Telkom’s Yep infuses AI to boost SME efficiency

Yep, the Telkom Business online marketplace for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to its platform.

The AI tool will accompany two new digital solutions to assist SMEs with reputation management and social marketing.

Telkom describes Yep as a digital marketplace where customers can search and purchase from small businesses.

In 2020, the telecommunications firm transformed its 70-year-old Yellow Pages business into Yep.

In a statement yesterday, Telkom says each new tool will come in a standard version, while the pro version comes with the added AI functionality.

Keneilwe Gwabeni, CIO of Telkom Business, says the tools provide SMEs with the ability to refine their online presence, in order to grow their businesses.

“The online world is the best way for SMEs to reach new customers and grow their brands, but it is an unforgiving environment that requires a lot of time and energy to get right,” says Gwabeni.

Telkom notes the standard version of the social marketing tool allows users to plan, schedule and publish content and respond to comments on various social media platforms.

The standard version allows up to 20 posts to be managed for Facebook and Google Business, with post-performance and social audience analytics. The pro version allows an unlimited number of posts to be managed on the same platforms, as well as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, says the company.

It explains the pro version also offers link tracking, customer posts, leads, RSS feeds, tagging in posts and a clickable bio for Instagram. The built-in AI that is available on the pro version assists users with creating content rapidly and delivers deep analysis of data.

“A major benefit of the pro version is the built-in AI that assists users to craft effective content rapidly. Content is everything in the cluttered social media space, and next-generation AI is a powerful tool to make generating compelling content quicker and easier,” says Gwabeni.

She says the reputation management tool provides a way for SMEs to identify problems on all platforms so they can be addressed.

Telkom states the standard version of the reputation management tool provides SMEs with a way to manage reviews on Facebook, Google and MyListing, respond to reviews in-line and analyse sentiment and stats. It will also generate a daily digest e-mail and executive report for the business owner.

It points out the pro version extends the functionality of the reputation management tool by including citations, listings stats, competitor analysis, mentions, social monitoring and use AI to deliver analysis of the data collected.

“Making these tools available gives our users a better way to market themselves, and also to keep track of how they are doing. This offering adds significant value to SMEs working to establish and grow their businesses—and, of course, adding AI to the mix makes it much more powerful,” says Gwabeni.