Technology articles by Deepak MR

Understanding AI as a service

You have probably heard of SaaS or Software as a Service. But have heard of AIaaS? AIaaS refers to Artificial Intelligence as a Service. It is a new service offering that has become popular thanks to the growth of Artificial Intelligence. Since AI is new, it is challenging for businesses to use AI.

AIaaS is a service offering by technology companies. If you are running a business, you can use AIaaS to implement AI in your organization. It is a great way of using the power of AI in a cost-effective way.

What is AIaaS?

AIaaS is ‘Artificial Intelligence as a service’. It involves making use of AI tools available off the shelf. Using this service allows businesses to implement AI in their work in an effective way without having to invest too much money. AI is popular today, but it has been around from a long time.

Traditionally, AI has been expensive and there are reasons for it. AI required huge investments for hardware (specialized hardware was needed). AI programmers were expensive since there were very few of them. It was a new field about which not much was known.

Even today, using AI from scratch is expensive. This explains why AIaaS has evolved. AI is big business and it is estimated that by 2024 spending on AI will increase to $110 billion. For a company to implement AI, they need to build their own cloud. They also need AI systems. Creating this is expensive and involves not only money, but also a lot of effort. AIaaS makes AI easily available to businesses.

Why use AIaas?

AIaaS is a service just like software as a service. It offers many benefits for businesses that include:

• It allows the business to focus on its core work while getting AI services from experts in the field.

• A lot of money is needed to implement AI from scratch. All this money can be saved by using AIaaS.

• The reduced costs bring with it immense benefits. The benefits are worth the expenses spent, which is a small fraction of the costs involved in creating your own systems.

• AIaaS helps you get immense benefits. You can use your data in the most effective way to improve your business.

• You get off-the-shelf AI tools that you can easily customize and use for your business.

• AIaaS offers you flexibility while using AI. You can use the services you need and pay for it.

• Creating AI solutions is not easy. It is a better idea to use ready solutions created by experts.

• Scalability is another great benefit of AIaaS. You can scale the service starting small and then increasing the use.

Challenges using AIaaS

There are some challenges that have to be addressed when you use AIaaS:

• Since AI works with data, you may have to share the data with third parties. It is a security issue that must be handled in the right way.

• You rely on third parties to work with your data and provide you information you need. If they are not reliable, then the information you get may not help you.

• When you use AIaaS, you are getting the service but don’t get access. You won’t know how it works. The lesser transparency can lead to problems.

AIaaS types

The following information will help you understand the types of AIaaS and how to use them:

1) Chatbots and digital assistants

A popular application of AI is using chatbots to interact with your customers. The chatbots make use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms. The algorithm allows the chatbot to converse with humans and learn from the experience.

2) APIs

Application Programming Interfaces or APIs are popularly used to helps services communicate with each other. The use of AI helps to create cognitive APIs. They can be used for translation, detecting emotions, knowledge mapping, etc.

3) ML frameworks

ML or Machine Learning frameworks are tool that learn over a period by studying data. An ML framework offers many benefits to companies who need not have to use Big Data.

4) Fully managed services

Fully managed ML services are offered as a part of AIaaS. It brings with it ready templates to use, models, and drag-drop tools. Using these services can help you create a customized machine learning framework.

What to expect?

AIaaS is highly beneficial since they allow companies to use AI without investing heavily in it. AIaaS is fast growing and is being used in many sectors. We can soon expect its use to being common across sectors. Businesses can use it to maximize productivity and get a better ROI.

Top 5 Digital Marketing Trends Every Person Should be Aware Of

The average American has ten devices at home connected to the internet. This shows the proliferation of internet and its importance in today’s world. In a digital world, digital marketing plays a very important role. Every business needs to promote themselves in the online world, just as they do it offline. Digital Marketing NJ helps businesses engage with customers online. This is the best way of reaching out to customers, which is the secret for success in today’s competitive world. Everyone needs to be aware of digital marketing and the latest trends. We tell you about 5 such trends you need to know.

Basics of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing or Online Marketing NJ is the use of the internet or digital communication by businesses to connect to customers. When you use digital marketing, you can connect to potential customers and existing customers. This will help you to promote your products, build your brand, and increase your sales. From search engine optimization to email marketing, and mobile marketing to social media marketing there are various types of digital marketing. Businesses can use any of these to reach out to customers. With rapid advances in technology, digital marketing is also changing. There are new trends that when implemented can help you get better results.

5 Digital Marketing Trends to Know

1) Video marketing

Video is the preferred type of content in the market. It is a known fact that content is king. The trend today is that it is video content that is king. Earlier, people preferred to read text content but now most people prefer watching well-created videos. This is why 90% of companies use video marketing. It is estimated that by 2022, 82% of all consumer traffic on the internet would comprise videos. Here are some ideas for you to use video marketing in your business:

• Create a video where you present your text content. Converting your text content to video can help you get more views. A professional video can be very useful in helping you get traffic to your website.

