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The job market is changing like crazy, especially given how quickly technology is growing and improving. This is even more true of artificial intelligence that is now being used or plans to be used in most businesses in 2018. There are the employees who are extremely excited about the changes and working with an artificial intelligence company to build up the company and improve their jobs. However, a lot of people are hesitant about what the new technology will do to their jobs. Here are some ways you can expect artificial intelligence to affect a job in 2018.
Working alongside the technology
In 2018, as more businesses adapt to working with AI, companies will expect employees to learn how to work alongside the technology. At this point, most artificial intelligence technology enhances a job experience rather than replacing it entirely. You might be nervous about learning how to handle new computer equipment, but once you have it down, it will make your job so much easier.
AI has the ability to analyze data and give you real time results and recommendations, which helps employees avoid busy work in order to focus more on creative solutions. It can also work very well in a customer service atmosphere. AI Chatbot can respond to questions from customers that are repetitive allowing agents to focus on problems that take more creative thinking. It can listen in to customer service calls and punch out recommendations based on the customer and the conversation on what a person should say next. A marketing department can use artificial intelligence to increase personalization with customers. This type of technology will remove a lot of the busy work from the day making it easier for employees to destress and work on doing their job instead of filling out paperwork and reports.
Even high-level executives will need to learn to work with artificial intelligence this year, as it can help produce reports and give answers to help with high level decision making. It is not a technology that can only be used in specific departments but rather a company-wide change that will improve the overall business.
What about job creation?
A lot of people are worried that jobs are going to be replaced by the new artificial intelligence technology as it becomes more advanced and capable. We’ve already seen many restaurants and retail stores trying to incorporate more self checkout and kiosks to work with instead of people. And while it’s true that artificial intelligence will be able to easily replace a lot of repetitive jobs, it will also help create many jobs. There will be a demand for more highly trained individuals to program and work with the artificial intelligence as well as new careers we can’t even think of yet. There will be new skills required to work with the technology. More jobs will be created in an industry we haven’t really explored much of yet, which means that even though people are nervous about losing jobs, AI will likely create more jobs than it takes.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: forbes.com/sites/danielmarlin/2018/01/16/millennials-this-is-how-artificial-intelligence-will-impact-your-job-for-better-and-worse/#1ec4fdbd4533
Working alongside the technology
In 2018, as more businesses adapt to working with AI, companies will expect employees to learn how to work alongside the technology. At this point, most artificial intelligence technology enhances a job experience rather than replacing it entirely. You might be nervous about learning how to handle new computer equipment, but once you have it down, it will make your job so much easier.
AI has the ability to analyze data and give you real time results and recommendations, which helps employees avoid busy work in order to focus more on creative solutions. It can also work very well in a customer service atmosphere. AI Chatbot can respond to questions from customers that are repetitive allowing agents to focus on problems that take more creative thinking. It can listen in to customer service calls and punch out recommendations based on the customer and the conversation on what a person should say next. A marketing department can use artificial intelligence to increase personalization with customers. This type of technology will remove a lot of the busy work from the day making it easier for employees to destress and work on doing their job instead of filling out paperwork and reports.
Even high-level executives will need to learn to work with artificial intelligence this year, as it can help produce reports and give answers to help with high level decision making. It is not a technology that can only be used in specific departments but rather a company-wide change that will improve the overall business.
What about job creation?
A lot of people are worried that jobs are going to be replaced by the new artificial intelligence technology as it becomes more advanced and capable. We’ve already seen many restaurants and retail stores trying to incorporate more self checkout and kiosks to work with instead of people. And while it’s true that artificial intelligence will be able to easily replace a lot of repetitive jobs, it will also help create many jobs. There will be a demand for more highly trained individuals to program and work with the artificial intelligence as well as new careers we can’t even think of yet. There will be new skills required to work with the technology. More jobs will be created in an industry we haven’t really explored much of yet, which means that even though people are nervous about losing jobs, AI will likely create more jobs than it takes.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: forbes.com/sites/danielmarlin/2018/01/16/millennials-this-is-how-artificial-intelligence-will-impact-your-job-for-better-and-worse/#1ec4fdbd4533
There are distinct differences between all the different generations, which means you need to market to them differently. There are some things that will work across all platforms like using a machine learning company to set you up and punch out insights based on your customer data regardless of age. However, if you are planning to market to a specific age group, knowing how that generation thinks and how they respond to different marketing tactics will benefit you greatly.
Generation Z
Sometimes called post-millennial, the founders, iGen, or even Plurals, this generation has yet to have a nickname stick with them. It is typically anyone born in the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s making this the newest generation of adults and the newest customers to focus marketing efforts. Gen Z grew up with technology at their fingertips, meaning they are able to easily use technology devices. This is the generation that expects to find your company online and
easily navigate information. They want to know you are doing something good with the money they give you, so missions and goals to make the world a better place are extremely important to them. Focus efforts on online marketing and communication in order to best reach them.
Millennials
Most people who are considered of the “Millennial” generation were born between the early 1980s and the mid 1990s. This group was the defining generation that completely changed everything with the use of technology.
