.

The best part is that AI tools, like Meta’s Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns, can easily assimilate into different business strategies. As an industry leader, Meta has been creating technologies that help people connect, engage and grow businesses. Their Advantage+ Shopping campaigns (ASC), (a part of the Advantage+ suite, Meta’s automated advertising and marketing product), uses machine learning to help businesses efficiently target relevant audiences and yield optimal results for brands who are retailing online. As opposed to manual campaigns, ASC requires minimal setup time and fewer inputs to reach the customer who is most likely to buy the product.

We spoke to three female founders running businesses that are as diverse as zameen and aasman who have leveraged Meta’s ASC to take their pipe dreams to new frontiers, and boy, has it done wonders.

Befriending AI and beyond

Any new business venture requires grunt work — research on the target group, building a marketing strategy and creating an impactful campaign are all crucial points to make profit. When Disha Singh, founder of the popular vegan accessory brand, Zouk started her business around 2016-17, a lot of this groundwork had to be done manually. But with the integration of Meta’s AI-powered ad solutions, she has been able to bring a grander vision for her business to life. With Meta’s ASC aiding some of the backend tasks of online retail, Singh has seen impressive results.

“Around 85-90% of our spends have now moved to ASC and it has given us a drastic increase in the return on ad spends and our customer acquisition costs have reduced to 40%,” Singh notes.

Priyanka Salot, co-founder, The Sleep Company (that has an annual revenue of ₹350 crore) echoes Singh’s sentiment. Salot started the comfort tech brand in 2019 with the idea of bringing new innovations to the mattress industry. On her journey as a female entrepreneur, she learnt that adaptability is important to grow your business. So when the winds of online advertising changed and it was time to adopt automated campaigns, The Sleep Company moved to Meta’s ASC and saw exponential growth. “The shopping campaigns on Meta deliver 30-40% better return on investment than any other non-automated campaigns,” she says.

Women entrepreneurs have faced obstacles like limited capital, gender disparity, and fewer opportunities for years when building businesses. But with rise in adoption of AI tools such as Meta’s ASC that betters brand reach and increases customer engagement, these roadblocks have the potential to crumble. According to research, AI tools have helped small businesses save $273.5 billion annually allowing them to focus on growth and other high-value tasks, encouraging more entrepreneurs to bring their creative visions to life.

Jovita Mascarenhas, co-founder of Bartisans, a homegrown brand of cocktail mixers attests to this. She launched Bartisans from her home kitchen in 2020 along with her son Jordan. With the integration of Meta’s platforms and AI tools, Bartisans has successfully conveyed their brand story to their audience, scaled up their business and increased revenue. Their customer acquisition costs have come down by a good 20%. “I don’t see us doing these revenues at retail stores. Over 80% of our business comes from D2C (direct-to-consumer),” she says.

The integration of AI tools in business is like a seesaw. AI tools sit on one end and propel the business to exponential heights, while improving the business owner’s experience. And with Meta’s Advantage+ suite, several women entrepreneurs have employed these tools to break the glass ceiling and cement their position in the business landscape. Time to get on the learning curve, we’d say.