What’s new in the social media world? At this year’s premiere social media event, Social Media Marketing World, top-level presenters highlighted the explosion of chatbots and why it’s more important than ever to engage and listen to your tribe.
Chatbot to the Top
Chatbots, as presented during #SMMW18’s Keynote, are growing in use and popularity and for good reason. Chatbots, essentially robots that are coded to be human like in their responses and communication, are infiltrating our everyday lives. Queried your bank recently? You probably interacted with a virtual banker. Clicking on a vacations banner ad? You’re in the hands of an ad display chatbot. Shopping on-line and have a question? You’re communicating with an e-commerce bot.
Due to resource, time, and money benefits, companies are expanding their usage of chatbots. From simple to sophisticated A.I. deployed on platforms, such as Facebook messenger app to WhatsApp, Slack, and text messaging, chatbots are on the rise worldwide. Based on a Grand View Research market research report, by 2025, the global chatbot market is anticipated to reach $1.23 billion. Not only are companies prime for the rise in chatbot usage, but 45% of end users would rather converse with a chatbot.
What Matters to Your Tribe, Matters to You
On January 11, Facebook announced the change of the News Feed algorithm, stressing more meaningful conversations between friends and family rather than posts. As stated in Mark Zuckerberg’s post, “You’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people”. Immediately, you could hear the dismay echoed across the marketing sphere, as a scrambling for customer engagement took on an enhanced purpose. As stated during multiple sessions at #SMMW18, however, marketers need not be discouraged. It’s not about the sheer numbers of those who follow a brand or view your message, but it’s the engagement of your followers that will matter most. It’s more important than ever to fully listen, engage with, and be on-point with content that resonates with your community – that will cause them to interact, to comment, and to make a stand.
Sharon Gee is a marketer, consultant, writer, and strategist.
By connecting with more than 200+ social media pros, attendees at #SMMW18 experienced many more aha moments certain to catapult their future businesses. Social Media World’s 2019 discounted tickets for next year’s conference will be on sale shortly.
How much are bots part of your life? How are you engaging with your tribe? I would love to hear from you. Join me on my 20-day blogging challenge. Follow this blog site and let’s engage together! Tweet me at @circledotmktg. Visit www.circledotmarketing.com.
References:
http://www.afr.com/technology/chatbots-just-the-beginning-for-ai-in-banking-20180302-h0wxtn
http://www.businessinsider.com/chatbot-market-stats-trends-size-ecosystem-research-2017-10
https://digiday.com/marketing/emirates-brings-chatbot-banner-ads/
One of our big focus areas for 2018 is making sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent.We built…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, January 11, 2018
http://footwearnews.com/2018/business/retail/chatbots-e-commerce-customer-care-511372/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/03/02/chatbot-spot-sexual-harassment-ai/#37bcab934a51
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/ski-robot-challenge
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