Smartphones and the Internet really began being popular and important in their teen and college years making them technology based, though not as much so as Generation Z. It was also the generation that went through the Great Recession during their early careers making them a generation of entrepreneurs trying to start their own businesses. This makes them loyal to small businesses and communities, so marketing locally is a good method to use with them.
Millennials also spend a lot of time on social media, so social media marketing is a great place to be. This was the first generation that backed off a bit from loyalty towards companies, but as they’ve aged, their loyalty towards businesses has become more solidified again. If you are able to get their loyalty, you won’t be sorry. Rewards programs are popular, and make sure your customer service is up to speed, so they always feel like you care about them.
Generation X
Generation X typically describes anyone born between the 1960s and the 1980s. This is the generation with families and full time jobs to worry about. Any kind of coupon or discount is more likely to bring them in to your store. Many of them have social media accounts but aren’t active users, which means marketing by text or email is going to be more effective than trying to focus on social media advertising. They are also in the throes of parenthood, so marketing in a way that brings the whole family togethers is going to be successful.
Baby Boomers - And the rest
The baby boomers were born between the 1940s and 1960s, though they are typically thrown in with the silent generation too when it comes to marketing strategy. Direct interaction is the best method of marketing to this generation since many of them don’t spend a lot of time on the Internet or on social media platforms. A direct text, phone call, or even letter in the mail might be enough to get them in store. Loyalty is also very important to this group of people. If they know you have worked for them in the past, you’ll get a good turnout in the future. This generation grew up when the economy was good and had nicer things in life. They want the same in their retirement years, so cost isn’t necessarily an issue. It can be hard to get them away from a brand they already love, but if you do, you’ll have a customer for life.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: tcbusinessnews.com/marketing-to-grandpa-and-everyone-else/
Generation Z
Sometimes called post-millennial, the founders, iGen, or even Plurals, this generation has yet to have a nickname stick with them. It is typically anyone born in the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s making this the newest generation of adults and the newest customers to focus marketing efforts. Gen Z grew up with technology at their fingertips, meaning they are able to easily use technology devices. This is the generation that expects to find your company online and
easily navigate information. They want to know you are doing something good with the money they give you, so missions and goals to make the world a better place are extremely important to them. Focus efforts on online marketing and communication in order to best reach them.
Millennials
Most people who are considered of the “Millennial” generation were born between the early 1980s and the mid 1990s. This group was the defining generation that completely changed everything with the use of technology.
Smartphones and the Internet really began being popular and important in their teen and college years making them technology based, though not as much so as Generation Z. It was also the generation that went through the Great Recession during their early careers making them a generation of entrepreneurs trying to start their own businesses. This makes them loyal to small businesses and communities, so marketing locally is a good method to use with them.
Millennials also spend a lot of time on social media, so social media marketing is a great place to be. This was the first generation that backed off a bit from loyalty towards companies, but as they’ve aged, their loyalty towards businesses has become more solidified again. If you are able to get their loyalty, you won’t be sorry. Rewards programs are popular, and make sure your customer service is up to speed, so they always feel like you care about them.
Generation X
Generation X typically describes anyone born between the 1960s and the 1980s. This is the generation with families and full time jobs to worry about. Any kind of coupon or discount is more likely to bring them in to your store. Many of them have social media accounts but aren’t active users, which means marketing by text or email is going to be more effective than trying to focus on social media advertising. They are also in the throes of parenthood, so marketing in a way that brings the whole family togethers is going to be successful.
Baby Boomers - And the rest
The baby boomers were born between the 1940s and 1960s, though they are typically thrown in with the silent generation too when it comes to marketing strategy. Direct interaction is the best method of marketing to this generation since many of them don’t spend a lot of time on the Internet or on social media platforms. A direct text, phone call, or even letter in the mail might be enough to get them in store. Loyalty is also very important to this group of people. If they know you have worked for them in the past, you’ll get a good turnout in the future. This generation grew up when the economy was good and had nicer things in life. They want the same in their retirement years, so cost isn’t necessarily an issue. It can be hard to get them away from a brand they already love, but if you do, you’ll have a customer for life.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: tcbusinessnews.com/marketing-to-grandpa-and-everyone-else/
Chatbots have been slower to catch on than experts predicted. A big part of the problem leading to the slower than desired adoption rate is that in the rush to get in on the chatbot craze, many businesses deployed chatbots that weren’t particularly good at doing the one thing they’re supposed to do: chat. Putting a little effort into conversational design can work wonders. If you want customers to keep using your chatbot, you have to ensure that they have a positive experience each time they do so. Here are nine things you can do to make your chatbot easier to talk to.
Define your bot’s purpose
Before you can get into the specifics of conversational design, you have to have a clear goal of what you want the finished product to be. What do you want your chatbot to be able to do for customers? Will it primarily be an information gathering bot trying to learn more about your audience? Will it provide customer service? Will it drive more web traffic to your website? Increase sales by simplifying the checkout process? Define the purpose of your bot and you’ll be ready to get into the specifics.
