Marketing Bot- What is it?

Since time immemorial, there has been a lot of changes in technology which has only benefitted marketing and its attributes. Again, there is one consideration in artificial technology, which is becoming a hot topic to support online marketing. – the Bot.

Bots and chatbots are emerging as an integral part of automated technology, which are way too appealing to perform simple tasks with ability to respond as a human and interact like them.

Marketing ‘ChatBot,’ as the name suggests, is an interface integrated with channels like Slack and Facebook to revert to any customer query related to products. Rather than making customers wait for all day long for the revert, ChatBots can make it quick and real-time. This is not the end – the Bots can also collect and save the data for future insight of the customer and its behavior.

Who all are using Chat Bots?

Service-oriented companies which are looking for serving their customer queries in real time are using the chatbot. The prominent industries to name some are- travel industries, ecommerce industries and many more.

So, if you are willing your company’s marketing sales to be benefited with Chat Bots too, here are top 5 Chat Bots to consider.

Top 5 Chat Bots in Marketing

1. ManyChat

These days, Facebook has become a great deal for businesses as 75% of consumers are using it. So, if you have a Facebook Page of your company then ManyChat is the option for you. It will help you respond instantly to any Facebook query. You can also set auto-responses with keywords and post management on your page as well.

Other benefits

• 2 minutes required to set it up
• No coding is needed
• Targets only genuine news to your subscribers
• Automatically adds subscriber and updates everyone

2. SurveyBot

SurveyBot also works on the same interface as ManyChat does. With this bot, you can create marketing surveys to collect useful data from Facebook messaging. It behaves like a real human by using Answer Piping, re-engagement and conversational logic; it also uses 12 question types to put up right questions.

Other benefits

• Behaves more like a real human
• Collect information from subscribers
• Analyze survey results
• Build lead generation

3. MotionAi

With an amazing visual interface, Motion.Ai stands out as one of the most powerful bots. This bot is easy to set up and allows you to draw your own flowchart and chat diagram. Motion.Ai allows you to get bot templates and additional apps to get you started.

Other benefits

• Minutes to launch the bot
• Owns a bot store to choose templates
• 2 bots can be built
• 1000 messages per bot

4. Chatbot

Mr. Chatbot is specifically designed for ecommerce industry, which uses Chatbot technique of Facebook Messenger. It basically uses AI (Artificial Interactions) to drive sales. So, create your ecommerce Chatbot with Mr.ChatBot and see the difference.

Other benefits

• Responses within a few seconds
• Language usage according to users
• Signed up users will get Newsfeed and special promotions

5. Assist

Assist has a big name as it is used by Hyatt, one of the customer services oriented companies. This chatbot offers a platform for all types of conversation, doing away with the pre-defined scripts specifically for the travel, shopping, and hospitality domain.

Other benefits

• Fast working platform without pre-defined scripts
• Natural language processing
• Realistic interaction with customers

These chatbots signify everything that is right with the user experience delivered by way of engagement with the customer. When you are building a chatbot, the above 5 products would emerge as stellar examples of how a chatbot should be devised, designed, and deployed.

The Design Thinking Approach

Even though Design Thinking has been there for many years now, the aspects related to this commendable process have now evolved. And, the primary reason behind it is the gradual increase in online products and services.

As we know that Design Thinking is not just a way to deal with the design of a product but is a platform to create a complete brand for a business. With the advancement of technology, new methods have been introduced for keeping up with a proper Design Thinking process that may help in creating a better product. And, the new aspect has encompassed an ideology for the betterment of digital products and services as well.

• Focus on the emotional side of user’s experience

This aspect is not a new one. Building up user’s experience with a touch of emotion has been termed as empathy where a design thinking process uses the experience of the consumers to understand what they need and want. Being an emotional aspect, it is harder to deduce in terms of quantitative values, but it does reflect a powerful message over a customer who is looking forward to get a new product or service from you. It is believed that a product or service that is connected with the emotional sides of its user is more likely to perform well in terms of sales.

• Designing of diagrams for solving complexities

Design thinking process has been widely used for developing physical products so that their intangible and complex issues can be removed while researching. Even for services, design thinkers use physical models such as blueprints, data flow charts, diagrams, etc. to communicate, define and explore with other thinkers and solve any problems that may occur with the service. The aspect is still quite practical in the current world for the betterment of products.

