Conversational interfaces, like chatbots and voice assistants, have received plenty of hype within the marketing world for their potential to make interacting with a brand or device more personal, quick and convenient.
Chatbots have exploded over the past few years, leading Gartner to predict that 80% of marketers will use chatbots by 2020, and that the technology will power 85% of all customer service interactions by that time.
1. Introduction 1.1. Executive summary Chatbots have seen a rise in popularity over the last few years, with the cost of implementing the technology going down and the curiosity around AI taking off. Nevertheless, the definitions around what a chatbot is and what a chatbot can do are still blurred. For the purpose of this […]
Social media customer service isn’t an optional extra these days. As customers, we chose to contact businesses at the time, and on the channel, that best suits us.
Chatbots present a number of exciting opportunities for charities.
Not only can AI streamline customer service – taking away the need for human interaction – but bots can also help to boost engagement, increase empathy in consumers, and even drive fundraising.
Chatbots have been massively hyped up over the past couple of years. Some people have suggested the technology will eradicate the use of apps, while others have claimed they will entirely eliminate customer service jobs.
But what does the average user really think of brand bots?
Whether used to entertain or as a tool for customer service – a wide range of brands (from a variety of industries) have experimented with chatbot technology.
When it comes to new innovations in technology, the third sector typically often lags behind others. This is understandable, of course, as with greater financial challenges, investment can be a daunting prospect.
Skyscanner’s chatbots (across a range of platforms) have already surpassed one million traveller interactions.
This is just one of the fascinating nuggets we learnt when we caught up with Filip Filipov, VP Product Management at Skyscanner, to ask him about his work.
Chatbots have gone in and out of favour during the past couple of years. First touted as the ‘next big thing’ for marketing, many brand examples have since died a death due to the tech lacking sophistication or failing to provide any real relevance for consumers.
That being said, the fashion and beauty industries still appear attached to the concept, with many more brands launching AI-powered chatbots in the past year or so.
Christmas is a time for drinking mulled wine, eating mince pies, and panic-buying naff presents for people.
This year, a few retailers are doing their utmost to make the latter experience a little less stressful, by launching their own gift-finding chatbots.
Some great reads this week, from a crisis of leadership in agency land, to a hatchet job on Zuckerberg, by way of a potential boom in WeChat AR usage.
Get stuck in…
Every Friday I round up some of the sillier stories in digital and marketing, and last week I ridiculed Jamie Oliver’s new chatbot.
I wrote that the ‘most maddening headline of the week’ was this effort from The Drum – “Jamie Oliver’s new Facebook chatbot to offer recipes via emojis”.