Make it proactive
A big reason people aren’t using your chatbot might be because they don’t know it exists or, if they know it exists, how it can help them. A proactive chatbot can introduce itself and provide suggestions about what kinds of questions people can ask it.
Think about conversation flow
Depending on what you want your bot to be able to do, it will need to be able to ask and answer certain types of questions. There’s a natural give and take (or flow) to verbal communication and a bot that doesn’t sound natural can be off-putting.
Design your chatbot to lead
Chatbots are still a somewhat novel idea and many people aren’t totally sure how to use them. Your chatbot can be more effective if you design it to lead the conversation. Still give the user the option to ask questions of course but don’t leave it to the user to lead the entire conversation from beginning to end. Your chatbot can lead by taking the initiative to suggest things that the user can ask and by asking more questions.
Confirm valid answers before moving on
A simple feature that can improve a person’s experience with your chatbot is to have your bot confirm valid responses before moving on. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a chatbot you’re conversing with go off on a tangent and you can’t bring it back all because it misunderstood one thing you said. Instead have your chatbot confirm: “you want to know about [subject], right?”.
Suggested response buttons
Complete open endedness can be difficult for a chatbot. In other words, if the customer can say or ask whatever they want using any wording, there’s a better chance that your chatbot will misunderstand and be unable to assist. Suggested response buttons in which users are given a limited number of ways to respond may lessen user engagement a little, but it may be worth it if your chatbot is able to provide better assistance as a result.
Keep it simple
The more features you try to pack into your chatbot, the less likely it will be able to perform them successfully. Especially with your first attempt at building a chatbot, keep it very simple. You can always slowly add in new features as it masters the initial ones.
Give it a personality
Nobody likes communicating with a cold and impersonal robot. Even though they know they’re talking to a computer, users will appreciate it when bots are conversational and pleasant to talk to. Program your bot to use social niceties but be careful not to go too far and make it overbearing either.
Have a human backup
No matter how much work you put into programming your bot, it will make mistakes and that’s why you always need a human backup. Integrate your chatbot into your human customer support team so that a human is always standing by to take over when your bot gets stuck. People know that bots aren’t perfect and will be understanding when it fails but only if they still receive the help that led them to your chatbot in the first place.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: entrepreneur.com/article/305457#
Define your bot’s purpose
Before you can get into the specifics of conversational design, you have to have a clear goal of what you want the finished product to be. What do you want your chatbot to be able to do for customers? Will it primarily be an information gathering bot trying to learn more about your audience? Will it provide customer service? Will it drive more web traffic to your website? Increase sales by simplifying the checkout process? Define the purpose of your bot and you’ll be ready to get into the specifics.
Make it proactive
A big reason people aren’t using your chatbot might be because they don’t know it exists or, if they know it exists, how it can help them. A proactive chatbot can introduce itself and provide suggestions about what kinds of questions people can ask it.
Think about conversation flow
Depending on what you want your bot to be able to do, it will need to be able to ask and answer certain types of questions. There’s a natural give and take (or flow) to verbal communication and a bot that doesn’t sound natural can be off-putting.
Design your chatbot to lead
Chatbots are still a somewhat novel idea and many people aren’t totally sure how to use them. Your chatbot can be more effective if you design it to lead the conversation. Still give the user the option to ask questions of course but don’t leave it to the user to lead the entire conversation from beginning to end. Your chatbot can lead by taking the initiative to suggest things that the user can ask and by asking more questions.
Confirm valid answers before moving on
A simple feature that can improve a person’s experience with your chatbot is to have your bot confirm valid responses before moving on. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a chatbot you’re conversing with go off on a tangent and you can’t bring it back all because it misunderstood one thing you said. Instead have your chatbot confirm: “you want to know about [subject], right?”.
Suggested response buttons
Complete open endedness can be difficult for a chatbot. In other words, if the customer can say or ask whatever they want using any wording, there’s a better chance that your chatbot will misunderstand and be unable to assist. Suggested response buttons in which users are given a limited number of ways to respond may lessen user engagement a little, but it may be worth it if your chatbot is able to provide better assistance as a result.
Keep it simple
The more features you try to pack into your chatbot, the less likely it will be able to perform them successfully. Especially with your first attempt at building a chatbot, keep it very simple. You can always slowly add in new features as it masters the initial ones.
Give it a personality
Nobody likes communicating with a cold and impersonal robot. Even though they know they’re talking to a computer, users will appreciate it when bots are conversational and pleasant to talk to. Program your bot to use social niceties but be careful not to go too far and make it overbearing either.
Have a human backup
No matter how much work you put into programming your bot, it will make mistakes and that’s why you always need a human backup. Integrate your chatbot into your human customer support team so that a human is always standing by to take over when your bot gets stuck. People know that bots aren’t perfect and will be understanding when it fails but only if they still receive the help that led them to your chatbot in the first place.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: entrepreneur.com/article/305457#
Did you know that 90% of texts are opened in the first 3 minutes after they are sent? On top of that, nearly 100% of texts are opened and read eventually. Knowing that your message is almost guaranteed to be read immediately shows just how valuable text marketing really is to a company. The only down side? You have to figure out how to get customers to sign up for texting, which can be challenging. Here are some ways you can get customers to sign up.
