WHAT ARE CHATBOTS?
A chatbot, also known as a talkbot, interactive agent, or simply a bot, is software that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to engage in live, automated one-on-one dialogue with humans. Brands are using chatbots for customer and user interaction by integrating them with apps or websites to facilitate conversational interactions that create value for customers and prospects.
WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?
Adoption and use of chatbots is accelerating rapidly as technology matures and consumer acceptance grows. Millennials readily interact with chatbots: over half report using chatbots to dialogue with a brand. For millennial and Gen Z consumers, technology channels are often preferred for interacting with brands. In this climate, chatbots are emerging as an integral tool for engaging consumers.
HOW CAN IT HELP YOUR BUSINESS?
Brands are constantly seeking better ways to engage customers. Chatbots represent a new service layer that extends and projects brand values, serving as a virtual brand ambassador that helps create, nurture, and manage customer relationships. Well-designed chatbots are always on and always available to facilitate one-on-one, personalized interactions that enhance the customer experience.
TRENDS
Personalization in marketing is nothing new; since the dawn of the internet, brands have been able to customize messaging to specific groups or even individuals. However, we haven’t always used this engagement superpower for good. Many brands have been guilty of getting a little too personal and creeping out their customers in the process. But today’s guest says there’s a bright future for personalization as a cornerstone to modern marketing. Mike Barclay of MoEngage joined the pod to discuss the highs and lows of personalization, and what brands born before the dawn of the internet can do to get in on the personalization game.
> See all episodes
QR Codes are an extension of the barcode, and were first introduced as a way for manufacturers to scan larger amounts of data quickly. By 2011, retailers and tradeshows were able to take advantage of smartphone technology to utilize QR codes in their inventories, badging, and check-ins — and slowly there emerged consumer usage in the form of online offers.
The process, however, was clunky and involved third-party app software to get QR Codes to work. Fast forward to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic raged, and the need for contactless interaction became paramount. It was during this time that QR Code technology could now exist on everything from packaging to OOH signage, and with a simple hover of a smartphone’s camera send consumers to microsites, check-in pages, and offers.
This has allowed marketers to take advantage of QR Codes in ways previously unthought of; however, like most technologies, there are privacy and safety issues to be aware of — and the current speed and ease of QR Code usage means large untapped potential for marketers in the future as well. Read on to see how marketers are using them and addressing issues with QR Codes.
WHAT ARE CHATBOTS?
A chatbot, also known as a talkbot, interactive agent, or simply a bot, is software that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to engage in live, automated one-on-one dialogue with humans. Brands are using chatbots for customer and user interaction by integrating them with apps or websites to facilitate conversational interactions that create value for customers and prospects.
WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?
Adoption and use of chatbots is accelerating rapidly as technology matures and consumer acceptance grows. Millennials readily interact with chatbots: over half report using chatbots to dialogue with a brand. For millennial and Gen Z consumers, technology channels are often preferred for interacting with brands. In this climate, chatbots are emerging as an integral tool for engaging consumers.
HOW CAN IT HELP YOUR BUSINESS?
Brands are constantly seeking better ways to engage customers. Chatbots represent a new service layer that extends and projects brand values, serving as a virtual brand ambassador that helps create, nurture, and manage customer relationships. Well-designed chatbots are always on and always available to facilitate one-on-one, personalized interactions that enhance the customer experience.
Michael Wu, Ph.D.
Chief AI Strategist
PROS
“Machines will begin to understand cause and effect—today, when machines (such as chatbots and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa) respond to us, it’s purely based on correlations. They do not have an understanding of causation. But as machines are getting more disparate sources of data, they will begin to better understand the causal relationship between a large set of variables. As humans, we learn about cause and effect over time through pure common sense. In 2019, we’ll see this come to fruition with machines as we collect and feed them more disparate data sources that enable them to build conditional probability distribution to understand the direction of causality”
Key Stats
ANA Marketing Futures and eMarketer have come together to deliver key stats and forecasts on the trends that will shape the industry for years to come.
Related Content
Want to take a deeper dive into chatbots? ANA Members have access to brand stories, case studies, and expert webinars you won't find anywhere else.
Say Hello to AI-Enhanced Conversational Marketing
ANA/IBM. June 2019
Frustration with corporate call centers is one of the biggest consumer laments. Brands are responding by implementing chatbots that are increasingly conversant — freeing up live customer service agents to focus on providing more value to the customer in real time.
The Wentworth Rat
ANA. October 2018
Foxtel created a new mobile strategy for promoting broadcast in the era of on demand television and binge-watching, boosting live viewership of its popular show Wentworth.
Building Honda's Shopping Bot
ANA. February 2019
Honda shared the steps that it took to create its Facebook Messenger Shopping Bot and the strategy and execution behind it.
Download Now!
A chatbot is a computer program that engages in one-to-one communication with humans through a desktop, text message, or even voice interface such as Apple's Siri.
ANA Marketing Futures surveyed marketers across industries, and captured key statistics, expert perspectives, and brand use cases in a comprehensive report which explored the implications of chatbots on marketing.
Download the full report today!
Michael Wu, Ph.D.
Chief AI Strategist
PROS
“Machines will begin to understand cause and effect—today, when machines (such as chatbots and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa) respond to us, it’s purely based on correlations. They do not have an understanding of causation. But as machines are getting more disparate sources of data, they will begin to better understand the causal relationship between a large set of variables. As humans, we learn about cause and effect over time through pure common sense. In 2019, we’ll see this come to fruition with machines as we collect and feed them more disparate data sources that enable them to build conditional probability distribution to understand the direction of causality”
Key Stats
ANA Marketing Futures and eMarketer have come together to deliver key stats and forecasts on the trends that will shape the industry for years to come.
Related Content
Want to take a deeper dive into chatbots? ANA Members have access to brand stories, case studies, and expert webinars you won't find anywhere else.
Say Hello to AI-Enhanced Conversational Marketing
ANA/IBM. June 2019
Frustration with corporate call centers is one of the biggest consumer laments. Brands are responding by implementing chatbots that are increasingly conversant — freeing up live customer service agents to focus on providing more value to the customer in real time.
The Wentworth Rat
ANA. October 2018
Foxtel created a new mobile strategy for promoting broadcast in the era of on demand television and binge-watching, boosting live viewership of its popular show Wentworth.
Building Honda's Shopping Bot
ANA. February 2019
Honda shared the steps that it took to create its Facebook Messenger Shopping Bot and the strategy and execution behind it.
Download Now!
A chatbot is a computer program that engages in one-to-one communication with humans through a desktop, text message, or even voice interface such as Apple's Siri.
ANA Marketing Futures surveyed marketers across industries, and captured key statistics, expert perspectives, and brand use cases in a comprehensive report which explored the implications of chatbots on marketing.
About ANA Marketing Futures
Knowing that marketers are increasingly challenged in their efforts to keep up with the latest trends and technologies, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) tasked itself with creating a program designed to help marketers anticipate—and prepare for—the future of marketing.
ANA Marketing Futures is what emerged. With a focus on innovative topics and emerging trends, ANA Marketing Futures provides resources that will influence and inform via member cases, research studies, and insight from industry innovators. Check back often to learn about emerging trends and become inspired to take steps toward the growth of your business.
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