• Using Prototypes for Design Thinking

Another aspect that has been a successful implementation for designing quality products is the use of prototypes. Whenever a new product or service is to be created a prototype model is created for better understanding. While diagrams are capable as well, a prototype offers a much more space and functionality with which design thinkers can communicate and end up with various solutions to any comprehensive situations.

Moreover, prototypes are a good way to interact with users as well. A model that has been created for demonstration tends to let users understand what the product will be used for and what benefits it would provide to them. In addition, a prototype model that can be demonstrated in front of the audience is a far better way of communicating than a complicated diagram.

• Failure tolerating culture

Design thinking process considers failure of designing a product as a learning step to achieve a better one. Even the best of companies have failed in designing products and services once or many times in their business period. And, there is no shame in failing in this aspect.

Creating products and services in the current scenario is not that different from how it used to be in the past. You will find that most aspects are just an evolved versions of the Design Thinking process that have been used in the past. Nevertheless, all these aspects are built to help create better products.

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence

Gone are the days when Artificial Intelligence belonged to the realm of hardcore scientific technology. Today, it happens to be an integral segment of daily operations and day-to-day life. From the retail space to crime investigations, AI has revolutionized various sectors across the globe. We all have come across spam filtering and voice recognition systems. Those using iPhones are well acquainted with Siri, the personal voice assistant.

In a nutshell, AI has been there for a long time, and it is revolutionizing various aspects of human life and how! Here’s a short account of how Artificial Intelligence systems and technologies are taking human lives to the next level!

Focusing on the future

We just can’t deny our advancements towards technology and innovation. The time isn’t far when computerized robots would replace human workforce. We already have chatbots serving us, and that gives us crystal clear ideas of automated technologies. The prime focus is on the future and how AI can create opportunities for further development!

1. Chatbots in retail space

Customers will always want to get personalized experiences. While associating with a brand, they will want the company to understand their requirements, needs, and preferences. Chatbots collect crucial data about consumers thus creating endless opportunities for data analytics. Brands get the chance to create personalized products for consumers thus maximizing their revenues to a great extent.

Powered by Artificial Intelligence, chat bots and smart assistants have transformed the retail space completely. Even if you shop online, you can be sure of getting unmatched experiences.

2. AI powered financial advisors

Some of the companies are leveraging AI systems in a never-seen-before way. By extracting and analyzing historical data sets, they are learning about their customers’ investment decisions. Based on these reports and data, they are making meaningful assumptions thus offering the best investment opportunities to clients.

Digital financers are getting the chance to understand a person’s financial credibility thus offering the best assistance to him.

3. Empowering the general workforce

If you are operating in the service arena, you will need to know whether you are getting the right price for your service. AI systems and strategies have empowered service professionals, thus helping them know their true worth. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, employees can find out whether they are underpaid or get the right remuneration. The consequences are beneficial for both the employer and employees, as a satisfied workforce delivers unmatched performances.

4. Weather predictions

AI software and systems can come up with precise weather predictions. Individuals will get clear ideas of weather conditions in a particular place, which will help farmers to a great extent. That’s not all; with prior notifications about bad weather conditions, aircrafts can identify dangers and fly safely.

5. Increased security

No matter where you are, you can always play the careful vigilante. Whether it’s your home or office, AI systems will help you keep them safe and secure. You simply don’t need to worry about home safety, as smart security systems powered by Artificial Intelligence will do the needful.

AI systems have become a prime requisite for homes, commercial units, and business enterprises. With such remarkable footprints as of now, it won’t be wrong if we say that Artificial Intelligence is here to make lives better!

The Power Of GitHub

If you are a software engineer and have a notion that your degree is enough to get a job now, it is time that you change your mindset before it is too late! Trends are showing that in the forthcoming years, hiring software developers would not be the same as they were in past. The entire world is becoming “open” to all and nothing is private anymore. This is where online version control systems like GitHub is essential and would shape your career in near future.

Getting to know GitHub

Git is a command line tool and hub is the central repository hosting service where the developers can store their source codes and programs written in varied languages. They can make continuous changes in the code, keep a track of the same made by others, thus come up with modified versions at a regular interval. Several developers like you can simply collaborate with others, download newer modified versions, make changes and upload the new one which can be seen and accessed by your collaborators. Here are few ways you can make use of it:

·       Enhance product quality

The entire world is making a paradigm shift, including staunch closed source patrons like Microsoft. Hence, you can have your code being seen and reviewed by an entire community of programmers all across the world, if you post your code in GitHub. This would help you to understand the flaws in your project and hence can solve them alone with their assistance to create a better version of the software.