Show them the value of two-way communication
Being able to text a company to get information instead of having to make a call is very valuable to customers. However, not every business offer this and most customers don’t even know it exists. The best part is that your business can work with AI chatbot to answer the customer questions in real time and automatically respond immediately. Make sure they know you can communicate both ways, and you’re more likely to get some new subscribers.
Offer a promotional coupon or code
There’s nothing like a good promotion to get people signed up. One mistake businesses make when they offer a coupon in exchange for signing up for a texting service is not making that coupon available until the next visit. We live in a world of instant gratification, and if customers aren’t able to immediately redeem a promotional offer, they are less likely to sign up for the offer.
Another thing to remember is that you need to make the offer worthwhile enough for people to be willing to sign up. For a fast food restaurant, just a free drink or free food item might be enough to get customers to sign up. However, a company trying to sell $500 products isn’t going to get signups by offering a $1 off coupon. The discounts need to be something the customer actually wants.
Advertise the program
Many of your customers may not even know you have a texting platform. If they don’t know about it, how are they supposed to sign up? Here are some ways you can let your customers know you have a texting service and that you’d
like them to sign up for it:
The more customers you can get to sign up for your texting platform, the more opportunity your business has to reach out to them and sell.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Show them the value of two-way communication
Being able to text a company to get information instead of having to make a call is very valuable to customers. However, not every business offer this and most customers don’t even know it exists. The best part is that your business can work with AI chatbot to answer the customer questions in real time and automatically respond immediately. Make sure they know you can communicate both ways, and you’re more likely to get some new subscribers.
Offer a promotional coupon or code
There’s nothing like a good promotion to get people signed up. One mistake businesses make when they offer a coupon in exchange for signing up for a texting service is not making that coupon available until the next visit. We live in a world of instant gratification, and if customers aren’t able to immediately redeem a promotional offer, they are less likely to sign up for the offer.
Another thing to remember is that you need to make the offer worthwhile enough for people to be willing to sign up. For a fast food restaurant, just a free drink or free food item might be enough to get customers to sign up. However, a company trying to sell $500 products isn’t going to get signups by offering a $1 off coupon. The discounts need to be something the customer actually wants.
Advertise the program
Many of your customers may not even know you have a texting platform. If they don’t know about it, how are they supposed to sign up? Here are some ways you can let your customers know you have a texting service and that you’d
like them to sign up for it:
- Social Media: Post on your social media accounts about the texting service and the promotion. Many of your customers likely already follow you on social media, so this is a great place to let them know about it.
- Leverage discount bloggers: This is a great way to get new customers who want a coupon to try out your product. Let discount bloggers know that customers can get a discount by signing up for your service, and they will advertise it to their followers if they think it is a good enough deal. It is basically free advertising and may be your way into getting new customers.
- Put up signs: Customers who already are visiting your company will be able to see and use their discounts immediately if you have the signs up in your store when they come in. For example, a pretzel place I liked to go to put up a sign for a free pretzel if you signed up for their texting club. As I already visited the place a lot, it was worth my time, and I was excited to get a free pretzel on that trip.
- Put it in your emails: You probably already have a solid customer base getting your promotional emails. Why not let them know in your next email they can sign up for texts from your business too?
- Tell people: Anytime you are working with a customer, let them know they can sign up for texting. You can have cashiers ask customers before they check out if they want to sign up, or you can announce it during company presentations to customers.
The more customers you can get to sign up for your texting platform, the more opportunity your business has to reach out to them and sell.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Email and SMS are two of the most important marketing tools that marketers have at their disposal. But which one is better? Here’s a look at the numbers.
By volume
If you determine success by the total number of messages being sent then email wins by a landslide. Every year 74 trillion (yes, trillion!) emails are sent compared to just 8 trillion text messages. That amounts to 269 billion emails per day and 2.4 million emails sent per second vs 22 billion texts sent per day and more than a quarter of a million sent every second.
Email’s strength may also be its weakness. While the average office worker receives 121 emails a day, the average millennial receives just 67 text messages a day. Add that to the fact that approximately half of all emails are spam and the sheer volume of emails can be seen as a downside to the channel.
By open rate
If you determine success by the percentage of messages that are opened by the recipient then SMS wins by a landslide. The SMS open rate is 98% compared to just 20% for email. The response rate for SMS is 45% compared to just 6% for email. The average response time for SMS is 60 times faster than the average response time for email (just 90 seconds for SMS compared to 90 minutes for email). An estimated 95% of text messages are read within the first three minutes.
Which should you choose? Why not both?
The question of which channel is “better” is kind of irrelevant in the end, because there’s no rule stating you can only use one. Both channels are extremely cost effective compared to most other marketing channels so there’s no reason you can’t fit both in the budget. Furthermore, each channel is good for different things. Survey respondents say they prefer SMS for time-sensitive communications such as flash sales, appointment reminders, fraud and service outage alerts, and order/shipping notifications.
