MARTECH

Let’s Chat Chatbots

To bot or not to bot? That is the question. 

Over the past few months, chatbots—which are just computer programs that automate conversations with users through a messaging platform—have been a hot topic among marketers. 

• Chatbots seem like a natural solution as consumers rely more heavily on digital interaction during the pandemic.
• They can provide cheap, easy ways to make consumers feel heard without hiring a suite of employees to answer simple, common questions like “Why hasn’t my athleisure set shipped yet?” 

But there’s one major issue: Consumers aren’t that into chatting with a bot. 

To bot

By some measures, chatbots are on the rise:

• In early March, Juniper Research predicted that global consumer retail spend via chatbots would grow from $2.8 billion in 2019 to $142 billion in 2024. A majority of this spend is forecast to come from China. 
• And chatbot usage by B2B customers increased 92% from 2019 to 2020, per research from chatbot maker Drift and Heinz Marketing.

Or not to bot?

Historically, U.S. consumers don’t exactly jump for joy over chatbots.

Bad News Bots: In November 2019, ViSenze asked U.S. internet users what kind of tech they were most excited about seeing in their shopping experience in the future.

• 54% of those surveyed were excited about visual search, 43% said shoppable content, 40% said product recs, and 21% said AR.
• Then, wayyy down at the bottom of the survey, only 7% of consumers said they were most excited about chatbots.

Looking ahead: While consumers aren’t exactly as jazzed about chatting with a bot as they were in the early 2000s with Ask Jeeves, there are ways marketers can make chatbots more engaging for consumers. 

One idea: DTC sustainable athleisure retailer Outdoor Voices uses its live chat as a branding opportunity. It displays its iconic #DoingThings hashtag at the top of the chat, and includes signature emojis like in its responses. Fully automated bots could do the same and make the experience that much more fun and memorable for users.

CHANNELS

Google Casts a Vote

On Friday, Google sat advertisers down to have “the talk.” No, not that one. The one about political advertising.

What happened: Google is banning election-related ads for at least seven days after the November 3 United States presidential election. 

Why it happened: Google isn’t trying to follow in Facebook’s haphazard footsteps with this announcement. It’s just trying not to be a jerk. 

• The tech company is invoking its “sensitive event” rule here, in which Google prohibits ads around events like natural disasters that could “capitalize on tragedies,” per Ad Age.

The nitty gritty: This decision will affect more advertisers on the platform than just Biden and Trump. 

• The ban also applies to any ads that reference federal or state elections (hey there, “register to vote” branding campaigns) bought through Google Ads, DV360, YouTube and AdX Authorized Buyer. 
• Plus, all advertisers should expect a 48 hour delay in ad creative approvals during this time, given the expected increased volume in ad submissions around the election.

Bottom line: If you use Google Ads in your marketing strategy, prep for election day like you would for the holidays.

SPONSORED BY ORACLE NETSUITE

When it Comes to Your Biz, CFOs are VIPs

The job of a CFO is way more than tallying up finances and dealing with expense reports. They’re making decisions that can affect the company at large. 

So Oracle NetSuite wrote up a new white paper that can give insights on techniques CFOs need. Inside you’ll find:

• How to automate revenue forecasting and recognition to free up time for brainstorming
• How to create a single view of all customer, order, and inventory data
• How to make reports across all departments to help quickly make decisions

There are also some best-in-class learnings from CFOs at companies like Zendesk and LoveSac. You know, if you’re in the mood for some real-world applications on how to be a more strategic CFO.

Get this must-read white paper for CFOs here.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Influencer Update

While we were all sitting at home in our sweatpants this year, the influencer marketing industry got a bit of a makeover.

On Covid-19: Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, 21% of U.S. consumers bought something because of an influencer for the first time, per a survey from coupon company Valassis in August. 

On Black Lives Matter: 32% of respondents to the Valassis survey said they’d purchased more products and services endorsed by influencers of different racial and cultural backgrounds since March. 

On TikTok: Due to TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S., influencers are moving quickly to platforms like Reels and Triller. Rather than creating original content on each platform, experts say influencers are mostly repurposing TikToks.

My takeaway: Despite the influx of brands that pulled influencer spending at the start of the pandemic, it seems like the industry is adapting to the circumstances. For instance, 57% of consumers say they look to influencers to drive purchasing decisions, and only 48% look to celebrities, according to new research from retail technology company Bluecore.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• TikTok’s ban has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge. 
• R/GA global CMO Jess Greenwood is leaving the agency for Apple’s in-house team.
• Facebook’s Oversight Board won’t launch in time for the U.S. presidential election.
• Aviation Gin’s new campaign centers around the challenges of homeschooling…and Ryan Reynolds, of course.

SPONSORED BY ATTENTIVE

The answer to a holiday SOS is SMS. With consumers poised to begin holiday shopping earlier than ever, marketers need a strategy to increase conversions and drive incremental revenue. Attentive helps brands like CB2, Kendra Scott, and Uncommon James use personalized text messaging to become a direct and ROI-positive channel to reach consumers. Learn more in their 2020 Holiday Planning Hub.

FRENCH PRESS

Marketing tips to make you fancy

Events: This Thursday, October 1, I’m hosting Edelman’s “BRAND TRUST – THE 2020 PLAYBOOK FOR CMOs” live event. A Harvard Business School professor and EA’s marketing EVP, among others, will be there, so you probably should be too. RSVP here.

Emails: Because everyone needs a good infographic once in a while, here’s one on creating compelling content for email marketing campaigns. 

Rebrands: Check out this deep dive into beer brand Tecate’s visual refresh for insights on how often a company should rebrand.

Designs: We love a good Contact Us page. Here are 39 of them.

CMO SENTIMENTS

Sign up here for Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s CMO Series on LinkedIn, in which he chats with the most important marketing leaders in the industry. Then read on for three questions that’ll help you get to know these marketing leaders a little better.

Matthew Kobach, the director of content marketing at Fast and certified member of the Twitterati, answered the following questions on the CMO series last week. Toby Howell from Morning Brew was also there, but you can ask him questions on Twitter whenever. 

Alex Lieberman: If someone wants to level up their social game, what is one tangible resource they should read, watch, or listen to?

Matthew Kobach: I would read Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. 

AL: The platform you love most outside of Twitter?

MK: I like watching TikTok, I like posting on Instagram.

AL: The platform you hate most, and why?

MK: Facebook. When I scroll it, it’s uninteresting. 

For some longer sentences from Matt, watch the full interview here.

ICYMI

Catch up on the top Marketing Brew stories from the last few editions.

• Candid’s new digital OOH campaign lives on top of NYC cabs
• P&G’s Marc Pritchard calls for change in the upfronts process
• Ikea channeled DTC-style branding for its new campaign