Meta launches Business AI sales agent for SMBs across platforms

Meta has launched Business AI, a new sales agent designed specifically for small and medium-sized businesses to automate customer interactions, drive conversions, and simplify AI adoption. The tool extends beyond Meta’s platforms to work on business websites, marking the company’s push into the competitive enterprise AI market alongside new augmented reality shopping features and customizable advertising options.

What you should know: Business AI functions as a comprehensive sales automation tool that helps SMBs leverage AI technology without requiring extensive technical expertise.

• The AI agent can automate sales processes and customer interactions across multiple platforms, not just within Meta’s ecosystem of Facebook and Instagram.
• Businesses can integrate Business AI directly into their own websites, expanding its utility beyond social media platforms.

Additional AI features: Meta unveiled several complementary AI-powered experiences to enhance the business toolkit.

• Shoppers will soon be able to see how products look on them through augmented reality technology.
• Marketers can now upload their own images for customized call-to-action buttons in ads, currently in testing phase.
• The Meta AI business assistant provides a new chat experience within Ads Manager and Business Support Home, offering personalized, data-based advice and account problem resolution.

Competitive landscape: Meta joins a crowded field of tech giants offering AI business solutions, with Microsoft launching a sales agent earlier this year and Google providing similar AI tools for businesses.

• “Everyone’s going to have this type of solution because everyone’s going to have this type of opportunity,” said Liz Miller, an analyst at Constellation Research, a technology research firm.
• Miller noted significant opportunities for marketers to access “better activated data” and “better insight intelligence” through these AI experiences.

Implementation challenges: While Business AI performs well within Meta’s native environment, deploying it outside the platform presents complex considerations for businesses.

• “It becomes a very different conversation when you start to take this personalized experience, you start to take that advertising experience out of that native Facebook environment,” Miller explained.
• Businesses must determine how to prioritize different AI experiences on their websites, potentially choosing between Facebook AI and existing tools like Shopify AI.

What they’re saying: Industry experts emphasize the need for strategic thinking when implementing these cross-platform AI solutions.

• “If we’re going to try to apply this outside of Meta’s environment, I really hope that marketers ask big questions, because it’s not going to be as easy or simple as a website,” Miller warned.
• She added that businesses need to consider “how you are prioritizing [and] where these experiences are being served up to your consumer.”