With email, you can get away with sending messages more frequently whereas people may tire of getting daily text messages and may begin to treat text messages from your brand like they do spam in their email inbox.
Each helps the other
SMS can be a great way to build your email subscriber list and email can be a great way to build your SMS subscriber list. If you’re occasionally sending exclusive offers to just one channel, then customers have to be subscribed to both if they want to be notified of all the deals. You can use SMS for shorter, time sensitive communications and email for newsletters and other longer communications that aren’t necessarily time sensitive.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: marketingprofs.com/chirp/2017/33045/email-vs-sms-battle-of-the-heavyweights-infographic
By volume
If you determine success by the total number of messages being sent then email wins by a landslide. Every year 74 trillion (yes, trillion!) emails are sent compared to just 8 trillion text messages. That amounts to 269 billion emails per day and 2.4 million emails sent per second vs 22 billion texts sent per day and more than a quarter of a million sent every second.
Email’s strength may also be its weakness. While the average office worker receives 121 emails a day, the average millennial receives just 67 text messages a day. Add that to the fact that approximately half of all emails are spam and the sheer volume of emails can be seen as a downside to the channel.
By open rate
If you determine success by the percentage of messages that are opened by the recipient then SMS wins by a landslide. The SMS open rate is 98% compared to just 20% for email. The response rate for SMS is 45% compared to just 6% for email. The average response time for SMS is 60 times faster than the average response time for email (just 90 seconds for SMS compared to 90 minutes for email). An estimated 95% of text messages are read within the first three minutes.
Which should you choose? Why not both?
The question of which channel is “better” is kind of irrelevant in the end, because there’s no rule stating you can only use one. Both channels are extremely cost effective compared to most other marketing channels so there’s no reason you can’t fit both in the budget. Furthermore, each channel is good for different things. Survey respondents say they prefer SMS for time-sensitive communications such as flash sales, appointment reminders, fraud and service outage alerts, and order/shipping notifications.
With email, you can get away with sending messages more frequently whereas people may tire of getting daily text messages and may begin to treat text messages from your brand like they do spam in their email inbox.
Each helps the other
SMS can be a great way to build your email subscriber list and email can be a great way to build your SMS subscriber list. If you’re occasionally sending exclusive offers to just one channel, then customers have to be subscribed to both if they want to be notified of all the deals. You can use SMS for shorter, time sensitive communications and email for newsletters and other longer communications that aren’t necessarily time sensitive.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: marketingprofs.com/chirp/2017/33045/email-vs-sms-battle-of-the-heavyweights-infographic
With advanced technology becoming increasingly less expensive and more capable, artificial intelligence is no longer just a convenience in the workplace; it is now a necessity. It is the hot thing right now. Every business is finding ways to incorporate it into their work environment. One such way is through the way we are marketing. It may come as a surprise that AI can actually work extremely well in a marketing environment. Here are a couple of advantages to working with an artificial intelligence company and getting it set up for your marketing department.
More time for real employees
If you have technology taking over all your most mundane tasks such as sending emails, communicating with customers, and running statistic reports, you can save your real employees for more complex thinking situations. Your advertising team will end up getting more information to use in making decisions while also having more time in their day to actually think about and come up with marketing plans. More time for humans means more creativity and better work.
AI becoming more normal for consumers
As more AI is being used in communicating through customers, whether through text, email, social media, and chats, consumers are getting more used to it. Rather than searching out specific companies or products that they want, they much prefer to be advertising that is specific to their particular situation. At first, we saw some resistance from people who were worried about their privacy, but the more people have had AI determining their advertising, the more they are used to it and happy with the results.
In turn, you are able to advertise to specific customers at specific times and with specific needs. Instead of having to send one piece of advertising out to all customers hoping it will reach them all in the same way, you can advertise to each one differently. A family advertisement is sent to families while dog lovers get one directed towards them. It is more effective for your company, and the customer prefers it too.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: forbes.com/sites/andrewstephen/2017/10/30/ai-is-changing-marketing-as-we-know-it-and-thats-a-good-thing/#7ca46138dc40
More time for real employees
If you have technology taking over all your most mundane tasks such as sending emails, communicating with customers, and running statistic reports, you can save your real employees for more complex thinking situations. Your advertising team will end up getting more information to use in making decisions while also having more time in their day to actually think about and come up with marketing plans. More time for humans means more creativity and better work.
AI becoming more normal for consumers
As more AI is being used in communicating through customers, whether through text, email, social media, and chats, consumers are getting more used to it. Rather than searching out specific companies or products that they want, they much prefer to be advertising that is specific to their particular situation. At first, we saw some resistance from people who were worried about their privacy, but the more people have had AI determining their advertising, the more they are used to it and happy with the results.
