AI tools have now become a vital part of every business. Why? That’s because these tools are transforming how organizations function by making the team more lean, improving productivity across the organization, and getting you more ROI.
Using AI smartly can help you streamline workflow, automate recurring tasks, and make your team lean and more efficient.
In this article, we discuss the top 9 AI tools you can use for your business. You can use any one of them, or you can use them all for different departments of your business.
Here are the top 4 factors that you must consider when choosing any AI software for your business.
The market offers AI tools for different use cases, such as content creation, process automation, data analysis, custom relationship management, and project management. Consider which area of your business requires AI assistance. Then, look for AI tools that fulfill those requirements.
New tools involve a fair learning curve. The same is true when you invest in an AI tool for business. A lot goes on behind the scenes, rather than just paying for the subscription costs.
Introducing a new tool to your team may backfire, especially if your team believes in traditional business methodologies. And not everyone is comfortable or acquainted with using AI.
To make it less intrusive and more inclusive, choose a tool with a user-friendly interface that involves easy navigation and click-and-done functions. Also, see if the software has enough self-help guides, documentation, and customer support in case of a bottleneck.
Look for AI tools that can be trained and tailored to fit your marketing strategies and objectives. Tools like Datapad, Canva, HubSpot, and Trello offer easy customization and flexibility to scale as your business grows.
Unless you're surplus on revenue, every investment must deliver a heavy ROI. A quick discussion with key stakeholders and team members is also needed before deciding.
Decide on a budget for the tool and check for hidden costs. Consider tools with team plans rather than per-user pricing. Generally, annual plans are offered at discounted rates and might best suit long-term use in your business.
Datapad is the world's easiest AI-powered data solution for teams that helps you visualize crucial business KPIs and metrics via stunning dashboards and reports.
It has a user-friendly interface, allowing you to drag and drop widgets, visuals, and connectors to create impressive dashboards within minutes. And without any technical expertise.
Designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses, Datapad simplifies how you frame your data to reflect business performance.
It has hundreds of ready-made dashboard templates and enables auto-sharing of performance reports via read-only links.
Live connectors to Google Sheets, Shopify, Mailchimp, HubSpot, and more platforms allow real-time data visualization.
With AI-powered insights, anyone on your team can detect anomalies in their data and provide actionable to-do items to increase performance.
Here are some key features of Datapad that will help you streamline your work processes.
Datapad's AI skims through your data in real-time, no matter where it's stored. It then performs statistical analysis and comes up with important insights (week over week, changes, trends, anomalies, etc.).
The result is an AI-generated graph for every analysis that Datapad does, which you can send over Slack or email to your clients or teammates.
You can click through any graph or insight AI generates to dive deeper into the dashboard.
Datapad's AI assistant is like your virtual data analyst. Without much effort, you can:
Ad-hoc analysis lets you interact with any chart or data point on your mission control dashboard.
You can do so by:
Datapad has a free tier that includes 1 dashboard created with unlimited users and real-time data sync from all integrated platforms.
For the best value, you can upgrade to the $30 Standard Plan, which includes 3 dashboards and scales with your usage.
Datapad also offers a Business Plan tailored for agencies and includes dedicated customer support.
🎉 LIfetime Value Offer:
We are now offering an early bird discount to all users, so it's a great time to sign up and give Datapad a spin.
✅ Lets you sync data from data sources into your dashboards in real-time.
✅ Offers unlimited users and data sources with the free plan.
❌ The mobile app can be more responsive (we are working on it).
Zapier allows you to automate marketing processes between thousands of apps. For example, you can collect leads into your CRM, convert emails to tasks, share updates on Slack, and do some other crazy automation.
Zapier offers a free version with 100 tasks/automation per month. Other than that, it has three premium plans:
✅ Has a gallery of AI templates, triggers, and action elements.
✅ Well-integrated with marketing platforms, fostering remarkable synergy and automation between apps.
❌ Although good for automating business processes, Zapier isn't suitable for data analysis and visualization.
