A chatbot in the simplest of words can be explained as 'something' that is offering an opportunity to brands to engage with consumers directly on a personal level. And, that 'something' is from the world of AI (Artificial Intelligence). So, when we are interacting with a brand, the representative from the brand's side answering us is not a human but a chatbot. Training a bot is not so easy and brands are taking time and effort to invest in this technology.

We have some fantastic updates coming from Twitter and Instagram this week, as the year is about to end. So, sharing with you, my top four picks on the 'updates that took place in 2017 in social media'.

1. Facebook Messenger Chatbots / Other app based Chatbots: Customer's interaction with the brands has become very easy via chatbots. They are now used extensively and have been efficient in reducing the gap of timely human to human interaction. One of the example of my recent interaction was with the Starbucks chatbot, which is taking the order, informing when it is ready, the price and the payment options and then customizing the content according to preference for the next time. I don't know currently how chatbots will impact the employment rate in the future, because it does reduce the human intervention in all the processes. 
2. Whatsapp for Businesses: Whatsapp rolled out 'Whatsapp for Businesses' this year which has now become a strong marketing tool for many organisations, especially in the service industry. Promotions, customer service, reservations/orders, direct communication with the individual customer, feedback management and many more tactics are being executed using the simple app.
3. Twitter Threads: Twitter rolled out this feature to post bunch of connected tweets at one time. The person has to click on '+' after the first tweet to thread the second and more tweets together. It is being reffered as tweetstorm because people can now post longer tweets than Twitter’s already-extended 280-character limit. Only time will tell whether it will be easy for brands and users to communicate or will it add to more confusion?
4. Instagram 'Follow Hashtags': As they say, save the best for the last, and this is one of the best updates from Instagram in 2017. It was very difficult to search the popular hashtags everyday, see the curated content and monitor it. With this feature, you get the content of a particular followed hashtag in your feed. With this, my trust in organic reach and engagement is restored otherwise the only way to succeed on social was the paid way! More likes, more comments but less follows on the account, is what, I foresee in future with this update. 

These features/updates/trends highlighted above really stood out for me because all of them spoke one marketing mantra - 'Keep it simple, stupid'. And, they definitely are making it very simple for brands and consumers to engage with each other.

Do you face challenges in managing social media for your events or conferences? Is the digital marketing pie from the whole marketing mix giving you jitters during your product launch? If yes, then this blog can suggest you some pointers to make things easy.

All the marketing tactics that are used for an event is divided into three stages: pre-event, on-ground and post-event. We all are sailing in the evolved boat of marketing wherein PR, social media, digital marketing, media buying, creative & content have converged into Integrated Communications. 

These days leveraging social media for event marketing is like adding salt & pepper to your food. Therefore it is extremely important for all of us to have a ready checklist that will help us with the following: Engage - Generate Curiosity - Amplify - Promote - Convert - Monitor - Analyse

Promote your event with social media. Image source: IIP via Google Images

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.” – Leonard Bernstein

Here is a list of things to be done & some questions to be answered before execution of the event. It will be handy for you to just check, tick and be sure that everything is under control:

Pre-Event 

1. Mediums for outreach
• Website - Will it be a website, landing page or a microsite
• Social Media - What will be the platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram) 
• App - Will my app help convert leads
• PR - What will be the mix of traditional and online PR
2. Content & Messaging
• Hashtag - Is it small, easy to understand, associated with the main brand
• Messages - What are my standard messages for promotions and consumer queries, is the press release following the same messaging
• Creative - Are the creatives following a theme, are you resizing for all mediums,  
• Content Type - What is the right mix of image, text and video content during promotions
3. Partnerships
• Sponsors & partners - Are your sponsors active on social media. Will they promote
• Ticket booking platforms - Is your event listed out there for people to easily book
• Bloggers & Influencers - What genre of blogger & influencer will you reach out? What is the klout
4. Amplification
• Have you started the online promotions
• Is your content calendar meeting your agenda
• Are bloggers promoting the event
• Are sponsors supporting the promotions
• If there is any ambassador/ celebrity associated, then is she/he promoting
• Have you started with contests, teaser videos
• Is your pre event coverage giving you mileage

On-ground

1. Going Live
• Are you doing Facebook Live
• Are you on periscope
• Is their a live tweeting team 
• Are you putting up Instagram posts and stories
• Are you putting up snapchat stories
2. Engagement
• Is there an on-ground contest or activation that you are promoting
• Are you encouraging the audience so that you get UGC (user generated content)
3. Monitoring 
• Are you tracking your event regularly - Monitor responses, reply to audience tweets, tracking the reach and impressions, tracking the influencer tweets, traction of your tweets and influencer tweets, taking snapshots regularly

Post Event

1. Albums, videos and coverage
• Is the picture album uploaded on Facebook and promoted on other social channels
• Are the videos uploaded on YouTube and promoted on all channels
• Is your website updated with all the information of the event (pictures, videos, testimonials and next year dates if any)
• Have you promoted the event coverage on all channels
• Have you thanked all sponsors and attendees with specific pictures on social media
2. Coverage
• Are you following up with bloggers and online partners for post event coverage
• Is your traditional coverage on track
3. Reports
• Detailed performance analysis - Number of posts, engagement (like, RT, share, replies), your responses, contest engagement, UGC, influencer-blogger performance and what's pending 

2016 was a very unusual year for me. I cannot call it happy and I cannot call it sad. I bought a house in this year which was a really big achievement for us (Everyone as an opinion on rental and buying and I feel 'to each his own', whatever makes one happy in a longer run). We took a major risk and it was a period of testing times - big loans, savings all gone, the seller was very arrogant and shallow. There was zero travel due to the new house. Lethargy had set in due to constant pressure of saving, saving and more saving. Reading also became almost zero. Exercising and healthy lifestyle took a backseat because the juggle between office, the old house and the construction of new one took a toll on me.
Work became the only savior. It became my focus and I was spending more & more time & energy on my career.
Fun times with friends, colleagues and family were obviously beautiful.
And then came the month of December wherein I had a family wedding and after that back to back illness - Fever, severe back and neck issue and many other things. I was frustrated. Was it depression? - I don't know but whatever it was, I wanted to be out of it.

I was reading and surfing the internet on December 24 when I read these two quotes:

At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results - Chuck Yeager

Those who don't want to change, let them sleep - Rumi

Neha