AI Agents for Business: A Complete Guide for SMBs
- Redazione
- Jul 11
- 4 min read
Summary
Our experience with cold leads
At our agency, we often faced this problem: we worked (well) to generate qualified leads for our clients... but many of those leads were contacted too late. Or they just sat there, waiting in the CRM.
Even worse: social media campaigns with comments from potential customers left unanswered.
As you can see from the image above, in digital marketing, time isn't money. It's everything.
So we decided to equip ourselves, and after several tests, we integrated AI agents into our lead generation projects. From there, everything changed.
What are AI agents (in simple and technical terms)
An AI agent is a software that makes decisions autonomously to achieve a specific goal.
It doesn't just "respond to a command," but observes the context, gathers information, and takes action. It can adapt to new situations, learn through use, and optimize its actions over time.
Technical definition : An AI agent consists of 3 main phases:
Perception : detects signals (e.g. user behavior, comments, messages)
Brain/Decision Maker : Evaluates, reasons, decides (often with LLM models)
Action : Performs autonomously (e.g. sends message, books call, nurtures lead)
All of this can happen in a continuous loop with feedback, optimizing each step.
What are AI agents used for in marketing?
Respond in real time to leads arriving from landing pages, social media, and WhatsApp
Qualify and nurture contacts automatically
Automate conversation naturally
Manage social comments and direct messages
Reduce the operational burden on the marketing and sales team
Act also in the evenings or on weekends
Examples of AI agents for SMBs
💡 Intelligent chatbot: answers frequently asked questions, collects key information, and passes only hot leads to sales.
💡 Social Comment Agent: Automatically reads, interprets, and responds to comments on Facebook or Instagram, starting a conversation.
💡 Lead Scoring Agent: Analyzes actions on the site or in content to assign an interest score.
💡 Nurturing agent via WhatsApp: sends automatic messages based on user behavior (e.g., downloading content).
How to Build an AI Agent in Your Enterprise
Define the goal: for example, respond to all leads within 5 minutes.
Map your data sources: landing pages, CRM, WhatsApp, forms, social media.
Choose a compatible tool: avoid building from scratch. There are ready-to-use agents, even no-code ones.
Useful tools (even free ones) to get started
We are partners of Irelia, activate your free demo now .
The real challenges of AI agents
Before you dive in, keep a few concrete challenges in mind:
Privacy and GDPR : If the agent processes personal data, make sure you comply with the regulations
Bias in models : the risk is that the agent replicates biases in the training set
Loops or off-topic responses : human supervision required (human-in-the-loop)
Limited context : The agent may not understand irony, emotions, or particular contexts
Solution? Start with a simple, tested use case, integrated into a clear flow.
Irelia: Our AI Agent for Lead Generation
At Hangler Marketing Advisor, we use Irelia , a conversational AI agent integrated into our clients' funnels.
Collects data, qualifies, responds in a human tone, and schedules appointments.
It works 24/7, even on weekends. It doesn't replace sales, but supports it, doing the "dirty work" automatically.
We already use it in projects of:
Beauty centers
B2B training
Software and consulting
Commodities in the energy sector
Example of the use of Irelia
One of the most successful cases is that of a center specialized in laser hair removal that we follow in digital marketing .
The client generates leads every day through Meta Ads campaigns and site inquiries (powered by SEO and Google Ads), but the team struggled to process them quickly.
So we activated Irelia , our conversational AI agent, to immediately connect with every new contact. The agent responds naturally to the most common questions about hair removal (duration, results, contraindications), clears up any doubts, and directly provides the link to schedule a free trial, selecting the day and time.
The result? More appointments booked independently, fewer lost leads, and an initial automatic filter that screens out the least motivated contacts 👇🏻.
Conclusion: Why start today?
AI agents are an accessible tool even for small and medium-sized businesses. You don't need huge budgets or dedicated IT teams: all you need is a strategy, a clear objective, and a ready-to-use tool.
With an active AI agent you can:
improve your potential customer's experience
don't lose leads due to lack of responsiveness
free up your team's time
And, above all, be the first to respond when it matters .
Comments