·       Knowledge base

GitHub is a valuable knowledge repository. This means that you can also get to know about the projects of the other software developers, which would surely be an exchange of knowledge for both of you. You can also discuss about your project with the other person and take help from him/her to modify your code in case you are stuck with some dependency issues or conflicts.

·       Better version control

GitHub keeps every version that you have modified which means every iteration you do, the previous one can be a supporting document for you! There are change-logs which keep a track of what exact changes have been made and thus you can lookback at your faults if needed.

·       Incredible integration

There are lots of integration options with GitHub and you can integrate your code with platforms like Google cloud or Amazon, for your own benefits. You can use services like Code climate which can simply track your own feedback as well as can deliver your code in over 200 programming languages. Hence you as a software engineer can establish your command over coding in a much better way in comparison with others.

Even if you are a non programmer and have a team that is involved in projects that need constant modifications, you can use GitHub for your own version control management. However, GitHub only offers such system and repos upon an additional cost that you have to bear on a monthly basis. Any ways, which good things come free today? So embrace GitHub and enhance your programming career.

The Do Nots For A Software Developer

Do you own a dream venture and wish to catapult it to the greatest heights? If that’s an ardent desire nurtured by you, app development or software creation will emerge as the first thing to do. Software development happens to be an intensive process that involves quite a few necessary steps. You have to avoid critical errors in the process thus building robust and dynamic applications.

Software development errors can turn out to be costly and affect the overall performance of the application. It’s here that you need to avoid making these mistakes thus creating interactive, dynamic, and feature-rich software applications.

Identifying errors and avoiding them

Since software development projects involve huge investments, it is imperative to identify errors and avoid them. Here are some of the mistakes you should know about:

1. Poor communication with stakeholders

You must know the underlying reasons for building the application. Why are you creating a software app in the first place? Most of the times, these things aren’t clear to the developer. Poor and inadequate communications can give rise to clunky UI, costly revisions, and rejections by consumers.

What to do: Developers should prepare a comprehensive plan and start working on it. From choosing the templates to incorporating the right methodologies, everything has to be in place.

2. Don’t undermine planning phase

It is important to comprehend the scope of software development, and you just can’t ignore that. Ignoring the planning phase will prove to be the biggest error.

What to do: Calculate the total time involved in the project along with methods and strategies. That will help you get a crystal clear idea of the entire process.

3. Excessive use of Cloud

Businesses don’t use hard drives for data storage anymore. Going by the current trends, everything takes place on the Cloud. Excessive and uncontrolled use of Cloud technology can affect the overall performance of an application.

What to do: Work out a plan that suits your app development needs, feature requirements, service plans, and suppliers. Extensive Cloud usage won’t yield positive results.

4. Ignoring Quality Assurance

Q&A happens to be the most important segment of software development. You have to check the quality assurance before launching the app in the market. Otherwise, significant errors might pop up during operations.

What to do: Test the software before offering it to the consumers. It’s not judicious to eliminate coding tests, reviews, and test planning.

More mistakes on the way

While these four mistakes emerge as the most crucial ones, there are others you can’t afford to miss:

5. Compromising on UX

Your software application happens to be for users. Compromising on UX won’t be the right thing to do.

6. Bloated features

Choose the framework, check out the features, and then plan the app development process. That will ensure improved UX.

7. Excluding analytics

Without analytics or performance tracking tool, it won’t be wise to create a software application. Your application will fail to perform in the long run.

Signing off

Operational errors are common and can happen anytime. However, the problem is in the mindset at times, and that’s where developers need to be careful. The following discussion will surely shed some light on this topic!

Why Google Firebase Is The Best Option?

No matter which industry you belong to, having a scalable, intuitive, and interactive app seems to be the need of the hour. Since consumers perform more than half of their tasks with the help of mobile apps, it has become imperative to build strong business applications. It’s right here that you need a robust, scalable, and dynamic framework for web application development. Google’s Firebase emerges as a remarkable option, which can ensure a unified and integrated platform for dynamic mobile apps.

Understanding Firebase

If you wish to build portable and customizable business apps, Firebase will prove to be the best option. It’s a must-have for business app development and allows real-time database integration. As a result, when a user updates anything in the database, the other users get notified automatically. Powered by Google’s innovative features, Firebase ensures automatic application configuration. You won’t have to think much about the app’s performance, once it is running on Firebase.