Notion is a centralized workspace app that lets you organize your docs, run collaborative projects, and manage teams without the hassle of juggling multiple apps. Built right into your workspace is Notion AI, which helps you brainstorm ideas and work through Notion.
You can get started with Notion for free. However, if you want to add Notion AI to your workspace, the price starts at $10 a month per member coupled with other paid plans:
✅ Notion has a simple and clean interface that is easy for your team to master.
✅ Notion AI helps with content formatting (one of the first content use cases for AI).
❌ The AI has limited capabilities. It doesn't understand some prompts, and you can only use it on a particular line you're writing or the current page you're working on.
Slack is a go-to collaboration app that allows teams of all sizes to collaborate and communicate when, where, and how it's best for your business. Its friendly interface and streamlined communication methods allow seamless collaboration between teams.
✅ Offers smooth real-time communication for less technical, remote teams.
✅ Well-integrated with third-party apps and data sources.
❌ Privacy concerns since past incidents like the 2022 tokens' leak.
Canva is the home ground for businesses to design creatives that enhance their online presence. From business logos to Instagram posts, Ad banners, and YouTube thumbnails, the possibilities are endless. With AI as a sidekick, the platform is among the most useful AI design tools for businesses.
Canva offers a generous free plan with basic design capabilities. But if you want premium features, you can choose any of the paid plans it offers:
✅ Allows you to collaborate on design with multiple editors simultaneously.
✅ Integrates with Open AI's ChatGPT and DALL-E models to convert text/sketches to images or videos.
❌ Most enticing vectors, graphics, and templates are behind a paywall.
SaneBox is an AI-powered email management tool that helps e-commerce businesses or businesses, in general, organize and manage customer emails, keeping their inboxes clean and free from clutter.
SaneBox does not offer a free plan but offers three paid plans to choose from:
✅ You can train AI to perform specific actions in your inbox.
✅ Supports real-time reminders for emails with no response.
❌ No free version is available.
HubSpot is an all-in-one platform that offers marketing, sales, content, customer service, and operations products built on top of its AI-powered Smart CRM. The platform is trusted by 220k+ users, including eBay, DoorDash, Zapier, and more.
HubSpot offers a free version for all products. You can choose individual products for purpose-specific needs. Or a bundled kit called the 'Customer Platform' for business that requires AI assistance in all departments. It has two pricing tiers:
For business and enterprises
For individual and small teams
✅ Offers self-help resources, such as training videos, guides, and blogs, which decreases the learning curve.
✅ Dedicated AI and automation tools for different departments and teams.
❌ Customization can be a challenge for users just starting with HubSpot.
Buffer is an AI-powered social media toolkit offering a range of AI tools to help small businesses build an audience organically on social media.
Buffer provides a free forever plan for individuals and businesses getting started with social media. It has basic planning and publishing features with an AI assistant. However, the plan is limited to 3 social media channels.
To get the most out of Buffer, you can check out its paid plans:
✅ Powerful AI for content planning, creation, scheduling, and repurposing.
✅ Offers valuable insights into audience engagement and content performance.
❌ Unlike similar platforms like Sprout Social, Buffer lacks advanced features like social listening.
Trello is an AI-powered project management tool for SMBs. It can handle small to medium-sized projects and make management easy via multiple views, automations, and power-ups (plugins).
Trello offers a generous free version. Other than that, it has three paid plans:
✅ Simple and responsive design, accessible across web, desktop, or mobile apps.
✅ In-app comments allow for real-time collaboration between tasks.
❌ Trello is good for small scale project management. However, it lacks advanced management features and is over-reliant on third-party integrations.
AI tools have now become an integral part of businesses in every sector. Be it healthcare, finance, or marketing; AI tools help streamline work processes and automate annoying tasks.
But the real question is – which one of the above should you choose for your business?
Well, there’s no better way to know your business requirements, trying the tools mentioned above yourself, and realizing which one’s the best for you.
If you or your team don’t have the time to try every product on our list, sign up for Datapad, import your KPIs, and create stunning dashboards for you and your team.
