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Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

For any social media marketing strategy, there is a message that needs to be sent across to the audience. Whether the message is about useful information on the brand or a new product launch, there are so many ways that marketers can get their message across. 

WhatsApp represents a relatively new method that marketers can leverage to reach consumers. And one of the benefits for marketers eager to test out this new communications tool is that the app is free for people to download and use. Plus, messages sent within the app are encrypted thus giving it an added layer of security and privacy for its users. Given the growing concerns around user privacy these days, this extra layer of security gives WhatsApp users a greater sense of privacy. Both the fact that the app is free to download and messages sent via WhatsApp are encrypted has helped the app build a userbase of over 1 billion people. 

But this app isn't only for peer-to-peer communications, brands can also use the app to send messages to customers. (Check out this blog on how brands are using WhatsApp as a marketing tool to see examples of WhatsApp marketing campaigns from brands like Absolut).

So, how do can you send a message on WhatsApp as a brand? Read on to find out how you can benefit from a new and customer-centric way of disseminating information about your brand through WhatsApp Broadcast. 

WhatsApp Broadcast is a function within the messaging platform that gives the brand a dedicated channel to broadcast a message to a specific audience. According to WhatsApp, a broadcast list is defined as a "feature that allows you to send a message or media to several contacts at once." 

This function is different from the WhatsApp Group chat function. Unlike a group chat, the contacts within the same broadcast list cannot see one another. Additionally, WhatsApp Broadcast delivers a message unilaterally and it is a one-way communication method whereas the WhatsApp Group chat hosts a discussion and there is multi-user communication. 

WhatsApp Broadcast works similarly to a no-reply automated messaging function but with a personal touch. This is great for brands because they can use WhatsApp Broadcast as a new form of press release which is directly sent to their clients or customers.

Each broadcast list can have a maximum of 256 members, just like a WhatsApp Group. You can also create as many broadcast lists as you want, so you don't need to limit your communication to a finite group of people. In fact, this limit can be beneficial to marketers because customers in the broadcast list can be compartmentalized and grouped into their industries or sectors. 

Note: Only the people on your broadcast list that have added your phone number to their address book will receive your message. 

WhatsApp is available on both major mobile operating systems, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, so using this new functionality should not be a problem. 

After the initial setup of downloading and configuring your personal details as well as registering your phone number with the app, the user has to import the phone numbers and contacts into the WhatsApp system. 

Setting up a WhatsApp Broadcast is relatively simple, and can be completed in a few short steps.

Tap the Options button on the top of your screen

The first step is to open the app. There you will see the main chat interface and a log of all of your active chats. 

2. Tap the Options button at the top of your screen

From the main chat interface, tap on the More Options button. The More Options button is represented by three vertical dots and it is likely located at the top right corner of the screen, depending on the operating system.

Then proceed to select the New Broadcast option from the drop-down list. 

To begin building your broadcast list, search or select the contacts that you want to be included in the list. Remember, just like a WhatsApp Group chat, only 256 contacts can be added to the WhatsApp Broadcast list. 

After you have added all of the contacts, press the checkmark to confirm the WhatsApp Broadcast list.

As mentioned earlier, WhatsApp is a messaging platform that is primarily used for either one-on-one conversation or Group chats that involve multiple people in the conversation. Broadcasts lists offer marketers the ability to send out the same message to a large group of people in a way that appears as personalized text. And that is why WhatsApp Broadcast is an advantage for marketers to publish their newsletters or launch a press release. 

There is an important difference between a WhatsApp Broadcast List and a WhatsApp Group Chat: In a WhatsApp Group chat, participants are visible to each other: however, a recent update allowed administrators to restrict two-way communication in a WhatsApp Group thus mimicking a WhatsApp Broadcast. 

This highlights another benefit of WhatsApp Broadcast: The function does not allow recipients to see each other’s phone numbers or know that they are on the same list. This protects the privacy of the customer and enhances the personalization of the message. 

A limit on the number of WhatsApp contacts in a broadcast list should not deter brands from setting up one for their marketing strategy. Brands can broadcast messages to specific groups in each WhatsApp Broadcast list, highlighting the importance of messaging to key clients or customers. This level of audience segmentation gives the customers the experience of personalization, although WhatsApp Broadcast is only one-way communication. Consumers are demanding a greater level of personalization from brands, so having to divide your broadcast lists into smaller groups should be viewed as a benefit to both marketers and consumers.