Every business venture will wish to expand their follower-base and increase profits, and that’s where they need the right framework. Firebase happens to be the best option for quite a few reasons. Here are some of the advantages that will compel you to use this innovative framework!

1. Built-in analytics

Firebase’s analytics dashboard is a unique and innovative one. It’s available for free and can report a whopping 500 event types. Since the dashboard gives you crystal clear ideas of user behavior, you can optimize the application for better performances. Check out the key features of this analytics, and that will help you comprehend the benefits of using Firebase:

• Audience segmentation
• Unlimited reporting
• Integration with innumerable services

These features help you gain crystal clear insights into user behavior, which is a prime requisite for building scalable and interactive business apps.

2. High-quality app development

Firebase provides ample opportunities to create and develop high-quality applications. The internal features, operations, and functions make app development a unique affair. Here are some of the innovative features that make your job easier than ever!

• Authentication
• Remote configuring
• Crash reporting
• Storage
• Real-time database
• Cloud messaging
• Hosting solutions
• Test Lab

From file storage to syncing app data, these features help you perform quite a few essential steps. You can add and integrate crucial data in real-time which improves your app’s functionality to a great extent.

3. Invites

If you wish to motivate users and compel them to install your business app, word-of-mouth advertising will be of paramount significance. With the ‘invites’ feature, Google’s Firebase can make it happen. You can send personalized invitations, emails, and messages to potential clients.

4. User engagement at its best

There’s no denying the significance of user engagement in the app development process. You will surely want your application to grow and scale up with time. The built-in features of Firebase make it happen. Check them out if you wish to create scalable and unique apps:

• Dynamic Links
• App indexing
• Integrating Adwords
• Notifications

Final thoughts

With these incredible benefits, Google’s Firebase emerges as the best option for business app development. You will surely want your business to grow, which is the prime reason for leveraging this innovative framework.

Understanding SAP

Irrespective of their industrial sectors, mode of operations, and products, business owners always wish to offer unique experiences to consumers. Following the best practices, innovative product development tips, and experts suggestions prove to be highly important. SAP software applications make your task easier by creating ample opportunities for business transformations.

No matter which industrial sector you are operating in, SAP solutions and software applications will play the pivotal part. You have to identify specific business needs and then incorporate SAP innovations into the existing processes. Here are some benefits of leveraging the SAP technology:

• CRM: Customer Relationship Management turns into a cakewalk with innovative SAP applications. You have to choose the right product to strengthen positive relationships with your consumers.
• ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning: ERP is a crucial necessity for every organization today. With integrated SAP solutions, businesses can scale up their organization.
• SCM or Supply Chain Management: SAP revolutionizes SCM to a great extent. Supply experts and product developers have to opt for the right solutions in this regard.
• PLM or Product Lifecycle Management: SAP comes up with quite a few innovative products. Product Lifecycle Management is an essential task for present-day business organizations, and an innovative SAP software will render useful assistance to product developers.
• SRM or Supplier Relationship Management: Stay on track, get regular updates, and get notified on supplier terms. SAP makes Supplier Relationship Management easy and convenient.

These are some of the processes where SAP solutions play the vital role. In a nutshell, it can revolutionize your existing business architecture and change it for the better.

Knowing the SAP solutions

No two business organizations are similar in their operations and functionalities. Most importantly, they cater to a diverse clientele and perform distinctive functionalities. Quite naturally, you will have to use targeted and specific software solutions for each of these purposes. Here’s a list of innovative SAP applications:

1. HANA

Make informed decisions and emerge as the leaders of the respective industry. SAP HANA will help you strategize and create the perfect organizational moves.

2. SAP Hybris

If you want to embrace digital business transformations, SAP hybris will prove to be the perfect option. From ecommerce operations and billing to marketing and sales, there’s nothing that Hybris can’t renovate. It’s a dynamic solution that can add a unique touch of dynamism to existing business structures.

3. Success Factors

Those working on the SaaS model and striving hard to leverage it for better business benefits, Success Factors will emerge as the best solution. As an innovative business solution, Success Factors makes the most out of Software-as-a-Service models.

4. ERP

SAP offers quite a few options for Enterprise Resource Planning. Whether it’s sales management, procurement, or manufacturing, ERP will ensure streamlined operations.

5. Business One

Whether you run a colossal enterprise or a small-scale venture, SAP Business One will prove to be the best solution. By automating key operations in your business, Business One will make room for innovations.

Final thoughts

Depending on your business needs and requirements, you can embrace the SAP innovation for better profits and huge ROIs.