• Make a video that shows customers talking about your product. This can be in the form of interviews with the customers or customer providing testimonials. This type of a video can be very useful in convincing people to buy your product.

• Make demo videos that show how to use your product or service. You can also create videos that show how your product is manufactured/created. These kind of videos provide information and are preferred by customers.

• Make videos that offer information or advice to customers. Anything of value to customers would be appreciated. Apart from using video marketing to showcase your brand and product, use it to offer useful content. Such value-adding content will help you get higher traffic to your website and is a very good strategy to implement.

2) Google Verified Listing

A Google verified listing can be very useful in promoting your business on Google. This is mainly useful at the local level. Trends shows that more and more people are searching for ‘xxx near me’. When they do this, Google shows them local businesses in their area. If your business is listed, then it would be shown in the search results. This can help boost your business in a big way since the listing will show your business with customer ratings and a link to your website. It can also show updates like if the store is temporarily closed or there any changes in timings.

Google My Business listing is vital for local SEO ranking. You need to get your business listed on Google My Business. You need to update the name of your business and your website address. Your business has to be marked on Google Maps, so that directions to your store/office are displayed. By updating your business timings, you can ensure potential customers know when to visit you and how to find your store.

You can take the help of an NJ Seo Agency to get assistance in listing your business on Google My Business.

3) Voice Search

Digital assistants have become popular with Alexa and Siri becoming household names. While earlier people would use text search to find information, today voice search has become popular. Statistics reveal that 27% of people in the world are using voice search on their mobile devices. In the US, 36.6% of all people use voice search. Nearly 50% of all smartphone users are making use of voice search to find information or content. The statistics shows how important voice search is and why your business should capitalize on this digital marketing trend.

As a business, you need to know the difference between text search and voice search. When typing a person may type ‘dental clinic near me’. However, when they use voice search they would probably ask, ‘Where is the nearest dental clinic?’ When you optimize your website, you must ensure that your website is displayed even on voice search results.

The following explains how your business can use voice search in your strategy:

• A voice search is longer than a text search. Rather than use a phrase, the voice search would be in the form of a conversation.

• Most voice searches are made for local businesses. This makes it important to focus on local SEO.

• Generating the right keywords requires you to think like a user. More of long tail keywords are needed for voice search SEO.

• You need to ensure your webpages are relevant, since voice SEO focuses more on relevance of the content.

• Creating FAQ pages can be helpful in getting a higher rank on voice SEO queries.

4) Influencer marketing

In the world of social media, one of the most popular digital marketing trends is influencer marketing. Influencers are celebrities in the world of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Just as film stars and sports stars endorse products, so do influencers. An influencer is someone who has a popular social media account that is followed by millions of people. Whenever any influencer posts contents, it becomes popular very quickly. So, when an influencer endorses a products or posts promotional content, it would become viral very fast. As a business owner, it makes a lot of sense to have an influence promote your content. This will help you reach out to a large number of people.

The returns from influencer marketing is 11 times more than that of traditional marketing. Brands are expected to spend around 15 billion dollars on influencer marketing in 2022. This shows why your business should capitalize on this trend. You don’t have to reach out to the very big influencers, look for influencers who can help you reach your target audience. Here are some ways in which you can use influencer marketing in your business:

• Partner with influencers on the social media platform relevant for you. Run a sponsored or collaborated campaign where the influencer promotes your brand or products.

• Remember, relevance is more important than the number of followers. Look for an influencer who has followers relevant for your business. You need to spend time and effort in identifying the right kind of influencer.

• Track the metrics from your campaign. This will help you find out if you are getting more traffic to your website or increasing sales as a result of the influencer marketing campaign.

• Don’t copy strategies followed by others. Choose a strategy that is relevant to you and works for you.

5) Shoppable social media posts

Thanks to social media, posts by a business can get shared and become viral very quickly. Whether it is Facebook or Instagram, your social media posts can become very popular if they are attractive and offers something of interest. As a business, your aim would be sell your product. The conventional strategy was to use social media posts to attract people to your website. They would then find out more about you, browse your products, and then decide what to buy. This trend has changed with shoppable social media posts becoming popular.

A shoppable social media post is content that is linked to your online store or a website like Amazon. Here is what you need to know about this trend:

• Post a picture featuring your product. When a user clicks or taps on the picture, they can see the product name, description, and its price. When they tap on the price, they can be redirected to your online store where they can view the product and order it.

• Instagram Shopping allows you to showcase your products through your Instagram account. You can do this seamlessly in the form of Instagram posts.

• When you create a post on any social media platform, tag it with the price and store link. You have created a shoppable post – it is that easy!

• Create attractive visual content that display your product and make people want to buy it. Providing the link to your online store is very likely to make people click on the link, increasing the chances of making a sale.

If you have a business or are a marketer, then you need to start using digital marketing in your business. You can capitalize on the latest trends in digital marketing by implementing them for your business. Getting in touch with a reputed Internet Marketing Company NJ will help you create and implement a digital marketing strategy to boost your business.