The contact that you have added will only receive your message when that contact has added you into their phone’s address book. You need to make sure that people are actively adding your number to their phones, otherwise, your message will not be delivered. 

Another key point to note is that unlike the other communication modes in WhatsApp, messages sent through WhatsApp Broadcast cannot be retrieved. So brands have to be careful in what they publish to their broadcast list. Various media files such as PDFs, documents, videos, images as well as website links can also be shared unilaterally.

If you are interested in using WhatsApp marketing as a way to complement your comprehensive marketing strategy, there are a few points you should be aware of if you want to maximize the potential of your WhatsApp Broadcast strategy and not anger your contacts. Here are some tips to follow before sending out your first message.

Even though this form of communication of WhatsApp Broadcast is the most direct and effective way of getting the customer’s attention, you shouldn't spam them with information. When there is too much information or you are messaging your audience too frequently,  it becomes bothersome to the audience.  

Marketers need to plan when and how often they should reach out to customers through WhatsApp Broadcast. 

Furthermore, marketers need to think about what they plan on sharing. Sending out large media files could clog up the customer’s memory space or use up a contact's data allowance, which is just as bad as spamming your audience too frequently. 

A good measure would be to only share information when there is a product launch or redirecting them to certain links to monitor their interest in your product or service. Some companies offer weekly newsletters to their customers on product updates and this might be a good timeframe without being irksome.

In summary, failing to consider when you are sending messages, how frequently you will be sharing content, and what type of content you will be sending could lead your contacts to block your updates.

Hopefully, now your brand has the confidence and the know-how to embark on creating a personalized campaign through WhatsApp Broadcast. Given the ease of use and simplicity of WhatsApp Broadcast, brands can surely leverage this marketing tool in several different ways!

All You Need To Know About WhatsApp Broadcast

Move over eBay; there is a new marketplace in town that makes listing and selling unwanted items much easier for sellers. Given the large amount of users already on Facebook, as well as the platform's strong advertising capabilities, users have started to harness Facebook's power to sell items to other users.

The idea behind Facebook Marketplace is simple: sellers post ads and listings for their unwanted items that are up for sale. Buyers can then look for available items within a number of different categories, and reach out to the seller to make an offer. From there, payments are made and everyone walks away happy. In essence, this is a new-age version of free classified sites to buy and sell online and it should be a part of your social media marketing strategy.

While this may sound easier said than done, there definitely is more to selling on Facebook Marketplace than just listing an ad and waiting for buyers to come to you. Facebook marketing can be quite easy, and with the benefits of selling to people in your location and providing a more personalized customer experience, here are some tips and insights on how to sell on Facebook Marketplace.

How to make money on Facebook Marketplace

In essence, Facebook Marketplace is an online open exchange feature on Facebook where users can buy and sell new and pre-owned items to other users. The Marketplace is already built-in into both the Facebook app or Facebook.com so there is no need to download or install the Marketplace. People can find what they are looking for by filtering their search results by location, category, and price, as well as get in touch with sellers via the Messenger app to complete the transaction.

Any user can their list products for sale on Facebook Marketplace and gain access to a local audience who may be interested in what the user has to offer. The great benefit of using Facebook Marketplace is how it has built-in interest audience targeting and easy-to-use product categorization for your items. Simply put, the Marketplace on Facebook really has been created and tailor-made to help you increase sales — whether for your personal items or for your business. 

1. Helps increase awareness and discoverability

Increasing brand awareness is one of the fastest ways to boost your sales. You're in luck in this regard because Facebook users are already relatively familiar with the platform, and it won't be so difficult for them to discover listings on Marketplace. 

To boost the visibility and discoverability of your items, let's talk about the different Facebook Marketplace categories. With more specific subcategories, there are 22 top-level categories that you can place your listing under: 

If you place the items that you are selling in the Facebook Marketplace categories that appeal to your target audience, they’re more likely to find your items as they browse. Similarly, the more people who follow your Facebook business page, the more chances you have of your items appearing on their news feeds. 

2. Builds trust between your brand and your audience

Buying items online is all about trust, and if you want to bridge the gap that is the inherent distance between online Marketplace buyers and sellers, you need to inspire confidence and trust in potential buyers. 

