For most small business owners, “using AI” still feels vague or overwhelming. You’ve probably heard that it can save time, streamline marketing, and even grow your audience—but how does that look in practice?
In this case study, we’ll walk you through how one small business used AI workflows for customer engagement to triple their interaction rates in just 90 days. You’ll see exactly what tools they used, the workflows they built, and the measurable results. By the end, you’ll have a practical roadmap to start building your own AI-powered engagement strategy.
Meet the Business: Local Boutique Bakery
The business we’ll spotlight is Sweet Crumbs Bakery, a family-owned bakery with one physical location and an online ordering system. Before using AI, they faced three common challenges:
- Low engagement online – Their Instagram posts were inconsistent, and their email open rates hovered around 12%.
- Time constraints – The owner wore multiple hats, leaving little time for marketing.
- Lack of a clear system – Content was reactive, not planned.
Sound familiar? These are the same struggles most small businesses face, whether you run a bakery, a salon, a fitness studio, or an online shop.
Step 1: Identifying the Bottleneck
Instead of trying to “do more marketing,” the bakery owner decided to look at the customer engagement funnel and find the weakest link.
- Website traffic: Decent, thanks to local SEO.
- Email list: About 1,500 subscribers, but low engagement.
- Social media: 1,200 Instagram followers, but most posts had <50 likes.
The clear opportunity? Improving customer engagement with AI workflows.
Keyword focus: AI for customer engagement, AI workflows for small business marketing
Step 2: Building the AI Workflows
The bakery started small, creating three simple AI-driven workflows to improve consistency and personalization.
Workflow 1: AI Email Marketing Campaigns
Instead of writing every email from scratch, they used AI email marketing workflows to:
- Draft subject lines tailored to local events (e.g., “Game Day Cupcake Specials in [City Name]”).
- Personalize copy for segments like “loyal customers,” “new sign-ups,” and “holiday buyers.”
- Generate A/B test variations instantly.
Result: Email open rates increased from 12% to 32% in three months.
Workflow 2: Social Media Content Calendar
They used AI to batch-create 30 days of Instagram captions and post ideas in under an hour. Each post included:
- A theme (holiday, product spotlight, behind-the-scenes).
- A call to action (“Tag a friend you’d share this with!”).
- Hashtag suggestions optimized for local visibility.
Result: Engagement on Instagram posts grew from an average of 48 likes per post to 160+ likes and 40–50 comments per post.
Workflow 3: Customer Chatbot
Finally, they added a simple AI chatbot to their website for common questions:
- “What’s today’s special?”
- “Do you offer gluten-free options?”
- “How do I place a custom cake order?”
This cut down repetitive phone calls and made online ordering smoother. Customers loved the instant responses.
Result: Website order conversions increased by 22%.
Step 3: Measuring Results
After 90 days, here’s what changed:
- Email Engagement: +166% (12% → 32% open rates).
- Instagram Engagement: 3X increase (48 likes → 160 likes on average).
- Sales from Email & Social: Direct sales from campaigns increased by 28%.
- Customer Feedback: More positive reviews mentioning “easy to order” and “loved the updates.”
The biggest shift wasn’t just the numbers—it was consistency. By letting AI handle the heavy lifting, the bakery owner could stick to a system without burning out.
Why This Worked
There are three key reasons these AI workflows worked for a small business:
- Consistency Over Perfection – AI made it easy to show up every week.
- Personalization at Scale – Tailored subject lines and posts made customers feel seen.
- Frees Up Time – Instead of spending hours writing content, the owner focused on customer experience.
Lessons for Other Small Businesses
If you’re considering AI but don’t know where to start, here are the takeaways from Sweet Crumbs Bakery:
- Start with one workflow. You don’t need 10 automations; one consistent AI email workflow can change your numbers fast.
- Measure what matters. Engagement (opens, clicks, comments) is more important than vanity metrics like “followers.”
- Keep it human. AI generates the drafts, but the owner always added a personal touch—like referencing local sports teams or including staff names.
Action Plan: How to Increase Engagement with AI Workflows
Here’s a simple 3-step plan you can adapt for your own business:
- Pick your engagement channel. (Email, social, or website chat.)
- Set up an AI workflow. (E.g., weekly email drafts, 30-day content calendar, automated FAQ chatbot.)
- Track results for 30 days. Focus on engagement metrics like open rate, click-through rate, comments, or conversions.
Tools That Helped
While there are many tools out there, here are a few the bakery used (and you can try):
- Mailchimp + AI prompts → for subject line and copy variations.
- Canva’s AI tools → for social media graphics with captions.
- Tidio / ManyChat → for a simple website chatbot.
Pro tip: You don’t need expensive tools. With the right AI prompts for small business marketing, you can use free or affordable platforms and still see big results.
Final Results Recap
- 3X engagement on Instagram
- 166% higher email open rates
- 22% more conversions from the website
- 28% increase in sales from campaigns
For a small, local bakery, these numbers made a measurable difference in both revenue and customer loyalty.
Ready to see how AI workflows could boost your business, too?
Start simple with our 50 Free AI Prompts for Small Business Owners. These prompts are designed to save you hours, spark fresh content ideas, and help you engage your audience today.