In turn, you are able to advertise to specific customers at specific times and with specific needs. Instead of having to send one piece of advertising out to all customers hoping it will reach them all in the same way, you can advertise to each one differently. A family advertisement is sent to families while dog lovers get one directed towards them. It is more effective for your company, and the customer prefers it too.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: forbes.com/sites/andrewstephen/2017/10/30/ai-is-changing-marketing-as-we-know-it-and-thats-a-good-thing/#7ca46138dc40
Much of the artificial intelligence research being done today is purely academic. But in at least one area, we’re seeing an intersection between artificial intelligence research and real life. Consumer-facing chatbots are computer programs developed by companies to converse with their customers for any number of reasons. There are shopping assistant chatbots, financial planning chatbots, personal coach chatbots, customer service chatbots, and many other kinds of consumer-facing chatbots and 2017 seems to be their big year.
Chatbots have a lot to offer businesses who invest in them. They can provide customers with 24/7 support without the high cost associated with maintaining a 24/7 support team. For businesses on the fence about chatbots, here are a few good things to know.
Two kinds of chatbots
There are essentially two different kinds of chatbots. One operates on a rules engine while the other uses machine learning and natural language processing. Rules engine chatbots are not so very different from the automated phone answering systems that have been around for years. They are programmed to recognize a number of preset commands and questions and to respond from a bank of prewritten responses. Rules engine chatbots are easier and less expensive to program but they’re also more limited in what they can offer for brands and customers. They work best in highly regulated industries where customers will mostly be using the chatbot for a limited number of functions.
More advanced chatbots use subsets of artificial intelligence such as natural language processing and machine learning. Through natural language processing, chatbots can understand more open-ended queries even if they haven’t been specifically programmed to recognize those specific queries. Through machine learning, chatbots can improve the more interactions they have with customers as they learn to recognize patterns and incorporate information gained from past failures. These are more expensive and difficult to create but they also have a lot more to offer.
Which kind of chatbot you develop for your brand will depend on your particular circumstances and goals. Many choose to start with simpler rules engine chatbots before investing in more advanced AI chatbots.
Do they really work?
Many business owners wonder if chatbots live up to all they hype--and there has been a lot of hype surrounding chatbots. The answer is both yes and no. The artificial intelligence necessary to create a program that can really think and converse like a human simply doesn’t exist yet and there are drawbacks to using chatbots. For one, they will make more mistakes than humans. For whatever reason, the simplest questions can sometimes throw off a chatbot and can result in an inappropriate response. Furthermore, some people are just hesitant about the whole idea of conversing with chatbots in large part thanks to negative portrayals of AI in pop culture.
On the other hand, discounting chatbots because humans can differentiate between them and real humans is a lot like throwing out the baby with the bath water. Chatbots are expected to save businesses more than $8 billion this year alone and many customers will appreciate the option to avoid waiting on hold on the phone by speaking to a chatbot instead.
Why now is the time to invest
Chatbot technology is far enough along to have become affordable and practical for the average small business and the growing popularity of open-source chatbot projects and chatbot building software has made it easier than ever for businesses to design one without spending a fortune. On the other hand, it’s still new enough to be novel and innovative and give brands a head start over ones that are still stuck on the fence.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: businessnewsdaily.com/10295-chatbot-ai-customer-service.html
Chatbots have a lot to offer businesses who invest in them. They can provide customers with 24/7 support without the high cost associated with maintaining a 24/7 support team. For businesses on the fence about chatbots, here are a few good things to know.
Two kinds of chatbots
There are essentially two different kinds of chatbots. One operates on a rules engine while the other uses machine learning and natural language processing. Rules engine chatbots are not so very different from the automated phone answering systems that have been around for years. They are programmed to recognize a number of preset commands and questions and to respond from a bank of prewritten responses. Rules engine chatbots are easier and less expensive to program but they’re also more limited in what they can offer for brands and customers. They work best in highly regulated industries where customers will mostly be using the chatbot for a limited number of functions.
More advanced chatbots use subsets of artificial intelligence such as natural language processing and machine learning. Through natural language processing, chatbots can understand more open-ended queries even if they haven’t been specifically programmed to recognize those specific queries. Through machine learning, chatbots can improve the more interactions they have with customers as they learn to recognize patterns and incorporate information gained from past failures. These are more expensive and difficult to create but they also have a lot more to offer.
Which kind of chatbot you develop for your brand will depend on your particular circumstances and goals. Many choose to start with simpler rules engine chatbots before investing in more advanced AI chatbots.
Do they really work?
Many business owners wonder if chatbots live up to all they hype--and there has been a lot of hype surrounding chatbots. The answer is both yes and no. The artificial intelligence necessary to create a program that can really think and converse like a human simply doesn’t exist yet and there are drawbacks to using chatbots. For one, they will make more mistakes than humans. For whatever reason, the simplest questions can sometimes throw off a chatbot and can result in an inappropriate response. Furthermore, some people are just hesitant about the whole idea of conversing with chatbots in large part thanks to negative portrayals of AI in pop culture.
On the other hand, discounting chatbots because humans can differentiate between them and real humans is a lot like throwing out the baby with the bath water. Chatbots are expected to save businesses more than $8 billion this year alone and many customers will appreciate the option to avoid waiting on hold on the phone by speaking to a chatbot instead.