As a peer-to-peer platform, Facebook Marketplace has unique characteristics that can help you build this trust with potential customers. With all sales transactions on Facebook Marketplace starting through the Messenger app, this lets you connect with potential customers through a one-on-one conversation, and provide a more personalized customer experience with your business. 

Your store page on the Marketplace also gives you an opportunity to build potential customers’ trust in your business. Through your page, you can boost the credibility of your brand by providing relevant information about your business and answering shoppers’ questions.

Once you’ve started building your audience on Facebook Marketplace, you can start using the platform as a way to test out and launch new products and see what resonates with them. 

Any user can sell an item on Marketplace as long as Facebook approves the listing and ad that they upload, which needs to meet Facebook's Commerce Policies. One great advantage of Facebook Marketplace is that you don't need to create a new or separate account to use the Marketplace; you can get started with either your personal or business Facebook account. 

How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace

When you are selling something on Marketplace, you create a public listing - which includes the actual ad and content of what you are selling - that can be seen by any user on Facebook. To sell on Marketplace: 

<ul>
	<li>From your News Feed, click the "Marketplace." icon.</li>
	<li>Select "+ Create New Listing", then click "Item for Sale".</li>
        <li>Select "Add Photos" to upload a photo of your item from your computer or mobile phone.</li>
        <li>Enter the information about your item. To mark an item as Free, you can enter 0 as the price.</li>
        <li>Select "Next". If "Next" is greyed out, make sure that you've entered the information that's required, and include the category of your listing, relevant tags and whether you will provide shipping or not. Facebook, however, requires the following information for every listing:</li>
	<ul>
		<li>Up to 10 images of the product</li>
	        <li>Category</li>
                <li>What you’re selling</li>
                <li>Price</li>
                <li>Location</li>
                <li>A description</li>

        <li>Select "Publish" to post your Marketplace listing.</li>
</ul>

As long as you have a personal or business Facebook account, buying on the Marketplace is quite easy. To purchase something on Marketplace, you can send a message, via Messenger, to the seller to arrange the purchase:

<ul>
	<li>From your News Feed, click the "Marketplace" icon.</li>
	<li>Click on the item you want to buy.</li>
        <li>Reach out to the seller via Messenger.</li>
        <li>From here, the conversation is solely between you and the seller, and negotiations can take place.</li>
	<ul>
		<li>Once an agreement has been made, and method of payment has been discussed, the seller will update the listing with "Pending" for a sale that is in process.</li>
	        <li>As soon as the transaction has been made, the seller updates the listing as "Sold."</li>	
</ul>


Making money on Facebook Marketplace can be quite simple because of how easy Facebook makes it for sellers to list their items and generate sales. Adding to this the audience and location targeting, and how both buyers and sellers can quickly see the available ads of items for sale.

With the wide range of items that you can sell, here are some tips that will help you make money on the Marketplace:

Make sure you have clear photos of what you are selling.

Be as detailed as possible in your listing, and include information like the model number, the condition of the item, and extras that come with the item.

Sell your listing for the right price. Be realistic, especially if your item is in a fairly used condition.

Potential buyers may want to negotiate with you. Keep this in mind but remember that you are not obligated to accept offers where you think the price is not fair.

While selling on the Marketplace may not be a long-term solution for a consistent amount of sales, it is one of the quicker ways to generate small sales and income, as well as reach potential buyers for future goods you may want to sell.

The short and simple answer: yes you can! Just like how you can create and boost social media ads on Facebook, you can do the same with your listings on the Marketplace. While Facebook Marketplace is a place to discover and buy items, listing an item for sale isn't the same as creating a paid Facebook Marketplace ad to appear when people are shopping on Marketplace. However, you can help your business reach more people as they hunt for items by creating Facebook Marketplace ads. 

If you want to better market your items on Facebook Marketplace through ads, here's how to do that on both desktop and mobile:

Select your Commerce Profile, then choose "Your Listings" under the Selling section. 

All your listed items will appear, even the ones that you have previously sold. Here, you will have the option to either relist the item or mark it as available. 

Select "Boost Listing" next to the item that you want to create an ad for. Boosting, in essence, will help promote the items that you are selling and have them appear more prominently alongside similar listings on Marketplace and in the News Feed. 

Next, choose your budget. Facebook will only charge you when a potential buyer sends you a message regarding your boosted listing. Once you have marked your item as "Sold" or you have a "Pending" sale before your ad campaign ends, Facebook will pause your ad and stop any additional charges. 

