# The Marketer’s Guide To Social Media Chatbots

Over 2 billion messages are sent to businesses over Messenger every week. The days of sitting on hold listening to Opus Number 1 on repeat are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Today’s savvy customer wants fast, efficient service they can use on the go. That’s why more and more people are using social media and messaging apps to connect with brands to help get their burning questions answered. Does this all affect your bottom line you ask? You betcha. A recent study shows people are 21% more likely to buy services from a company if they are reachable on social media. It’s a daunting task to be expected to have lightning fast, accurate responses ready to go at any minute of the day, especially if you’re a small business. Luckily, this is where chatbots come in to save the day. 

## What Are Chatbots?
Chatbots are software applications that are designed to communicate with humans. While most chatbots are used to assist with customer service, these friendly applications can assist with a wide variety of functions including product recommendations, booking appointments, assist with generating leads, and even act as a companion if you’re having trouble falling asleep. They’re not just limited to social media either; chatbots can be used on your website, mobile application, or at your check-in counter. 

## How Do They Work? 
When you get down to the nuts-and-bolts of it all, there are two types of chatbots: rule-based and AI chatbots:
### Rule-Based Chatbots
Rule-based chatbots have limited capabilities and interact with users based off of a predetermined script or decision tree. Typically these bots only allow users to choose from a limited menu of options or need to be told a very specific command like “Location and Hours.” These types of chatbots typically don’t require any type of prior IT knowledge, are quick and easy to set up, and best of all, inexpensive. 
### AI Chatbots
AI chatbots use artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand, learn, and interact with customers. These types of chatbots can simulate natural human conversation and can help solve more complex queries. While these chatbots offer a better experience for you and your customers, they do require a significant amount of time, money and resources to implement. 

### Best Practices To Using Chatbots  
1) Define Your Expectations and Goals
It’s easy to get carried away when making dialogue-trees or looking at the sparkly list of features a chatbot developer can offer. Make sure you have a clear vision for the role your chatbot will play in your organization.
2) Analyze Your Customers
Be thoughtful and analytical about how your customers interact with you online and in-person. What are the most common questions you get asked? How do they ask them? What’s often misspelled? If you don’t have data at your fingertips, make a list over the course of a few weeks of every message, phone call, and in-person interaction and go from there. 
3) Be Transparent
Have you ever tried to tell a joke to a robot? It’s awkward. No one likes to feel tricked into believing they are talking to a human. Be up front and honest about who your customer is talking to from the get-go. 
4) Have a “Talk to a Person” Option
Technology has come a long way, but everyone still needs a little human TLC here and there. Always have an option to get in touch with a person, whether that’s automatically connecting to a live representative or sharing your businesses’ phone number in the chat. 
5) Find Balance
Have fun and give your chatbot a name, personality, and tone of voice that makes sense for your brand. But, don’t go overboard to the point it’s distracting or annoying for a less-than-happy customer. No one likes the feeling of being approached by an especially peppy person when you’re having a bad day. What innovative ways could your business use chatbots? For inspiration, take a peek at these 50 Innovative Ways Brands Use Chatbots. If you’re interested in learning more about setting up or maintaining social media chatbots, reach out to our team! 
Lets rock some chat bots together.

Chatbots can make your brand even more accessible to customers. Learn what social media chatbots are, how they work, and best practices for using them.

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The Marketer’s Guide To Social Media Chatbots

# How iOS14 & iOS15 impact your digital marketing campaigns

With Apple’s iOS14 update earlier this year - and a recent iOS15 update - we’re seeing a lot of changes to marketing efforts across platforms. These updates have largely impacted data collection, requiring companies to be more intentional about the information they collect. Here’s what you need to know about the iOS14 and iOS15 updates, and how they impact your marketing strategy.

