6 Types of Machine Learning for Small Businesses
6 Types of Machine Learning for Small Businesses
There are types of machine learning that are capable of game-changing insights and automation for businesses in any industry. Here are 6 ways small businesses can apply machine learning at their own companies.
From predictive texts to language translation applications, machine learning (ML) is everywhere. Most times, people interchange machine learning with artificial intelligence (AI).
If you haven’t heard about it yet, machine learning is a subfield of artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn without complex programming and accurately predict outcomes.
As ML advances and becomes more common, businesses will eventually find themselves needing it as leverage. Whether it's for their operations or as a key feature of their MVP, ML is ubiquitous.
While it's understandably a difficult technology to learn, being aware of its power is enough for entire businesses. Both artificial intelligence and machine learning aren’t just for large corporations like Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft. In fact, small businesses are the ones that can most benefit from the technologies.
This piece helps you have a better view of what types of machine learning applications can best help your business.
Looking to implement machine learning at your company? Consult with a specialized machine learning company on The Manifest.
What is Machine Learning?
Machine learning is broadly defined as the machine’s ability to learn intelligently and imitate human behavior. As a subfield of artificial intelligence, it can perform complex tasks and solve problems similar to humans.
Source: Sebastian Raschka
The main objective of machine learning is to comprehend and train a model to predict the value of some quantity based on new data. While algorithms have been around for decades, machine learning takes a step up. To give you context, here are some examples of machine learning that are encountered almost every day:
- The recommendations seen on streaming platforms like Hulu, Youtube, and Netflix
- Chatbots used by websites to help customers with simple inquiries
- Natural language processing such as voice recognition on smartphones
Machine learning is the present and future for businesses. Building models that understand algorithms and uncover connections can significantly reduce human intervention and errors. Learn more about what machine learning technologies can best help your small business.
6 Types of Machine Learning for Small Businesses
Despite rising corporate investments in the field, small firms and startups are still wary of implementing machine learning technologies into their business processes.
Very few small businesses understand how machine learning works. More often than not, it’s taken for granted and chosen over other technologies. Only the most tech-savvy people comprehend how it can transform your small business.
Here are the main types of machine learning to help you transform your business:
- Predictive analytics
- Human resources
- Training
- Customer service and support
- Resource management
- Data for marketing
1. Predictive Analytics
Combining machine learning with predictive analytics is game-changing for decision-making. The merged technologies can help small businesses in various aspects such as personalizing advertising, solving business problems, and identifying customer needs.
By merging these two, small business owners can leverage data sets such as historical purchases, frequently paired products, and consumer behavior.
Businesses can take advantage of machine learning and predictive analytics when communicating personalized offers to their customers. The combination allows better structuring of advertising — better ad placements and inbound messages.
Show recommendations on streaming platforms result from machine learning and predictive analytics. Those recommendations are only made possible because the platforms collect data, study individual customer behavior, and look for patterns among common consumers.
2. Human Resources
Sometimes, small businesses don't have dedicated HR departments. The cost of hiring a new employee is one of the most expensive components of running a business.
Hiring a new team member may get expensive because of the recurring expenses of job posts, career events, recruiting fees, background checks, onboarding, and training.
A fully staffed human resource management team is not necessary for small firms to track, manage, search for, and engage potential recruits anymore because of recent advancements in machine learning-powered HR software.
3. Training
In line with human resources and recruitment, training is another major area where machine learning may reduce cost.
Machines can do a lot of labor-intensive tasks, so there is less need to educate entire teams in strategic data analysis because of their innate capacity to learn and operate.
4. Customer Service and Support
According to a study by Gartner, customer interactions powered by emerging technologies such as machine learning are expected to jump up to 70% in 2022. The growth is driven by chatbots and mobile messaging powered by ML, revolutionizing the customer service and support scene.
Customers always expect the best when it comes to service. They want fast replies and support from companies they purchase from.
Businesses of all sizes see the benefits of using the technology. The speed, precision, and data-gathering capabilities of machine learning make it a must-have for small businesses.
Acquiring insights and letting the algorithm learn from their demands allows machine learning technologies to provide personalized customer experiences.
5. Resource Management
Many jobs that need human intelligence may be performed by machine learning, particularly those involving pattern recognition, language interpretation, cue detection, problem-solving, and data learning.
This implies that many small businesses may use machine learning to streamline some particularly specialized tasks, providing owners the freedom to allocate their personnel to other more necessary roles.
By focusing on integrating machine learning technologies and reallocating manpower to more crucial roles, you can improve your workflows and competitive edge in the marketplace. This not only helps reduce costs buts also paves the way for further innovation within your small business.
Another benefit of using machine learning for resource management is not overworking your employees. Any business owner knows that taking care of your people is crucial. Eliminating relative and labor-intensive work can ease their burden and help them perform better.
6. Data for Marketing
Data is every marketer’s best friend. Machine learning algorithms with marketing focuses may use data in various ways to help businesses secure or establish a footing in the market.
The invaluable data collected using machine learning technologies can help you make more impactful marketing strategies. By recording user activity patterns, marketers can forecast future behavior or preferences.
The process that marketers use to do their jobs is as follows: they develop hypotheses, test them, judge them, and then analyze them. Machine learning can help in every aspect of their job.
You can react more quickly to changes in the quality of traffic brought on by advertising campaigns because of machine learning. You can spend more time developing hypotheses rather than doing repetitive tasks as a consequence.
9 Examples of Machine Learning Technologies Used Today
Machine learning is useful in a wide range of sectors — from finance to retail. Its capabilities can influence how small businesses operate and help them achieve their goals.
While integrating machine learning into your business can be daunting, it’s possible because of current innovations. Here are some real-world examples of machine-learning applications you can encounter on a daily:
- Language translation
- Image recognition
- Speech recognition
- Detecting fraud and money laundering
- Statistical arbitrage
- Medical diagnosis
- Self-driving cars
- Content production
- Social media feeds
If you haven’t noticed yet, machine learning is everywhere every time. It’s a remarkable technology now embedded in everyday life and business.
Be it for marketing or customer service, don’t worry about whether machine learning can work for your small business. It’s a tool that you can use to your benefit.
Machine Learning is the Present and Future
Don’t be scared of new innovations. Through machine learning, computers can help you make wiser business decisions, perform accurately, and boost profitability.
However, the benefits of machine learning for small firms are constrained by a wide range of market variables, including the cost of investment and the scarcity of experienced providers in using AI and ML technologies.
In the near future, it won't be possible for small businesses to disregard the promise of these new technologies. The best-positioned small firms to profit from these technological advancements in the future will be those who lay the groundwork and invest in the initiatives today.
Connect with a machine learning consultant on The Manifest.
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