Select how long you would like your boosted listing to run for. 

Select "Boost Listing". Once your Facebook Marketplace ad is live, you'll be able to get insights on how your listing performed. From the number of listing views to how many people your ad is reaching, Facebook provides a detailed look into the performance of your ad.  

Remember that while Facebook Marketplace ads will appear among other relevant products, they will be distinguished by their larger size and a Sponsored label. 

Facebook Marketplace is quick and easy, cost-effective, and informative with audience targeting that would benefit any brands and businesses looking to increase the visibility of their products. 

Marketplace really can lead to new business and offers a personalized sense of customer service that can help to make sales all the easier. If you want to learn more about how you can include Facebook Marketplace into your overall Facebook marketing strategy, get in touch with Meltwater today. 

How To Sell on Facebook Marketplace

Social media bots. Are they a force for good? A manifestation of social media’s capacity to inflict enormous harm? Or simply a clever piece of technology that will do either, depending on the person behind the bot?

As usual, the answer lies somewhere in the middle and hinges on your perspective. For example, despite a general absence of solid evidence, many people credit social media bots with influencing recent election results in the US, UK, Germany, and France.

Short for ‘robot’ and sometimes also referred to as an ‘automaton’, they are also said to be a force behind the numerous international conspiracy theories circulating around the COVID-19 pandemic and its vaccines, for example.

So what is this seemingly all-powerful technology capable of massive global influence and manipulation of public opinion? 

A more in-depth overview of the technology

The insidious influence of chatbots on social media platforms

The US Government’s Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis gives its definition of social media bots as: “Programs that vary in size depending on their function, capability, and design; and can be used on social media platforms to do various useful and malicious tasks while simulating human behaviour. These programs use artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and other programs or databases to imitate legitimate users posting content.”

Tip: Learn why 2023 was the year of AI chatbots

Imperva, a leading cybersecurity company, gives a more succinct and balanced definition: “An internet bot is a software application that runs automated tasks over the internet. Tasks run by automated technology are typically simple and performed at a much higher rate compared to human Internet activity.”

Darius Kazemi, a computer programmer and self-proclaimed ‘internet artist’ who studies the nature and behaviour of these robots, distils the bot definition even further: “A computer that attempts to talk to [people] through technology that was designed for humans to talk to humans.” The mighty New York Times has its own characterisation: “Those little automatic programs that talk to us in the digital dimension as if they were human.”

Now that we have a basic definition of social bots, let’s take a more in-depth overview of these little programs found on the internet, on social media platforms, in the app environment, and in online gaming.

Certainly, there are malicious bots used with malevolent intent. But many are simply used for an array of clever, but largely unspectacular, day-to-day jobs that require automation tools in order to maximise efficiency and all-hours availability.

Chatbots are the first step to simple 24/7 customer service, guiding clients on social media channels and apps such as Facebook Messenger through a basic sales, Q+A, or product-ordering process.

Information automatons that alert followers to breaking news on topics you’re interested in.

A Word automaton that makes learning new words easier for would-be students wanting to pass entry exams to prestigious universities.

A survey version that allows you to send customer surveys from your account after the completion of a function such as a product purchase or a query.

A Twitch bot that lets followers process song requests on the live-streaming platform for gamers and other lifestyle casters.

Creating fake followers and comments on Instagram

Broadcasting fake news and conspiracy theories via Twitter

Registering false live-game views or imitating genuine streamer/viewer interaction on gaming sites

Professor Kathleen Carley of Carnegie Mellon University in the US emphasises that technology is neutral and people determine how it’s used. “[They] are just software. They are used for good things and they are used for bad things,” she says.

Did tweets created by fake accounts help determine the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election? There were certainly, for example, instances where automatons were hijacking Covid-19 hashtags with disinformation and conspiracy hashtags, such as #greatawakening and #qanon. Similarly, an article in Digital Trends reported the spreading of BLM conspiracy theories and disinformation around the protests and the Black Lives Matter hashtag.

Michael Kreil, a data journalist from Germany agrees with Kazemi when he says there’s no proof of tweets, dubious accounts, or any similar activity determining the course of an election.