## What Is The iOS14 Update?
Before the iOS14 update in April 2021, apps had the ability to track users across various apps and websites for advertising purposes. Under this update, however, apps must explicitly ask users to opt-into data tracking, with users receiving the following message: “X would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. Your data will be used to deliver personalized ads to you.” Users then choose between “Allow Tracking” or “Ask App Not To Track.”
### How Did The iOS14 Update Impact Marketing Strategy?
The biggest impact was felt with Facebook Ads.Companies saw a decrease in the amount of data they’re able to collect. This impacts the ability to create efficient, custom audiences - and therefore, conversions may decrease and will likely become more expensive. Additionally, the attribution window moved from 7-day click-through and 1-day view to 7-day click-through only. Finally, reporting became more delayed, aggregated, and limited.
### How Can I Limit The Impact Of The iOS14 Update on Facebook Ads?
While the iOS14 update certainly presents a major challenge to your Facebook Ad strategy, there are some concrete steps you can take to limit its impact. For example:
**Verify your domain.** If your domain is not verified, you will not be able to edit your domain’s conversion event configurations
**Set up your conversion events.** Users are now limited to tracking up to eight conversion events per domain. Choose which events you want to prioritize and stick with them

- Prioritize ad sets. Review and consider replacing ad sets that are outside the top eight selected events
- When setting up landing pages for ads and tracks, stick with a single domain. Existing ads will be paused if Facebook is unable to determine the advertiser’s preference or if advertisers do not choose the domain on which to track events
- Enable value optimization. Allow advertisers to bid for the highest-value users, or those who are most likely to complete a desired website action

### How Does the iOS14 Update Impact Google Ads?
Here’s some good news: Google isn’t as directly impacted by the new iOS policies! Still, advertisers should be prepared for some changes:
- **Performance fluctuation:** You should probably expect fluctuations in delivery and performance on ad campaigns that run on iOS. Search ad performance should not be affected, but Google Display, Discovery, and YouTube campaigns using interests-based targeting will see a data loss and performance decline
- **Enhanced conversion modeling:** To mitigate the effects of these changes, Google will be enhancing their ‘modeled’ conversion metrics. Google already models conversion events for some cross-device and view-through conversion

Ultimately, the iOS14 update presents some significant changes and challenges to companies. But by taking a few concrete steps to bolster your marketing strategy, you can help limit the impact of the update.

## What Is The iOS15 Update?
The iOS15 update expands upon the user privacy protections implemented in the iOS14 update. But whereas the iOS14 update presents a challenge to marketers by limiting mobile app tracking, the iOS15 update could significantly impact email marketing. Among other features, the iOS15 update implements a free Apple Mail privacy feature that will prevent senders from knowing when someone opens an email. Additionally, the update masks IP addresses, so users can’t be linked to other online activity. 

### How Will The iOS15 Update Impact Email Marketing?
While Apple Mail users will be given the option to opt-into these new changes, chances are nearly every user will choose not to do so. Upon updating, users will receive two options from Apple: “Protect mail activity - hide IP address and privately load all remote content” or “Don’t protect mail activity - show IP address and load any remote content directly on your device.” So it’s safe to assume that a huge majority of your email list will be impacted by this update. And that’s going to impact a major email marketing metric: open rate. With the iOS15 update, Apple will now measure open rate by the number of emails received, not the number of emails opened. What does this mean for your email marketing? Mainly, that you’ll have to find another metric for measuring email engagement. 

### How Can I Limit The Impact Of The iOS15 Update?
The iOS15 update definitely presents a hefty challenge to email marketing. However, there are a few steps you can take to mitigate the impact of the update, including:
- **Leveraging different data:** While you might now struggle to tell which subject lines are working or who your active subscribers are, you now have an opportunity to reimagine your email engagement metrics. Sure, open rate was previously a great measurement, but you can still leverage clickthrough rates, size of your email list, survey data, and visitors to your website to determine email engagement.
- **Rethinking subject line A/B testing:** Previously, you could test two different subject lines and measure for open rate, then proceed with the best performing subject line. But since you can no longer measure open rate in a meaningful way, it’s probably time to rethink how you use A/B testing for emails. You can still use A/B testing for email content and measure clickthrough rates to determine which content best resonates with your subscribers.
- **Gathering more first-hand data:** Since you’ll have to rely less on data collection from open rates and activity tracking, you might want to consider collecting more information on individual subscribers. For example, you could collect more information at the point of sign-up, the better you can cater to a subscriber’s individual preferences. 