Why now is the time to invest
Chatbot technology is far enough along to have become affordable and practical for the average small business and the growing popularity of open-source chatbot projects and chatbot building software has made it easier than ever for businesses to design one without spending a fortune. On the other hand, it’s still new enough to be novel and innovative and give brands a head start over ones that are still stuck on the fence.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: businessnewsdaily.com/10295-chatbot-ai-customer-service.html
Content marketing can be an extremely effective and powerful marketing tool when it’s used right. But for many businesses, content marketing ends up draining marketing funds without producing any measurable results. If you’ve started content marketing and have yet to see results from it, chances are you’re making at least a few of the following mistakes.
You’re not using the right tools
If you have a smaller business and you or an employee is trying to create and share content all alone, you’re not going to be as effective as you could be without the right tools. Platforms like HootSuite, Zoho, Buffer, Active Campaign, MailChimp and BuzzSumo are easy to use and can help content marketers automate some of the processes involved in creating and sharing content. They can also give additional insight into the effectiveness of various content channels and what competitors are doing.
You’re not promoting it
The disembodied voice in Field of Dreams that tells Kevin Costner’s character “If you build it, they will come” clearly didn’t have any experience in marketing. Business owners of all people should know that simply having a great product or service doesn’t guarantee success. The same goes for content marketing. First-time content marketers often think that if they’re publishing good content, people will come seeking it. While some might accidentally stumble across it while searching for keywords that are in a particular blog article or YouTube video, most potential content consumers will never see your content if you don’t promote it. Your existing customer base is a great place to start. Use existing marketing channels like SMS or email that you’re already using to stay in touch with your most loyal customers and encourage them to check out your company blog or your YouTube channel or your Facebook page or any other platforms you’re using to share content. They in turn can share your content with their friends and family that they think might be interested and they can be excellent (and free) advocates for your content.
You’re not testing and adjusting
If your content marketing efforts aren’t working in their current form, it’s not the end of the world. You can make adjustments. But you won’t know which adjustments are working and which ones aren’t if you aren’t keeping a close eye on the metrics as you experiment. Create multiple landing pages and see which ones lead to the best conversion rates. Do some A/B split testing with different headlines to see which ones attract the most clicks.
Write up a few different versions of opt-in forms to see which ones get you the most SMS or email subscriptions. Getting permission to text or email people directly gives you another channel for sharing content with those people. Never stop testing and adjusting; your content strategy can always improve.
You’re not striving for high quality content
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that people aren’t going to keep reading/viewing the content you’re sharing if it’s not particularly good. Every single minute, another 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Every day millions of new blog posts are published online. Most of that content is mediocre or flat-out terrible. You can greatly increase your chances of people following your content channels if you take a lot of pride in the creation of content. Promotion of content may get you a lot of unique visitors but it won’t get you a following unless you’re publishing content that is high quality. High quality is a difficult term to define but the easiest way to put it is that your content should be offering real value to people who view or read it.
You’re not studying the competition
The effectiveness of your content marketing will depend in large part on what your competition is doing, and more specifically, what you’re doing to differentiate yourself from the competition. However niche your industry, there are other companies that are in it and doing content marketing and their audience and your target audience probably have a lot of overlap. Keeping an eye on your competition can help you see what they’re doing content marketing-wise to be successful and it may give you some insight into something they’re not doing that you can do to entice some of their audience to follow your brand.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: entrepreneur.com/article/293197
You’re not using the right tools
If you have a smaller business and you or an employee is trying to create and share content all alone, you’re not going to be as effective as you could be without the right tools. Platforms like HootSuite, Zoho, Buffer, Active Campaign, MailChimp and BuzzSumo are easy to use and can help content marketers automate some of the processes involved in creating and sharing content. They can also give additional insight into the effectiveness of various content channels and what competitors are doing.
You’re not promoting it
The disembodied voice in Field of Dreams that tells Kevin Costner’s character “If you build it, they will come” clearly didn’t have any experience in marketing. Business owners of all people should know that simply having a great product or service doesn’t guarantee success. The same goes for content marketing. First-time content marketers often think that if they’re publishing good content, people will come seeking it. While some might accidentally stumble across it while searching for keywords that are in a particular blog article or YouTube video, most potential content consumers will never see your content if you don’t promote it. Your existing customer base is a great place to start. Use existing marketing channels like SMS or email that you’re already using to stay in touch with your most loyal customers and encourage them to check out your company blog or your YouTube channel or your Facebook page or any other platforms you’re using to share content. They in turn can share your content with their friends and family that they think might be interested and they can be excellent (and free) advocates for your content.
You’re not testing and adjusting
If your content marketing efforts aren’t working in their current form, it’s not the end of the world. You can make adjustments. But you won’t know which adjustments are working and which ones aren’t if you aren’t keeping a close eye on the metrics as you experiment. Create multiple landing pages and see which ones lead to the best conversion rates. Do some A/B split testing with different headlines to see which ones attract the most clicks.