Indeed, some experts argue that the threat of excessive influence by such technology is vastly exaggerated. For example, a high volume of tweets generated on Twitter about a particular topic is often merely one set of spambots tweeting and retweeting specific hashtags to followers which are actually other spambots. If legitimate followers aren’t reading the tweets and hijacked hashtags, the influence on public opinion of those tweets and their dubious content is negligible.

For marketers, a benefit of social media bots is that they can use them to engage with the customer and complete an end-to-end interaction – from enquiry to sale and payment – in one place and through one account. This applies to popular messaging apps such as:

There’s no need to fill out a contact form on a website and then wait for an employee to respond at some point in the future, or find a phone number on a website and then go offline to make the call, only to be told the person you need to speak to has gone for lunch. Instead, everything happens in one place and at one time, day or night, unless the customer specifically requests an interaction with a representative of the organisation.

By using ever-advancing artificial intelligence and voice-recognition technology, chatbots can deliver a surprisingly seamless customer experience – within parameters of course. Functions that companies may wish to entrust to their talkbots could include:

Welcoming visitors to a social media site

Booking an appointment for an in-store service such as a haircut or facial

Providing basic information such as times when products may be booked in for service and repairs

Answering common questions such as the pricing of popular products

Guiding customers through a simple product-purchase process

Conducting a basic Q+A to resolve common problems

Tip: Learn how to use chatbots to improve your sales

But chatterbots aren’t people. So the science behind them is to anticipate what your customers are likely to want and the ways they will probably interact – and equip the AI-powered technology to respond accordingly.

Some of the things that chatterbots struggle to do include:

Handling complex Q+A interactions that are best left to a trained employee

Dealing with angry customers (AI-generated platitudes only exacerbate the problem)

When using chatbots, don’t turn the interaction into an excuse to send clients spammy messages thereafter. Marketers have pretty much ruined the call centre, SMS, and email as a meaningful way to interact with customers because of incessant spam. It's important to build a non-spammy automaton and avoid disgruntled clients reaching for the spam filter.

Each messaging app has its own T&Cs governing the behaviour of this technology. For example, on Messenger, a brand can send a message only if the customer prompted the conversation. You can use a Facebook Messenger bot to reply to the message, however, if he or she doesn't find value and opt-in to receive future notifications within the first 24 hours, no additional communication is allowed.

We’ve seen how chatbot marketing can be a marketer’s friend. Now let’s examine how Facebook bots and other social bots can be a marketing nightmare through their insidious influence on social media platforms such as Instagram, where Instagram bots have posed a significant challenge.

The continued rise of influencer marketing has seen this practice dominate marketing budgets. Why? Because it's an effective way of building a customer base for businesses by aligning a brand with an online persona who then promotes the product or service to their legion of followers and fans.

On Instagram, in particular, social media influencers with Instagram accounts that boast hundreds of millions of followers can command huge sums of money. Footballer Christiano Ronaldo, for example, has almost 259-million followers watching his Instagram account, singer Ariana Grande has 219-million Instagram followers and actor Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson has 215-million people who follow his Instagram account.

Having a staggering number of followers subscribed to your Instagram account means you can also command huge amounts of money for a social media post or re-post on your account. A Ronaldo Instagram post, for example, can cost up to US$777 000, while a post by Kim Kardashian on Instagram could be worth up to US$607 000.

Below these top-tier stars are thousands of other influencers who command various sums to post on Instagram and other social media communities such as TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. The money they request is largely determined by their number of followers of their account, which is fair enough. But when these influencers have more fake followers than real followers, it becomes a significant problem. If, as a corporate, you’re paying big money to have your Instagram stories seen by more Instagram bots than real followers, you’re being ripped off big time by the creators of those Instagram bots and their customers. With this in mind, check out our blog post "How to Quickly Spot Fake Influencers".

Historically, Instagram bots have been a relatively inexpensive, effective, and easy-to-use tool that Instagram accounts could employ to rapidly increase the number of people who discover their Instagram profile and begin following them. For most, it was the only way to grow on Instagram without having to rely on other unsustainably expensive and often ineffective strategies.

As more people realised the moneymaking potential of Instagram growth, an entire industry dedicated to developing and selling Instagram bots sprung up. Fake followers, fake likes, and automated comments proliferated – thanks to an ever-growing army of Instagram bots manipulating the process. Fake accounts also increased, as did the phenomenon of new followers who almost immediately became non-followers.