The iOS15 update presents a pretty big challenge for email marketers. But by rethinking metrics and reimagining data collection, you can adjust to the update and possibly improve both deliverability and engagement. Concerned about how the iOS14 and iOS15 updates will impact your marketing efforts? Reach out to the marketing team at Fruition! Our marketing specialists can help you develop a strategy that will weather the proverbial iOS update storm. 


Learn the nuanced changes that Apple's iOS14 and iOS15 updates brought to digital marketing. Equip your strategy to cope with new data collection and user privacy norms.

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Navigating the Impact of iOS14 & iOS15 on Digital Marketing Strategy

## 5 Tips For Creating A Cohesive Instagram Feed

Having an active Instagram is a great way to stay in touch with your current customers and to reach potential customers! But if you’re not implementing some best practices for social media, then you might be missing out on the opportunity to really engage with your followers. Here are some tips for creating a cohesive Instagram feed that will stand out from the crowd.
## 1. Choose A Theme
When followers view your Instagram feed, you want them to feel like you’re telling a cohesive story about your brand. A great way to do that is by adhering to a theme in all of your posts. To determine the best theme for your feed, ask yourself the following questions:
1. What do I want my Instagram feed to look like? 
2. What presentation do I want to have? 
3. What kind of content do I want to post? 
Brainstorming these types of questions will help get you on the right track when choosing a consistent theme for your Instagram feed.

## 2. Stay Consistent With Your Editing Style
A major component of a cohesive Instagram feed is consistency. To accomplish this, you need to choose a filter or editing style that aligns with your theme. For example, you might choose an editing style that is light, bright, and airy to highlight your product against a clean background. Or you might decide that a certain preset really encapsulates the warm, inviting feeling you want your brand to project. Once you’ve decided on an editing style, stick with it to maintain your feed’s consistency. 

## 3. Diversify, But Stay On-Brand
You want to avoid exhausting your followers with the same content every time you post. For example, a hair stylist’s Instagram feed filled only with pictures of post-processed hair would eventually bore the audience. But by freshening up the feed with a mix of videos, before-and-after pictures, hair care tips, and information about the latest hair trends, the stylist adds more value to the feed - and keeps the audience engaged. If you’ve found that your content is feeling a little stale, consider posting a mix of graphics, infographics, and tips for your audience to engage with. Just remember that the best content for your audience will depend on your brand.

## 4. Stick To Your Branding 
While expanding your content into graphics and infographics is a great way to diversify your feed, you also want to ensure you stay on-brand with your posts. If you have a brand guide, this can be helpful with content planning. By staying within your established guidelines, you can flex your creative muscles with new content while ensuring your posts stick to your company’s branding. So even if you start creating new content, you’ll still ensure your Instagram feed is cohesive. 

## 5. Plan And Schedule
Planning your content ahead of posting will help keep your feed cohesive, as you’ll have plenty of time to ensure your posts are consistent with your theme, editing style, and branding. You’ll also have time to diversify your content, and create a plan for tackling major holidays and events. And planning ensures that you design your content in a way that fits your theme and contributes to your cohesive Instagram feed. 

Having a strategy for developing a cohesive Instagram feed is a great way to promote your brand. If you want to optimize your Instagram content, engage with your current followers, and reach potential customers, [contact us today](https://fruition.net/contact)!

Having a strategy for creating and sharing Instagram content is key to engaging with your followers. Learn more about best practices for a cohesive feed.

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5 Tips For Creating A Cohesive Instagram Feed

# What You Should Know About Using Instagram for Marketing

Social media is a powerful way to grow your brand and create a loyal following. As the second-most downloaded free app in the Apple store, Instagram boasts 1 billion global users per month. Of those billion users, 200 million visit at least one business profile every day, making it a platform your business can’t afford to miss out on. Today, we’re sharing the best ways you can leverage Instagram to grow your brand, build loyal followers, and create engaging content.

