A study conducted by Skynova reveals the approach that small businesses are taking towards automation technology.
The advent of social media and the tech age has led to digital automation becoming very commonplace. Contacting a brand giant Facebook will lead to a standardized message showing up in response. Certain business related emails will automatically send monthly updates and the like, unprompted by any tangible human connection, short of building the automation technology and providing Wi-Fi. Automation being this commonly found online is a win for everyone involved, small businesses being at the top of this list. But is automated technology really useful to such owners? And what sort of automation is more commonly used? Well, time for us to take a quick look.
The study we're about to delve into today was conducted by Skynova, a company that provides online modules and tools that small businesses can rely on. Examples include accounting services, receipt and invoice generation, the creation of bids, and so on. With Skynova actively marketing itself as a platform for small businesses, it makes sense that its devs would invest their time towards a research that only helps provide more data to both them and future small business owners. The study's parameters involved surveying 288 small business owners within the USA, and gathering data about their attitude towards automating specific aspects of business life.
3 out 5 of the respondents are reportedly planning on automating at least one aspect of their business in the coming days. Of all automated assets, email marketing campaigns proved to be the most common across the board. 44% of the respondents already had such technology up and working, while 37% had plans on implementing it. Social media marketing was a close second, with 37% of our business owners having automated systems working on it. The least commonly automated ended up being HR and product assembly, with only 6% of the respondents respectively having systems installed for such action. The former definitely makes sense, since HR is a department that, quite literally, is built for a human touch. The latter is more interesting. Many larger businesses have assembly lines up and running 24/7. However, smaller businesses typically tend to add a more personal dash of effort to their work, therefore circumventing the need for automated product assembly altogether. Not to mention that smaller businesses rarely ever have the money or manpower to implement the necessary technology.
41% of the respondents believed customer care to be too complex a task to leave in the hands of automation or AI. Only 14% of the respondents even bothered to implement such technology. Other tasks considered too complex by the respondents include HR (33%), product assembly (29%), project management (28%), and customer management (28%). Customer care also topped the list of functions that the respondents believed should only be carried out by humans. 56% of the people that didn't employ automation in customer service stated that their reasons for not doing so were steeped in ethical concerns. The other 45% cited philosophical causes as their main source of dissent.
At any rate, automation is clearly still creeping into our online business setup. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but a human touch in the overall workings is never a bad thing.
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The advent of social media and the tech age has led to digital automation becoming very commonplace. Contacting a brand giant Facebook will lead to a standardized message showing up in response. Certain business related emails will automatically send monthly updates and the like, unprompted by any tangible human connection, short of building the automation technology and providing Wi-Fi. Automation being this commonly found online is a win for everyone involved, small businesses being at the top of this list. But is automated technology really useful to such owners? And what sort of automation is more commonly used? Well, time for us to take a quick look.
The study we're about to delve into today was conducted by Skynova, a company that provides online modules and tools that small businesses can rely on. Examples include accounting services, receipt and invoice generation, the creation of bids, and so on. With Skynova actively marketing itself as a platform for small businesses, it makes sense that its devs would invest their time towards a research that only helps provide more data to both them and future small business owners. The study's parameters involved surveying 288 small business owners within the USA, and gathering data about their attitude towards automating specific aspects of business life.
3 out 5 of the respondents are reportedly planning on automating at least one aspect of their business in the coming days. Of all automated assets, email marketing campaigns proved to be the most common across the board. 44% of the respondents already had such technology up and working, while 37% had plans on implementing it. Social media marketing was a close second, with 37% of our business owners having automated systems working on it. The least commonly automated ended up being HR and product assembly, with only 6% of the respondents respectively having systems installed for such action. The former definitely makes sense, since HR is a department that, quite literally, is built for a human touch. The latter is more interesting. Many larger businesses have assembly lines up and running 24/7. However, smaller businesses typically tend to add a more personal dash of effort to their work, therefore circumventing the need for automated product assembly altogether. Not to mention that smaller businesses rarely ever have the money or manpower to implement the necessary technology.
41% of the respondents believed customer care to be too complex a task to leave in the hands of automation or AI. Only 14% of the respondents even bothered to implement such technology. Other tasks considered too complex by the respondents include HR (33%), product assembly (29%), project management (28%), and customer management (28%). Customer care also topped the list of functions that the respondents believed should only be carried out by humans. 56% of the people that didn't employ automation in customer service stated that their reasons for not doing so were steeped in ethical concerns. The other 45% cited philosophical causes as their main source of dissent.
At any rate, automation is clearly still creeping into our online business setup. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but a human touch in the overall workings is never a bad thing.