Write up a few different versions of opt-in forms to see which ones get you the most SMS or email subscriptions. Getting permission to text or email people directly gives you another channel for sharing content with those people. Never stop testing and adjusting; your content strategy can always improve.
You’re not striving for high quality content
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that people aren’t going to keep reading/viewing the content you’re sharing if it’s not particularly good. Every single minute, another 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Every day millions of new blog posts are published online. Most of that content is mediocre or flat-out terrible. You can greatly increase your chances of people following your content channels if you take a lot of pride in the creation of content. Promotion of content may get you a lot of unique visitors but it won’t get you a following unless you’re publishing content that is high quality. High quality is a difficult term to define but the easiest way to put it is that your content should be offering real value to people who view or read it.
You’re not studying the competition
The effectiveness of your content marketing will depend in large part on what your competition is doing, and more specifically, what you’re doing to differentiate yourself from the competition. However niche your industry, there are other companies that are in it and doing content marketing and their audience and your target audience probably have a lot of overlap. Keeping an eye on your competition can help you see what they’re doing content marketing-wise to be successful and it may give you some insight into something they’re not doing that you can do to entice some of their audience to follow your brand.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: entrepreneur.com/article/293197
CEO and founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, sent out a tweet last week that was notable due to the number of characters included in it. Anyone who’s ever used Twitter and many who haven’t know that Twitter’s defining characteristic is their 140 character limit. Jack Dorsey’s tweet read: “This is a small change, but a big move for us. 140 was an arbitrary choice based on the 160 character SMS limit. Proud of how thoughtful the team has been in solving a real problem people have when trying to tweet. And at the same time maintaining our brevity, speed, and essence!” The tweet contained exactly 280 characters and conveyed two things: You can do more in 280 characters but it’s still quick and to-the-point as well.
Because the 140 character limit was so foundational to Twitter, many Twitter users were quick to respond that such a move would spell the end of Twitter which as already underperformed by Wall Street’s expectations. One thing is for sure: it’s a huge gamble. On the one hand, it can entice new users who were turned off by the stingier character limit of the older model. On the other hand, it can water down the Twitter experience for long-time users and cause many to stop using the platform. Most likely we’ll see some of each but whichever occurs bigger may will determine the future of Twitter.
Twitter’s 280 character limit and the future of SMS
As stated in Jack Dorsey’s tweet introducing the new character limit, the original 140 character limit was chosen because the standard text message protocol (SMS) established by the major cell phone service providers limited texts to 160 characters and Twitter wanted to replicate that experience of communicating with fewer words.
Internet-based messaging apps like iMessage (Apple’s proprietary texting app), Facebook Messenger, and Whatsapp have already ditched the character limit and embraced additional features not possible with the SMS protocol. Consequently, many aren’t even used their smartphone’s built-in text messaging feature instead opting to use apps developed by third parties.
Looking to stay relevant, the major telecommunications companies are looking to replace the SMS protocol which has remained relatively unchanged since the early 90s. The new protocol, tentatively named Rich Communications Service (RCS) would do away with the character limit and add many other features that other messaging apps have already been using for years. This poses a question similar to the one Twitter is facing, but for SMS marketers: will the option for longer messages water down the channel, or can brands embrace it to do more with SMS marketing? We may find out as early as next year when the major cell phone service providers begin rolling out RCS.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: adweek.com/digital/why-marketers-are-concerned-that-280-character-tweets-will-dilute-twitters-marketing-
potential/
Because the 140 character limit was so foundational to Twitter, many Twitter users were quick to respond that such a move would spell the end of Twitter which as already underperformed by Wall Street’s expectations. One thing is for sure: it’s a huge gamble. On the one hand, it can entice new users who were turned off by the stingier character limit of the older model. On the other hand, it can water down the Twitter experience for long-time users and cause many to stop using the platform. Most likely we’ll see some of each but whichever occurs bigger may will determine the future of Twitter.
Twitter’s 280 character limit and the future of SMS
As stated in Jack Dorsey’s tweet introducing the new character limit, the original 140 character limit was chosen because the standard text message protocol (SMS) established by the major cell phone service providers limited texts to 160 characters and Twitter wanted to replicate that experience of communicating with fewer words.
Internet-based messaging apps like iMessage (Apple’s proprietary texting app), Facebook Messenger, and Whatsapp have already ditched the character limit and embraced additional features not possible with the SMS protocol. Consequently, many aren’t even used their smartphone’s built-in text messaging feature instead opting to use apps developed by third parties.
Looking to stay relevant, the major telecommunications companies are looking to replace the SMS protocol which has remained relatively unchanged since the early 90s. The new protocol, tentatively named Rich Communications Service (RCS) would do away with the character limit and add many other features that other messaging apps have already been using for years. This poses a question similar to the one Twitter is facing, but for SMS marketers: will the option for longer messages water down the channel, or can brands embrace it to do more with SMS marketing? We may find out as early as next year when the major cell phone service providers begin rolling out RCS.
Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com
Source: adweek.com/digital/why-marketers-are-concerned-that-280-character-tweets-will-dilute-twitters-marketing-
potential/