## It’s All About The Visuals
Instagram is full of bright and engaging visuals, so your business should focus on creating eye-catching images. Since 83% of Instagram users find new products and services on the platform, your feed should visually communicate who you are and what you do. To create a cohesive, visually appealing feed, follow these tips:

- Following a set style (including color palette, illustrations/infographic style, and font specifications) creates a feed that’s cohesive and on-brand.  Creating a mood board with your ideal style can help you keep your feed fresh while staying true to your brand’s look.
- Make sure your images are interesting and tell a story on their own, without the caption’s support. If your image appears in a users’ explore feed, you’ll need the visual to stand on its own to gain their attention.
- Use video content! Users are 12 times more likely to share videos compared to text/images, video is a great way to get your followers to share your message. Just make sure the video’s thumbnail is a good representation of the video and is of high quality.

## Use User Generated Content
User generated content (or UGC) is a great way to repurpose content that is relevant to your brand. Plus, sharing UGC creates a close relationship with your consumers and builds brand loyalty. When you share consumer content, your audience often feels recognized, which strengthens their connection with your business.

## Engage With Your Audience
Since your audience demographic may be different across platforms, use your audience insights to understand who follows you on Instagram and what content they like to see from you.  Reviewing engagement on previous posts is helpful to understand what your audience is interested in, but don’t overdo it. Rinsing and repeating the same type of content will likely bore your audience, so make sure you have variety in your feed. However, fostering engagement isn’t just about what you post on your feed or in your stories – it’s also about interacting with other pages, profiles, and users to build your audience. Some of the best ways to engage are:

- Acknowledge: If a follower shares an image of your product or service, tags you, or uses one of your hashtags, like, comment, or save their post.
- Interact with commenters: On your own feed, be sure to answer questions and respond to comments. Not only does this strengthen the bond between your brand and your existing customers, but it shows potential customers that you care about your clients.
- Create custom hashtags: Creating custom hashtags and encouraging followers to use them helps users engage and participate with your brand.

## Create Instagram Stories
If you’re not using Instagram stories, you’re missing out! In a survey commissioned by Facebook, Inc., 62% of users stated that viewing a business’ story makes them more interested in a brand or the product/service they offer. Why? Stories engage your audience in a unique way by showing the “less-seen” side of your business. While your feed is a great place to showcase your official brand, stories are ideal for building your “unofficial” brand as you share casual, in-the-moment, or behind-the-scenes content. Stories also offer a ton of interactive options that help you understand what your audience likes. Using polls, questions, and quizzes, you can get a realistic understanding of what your audience likes to see from you.

## Make The Most Out Of Your Captions
Instagram is the place to write it out – users are more likely to read longer captions compared to other social media platforms. These long-form, micro-blog captions are ideal for story-telling and capturing your authenticity, and their popularity is only increasing in 2020. To make the most of your captions, consider:

- **Breaking up the text:** Long captions don’t mean they should be hard to read – break up the content with spaces and emojis.
- **Including calls to action:** Encourage users to answer a question, share their thoughts, or even visit your website or a link in your bio. Not only does this increase engagement, but it offers more opportunities for users to learn about your brand.
- **Adding holidays to your posting schedule:** Keep holidays in mind when developing content and create relevant posts around the season or recent trends. Using high-trafficked hashtags that pertain to a season, holiday, or national day can increase your reach and help your brand connect with new audiences.

## Give Back
In the end, social media success relies on the loyalty of your followers – so make sure you give back to them! Having opportunities to make your supportive audience feel special and know that you care is a surefire way to create a deeper commitment to your brand. Try some of these tips to give back to your audience:

- **Giveaways:** This is a great way to increase your engagement while giving back to your audience.
- **Special discounts:** Give your social media audience a special discount to reward their support. To prompt your audience to use their discount, provide the code in your stories – customers will have to use it before it disappears in 24 hours.  
- **Say thank you:** Sometimes, the best things in life are free. Give a genuine thank you in your story, in your caption, or in a video in your feed. Even a quick thank you can build the connection between you and your followers!

Are you making the most out of your Instagram account? Our social media team can completely transform your social media strategy to boost followers and build brand loyalty.

Strategy & Research

Digital Marketing

Web Development

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Terrence Dobbs

Social Media Specialist

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