Who was a real follower and who was an Instagram bot follower? Which so-called influencers had real Instagram followers that matched a brand’s target audience? And which ones merely had a following of Instagram bots? It was a minefield and, in many cases, brands were paying a lot of money yet not reaching their target audience. Word on the street was that it was all one big, expensive, marketing con, thanks to the multitude of Instagram bots.

Instagram had to act against Instagram bots. And it did. In 2017 it began to crack down on businesses that provided Instagram bots to clients for a price. Two years later, Instagram upped the ante against the dodgy Instagram bot brigade again.

“In 2019, Instagram began implementing measures that effectively curved the use of automation within its user base,” observed Instagram expert Eduardo Morales in an article for the website Better Marketing. In 2021, they are close to perfecting them.”

Although Instagram keeps its Instagram bot-detection strategies secret, Morales says we know from the recent experiences of Instagram users that the site has been successful in reducing Instagram bot activity by implementing a range of measures too lengthy to discuss here.

"This year automation is still effective, but finding [one] that can automate interactions for months, without being blocked or having to change your username, is no longer simple or easy,” he wrote. Could this be the end of Instagram bots? Unlikely. The developers of Instagram bots will keep trying to be one step ahead. But at least the influence of Instagram bots should be diminished.

Like Instagram, Twitter has proved fertile ground for social media influencers – whether they’re paid by businesses for posts, or are seeking to exert influence for political or social reasons. The result has been a proliferation of Twitter bots, fake tweets, followers, and bogus Twitter accounts. Twitter (and Instagram for that matter) has a host of other problems – such as using hashtags in a spammy way, including using unrelated hashtags in a tweet (aka ‘hashtag cramming’).

A 2018 New York Times article carried a claim that as many as 48-million of Twitter’s reported active users – nearly 15 percent – were automated accounts designed to simulate real people. The newspaper emphasised that Twitter asserts the number is far lower. But even if the figure is only was only half right, that’s still a lot of dodgy Twitterbot activity. The same article told of a company called Devumi that had an estimated stock of 3.5-million automated Twitter accounts that it had used to provide customers with more than 200-million fake Twitter followers.

The good, the bad and the nice on Twitter

Significant effort goes into detecting Twitter bots. Much of this effort is by the site itself, but other detection measures come from external parties. Indiana University academics, for example, developed a free service called Botometer that checks the activity of Twitter accounts and gives them a score based on how likely they are to be Twitter bots.

There was even one Twitter bot called @stealthmountain. It would abuse Twitter users who used a word or phrase incorrectly – such as the word ‘peak’ when you actually should have used the word ‘peek’. It is currently suspended for violating the rules. Who would have guessed that promoting good word usage would create such a storm in a Twitter app …

Not all tweets are from Twitter bots, not all followers are fake, and not all Twitter accounts have been set up by would-be influencers-for-gain, foreign governments with opaque intentions, criminals intent on who-knows-what, conspiracy theorists, or climate denialists. And not all Twitter bots are bad news.

A certain degree of automation is intended by Twitter, which makes its API freely available. And ‘respectable’ robots provide services such as accurate time, earthquake warnings, stock market news, updates about train delays, and a whole lot more besides. The @tinycarebot, for example, encourages followers to practice self-care and care for others.

More than ever, people expect a response from brands on Twitter. According to its in-house research a few years back, 41% of consumers use Twitter to contact customer service, 37% to voice an opinion on a product or brand, and 25% want to make a product enquiry.

This is where Twitter chatbots can help. Research has shown consumers are accepting of some sort of talkbot interaction. Salesforce, the global CRM business, found 68% of consumers preferred a talkbot for quick communication with a brand. “And while you can't beat having a real person, chatbots can help perform a key role in everything from answering questions to ordering products,” Twitter says on its website.

And why shouldn’t there be YouTube bots as well? According to Gainchanger, an information technology company that specialises in outreach automation, YouTube view bots are being used by YouTubers struggling to get organic views from users since they tend to focus on the most popular channels rather than newcomers. 

To get around organic reach, YouTube creators are using automated software that runs in the background on adding views to videos and subscribers to channels. Some automatons will also spam the comments section with automated messages to make them seem real. However, this is rarely successful as most often the comments are generic and very similar. These bots are sometimes also known as YouTube sub bots – the ‘sub’ being short for ‘subscriber’.

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