Today in Digital Marketing - Will Shopify’s AI Plans Support or Supplant Humans?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Thursday, July 27th. Today, AI anxiety. Are Shopify's plans for robot reps the dark future of customer service? Slow down? What slow down? Facebook hits 3 billion monthly active users. Warnings rise as the new iOS approaches and Reddit unveils its own version of the much-maligned blue checkmark. I'm Todd Mathen. That's ahead today in Digital Marketing. Human support at Shopify may soon be overrun by robot reps. Business Insider reported today that leaked audio details Shopify's plans to use AI to handle most customer support inquiries. The support division's future was outlined in a presentation at a recent internal meeting. Shopify leaders explained that merchants will get their inquiries handled by AI before involving human assistants, and even then you won't get humans without some kind of AI involvement.

Starting point is 00:01:00 First, a merchant can try to solve a question or issue with the new AI-powered Sidekick tool built into Shopify admin, which we reported on yesterday. If Sidekick can't solve the issue, merchants can then go to the help center, but there is a new AI assistant. And if the issue still remains unsolved, merchants will be directed to human support advisors who have access to AI tools. Employees were, of course, concerned. During a question and answer period, one employee asked how support advisors could be reassured that their jobs are safe. To their credit, I guess,

Starting point is 00:01:35 executives didn't use the usual line we hear with these announcements that the move won't affect headcount, but will free up reps to do more important tasks, something that all companies say and exactly nobody believes. But no, Shopify executives reportedly responded frankly, telling employees to keep their skills up because job security in the tech industry is not guaranteed. Meta's Q2 report card is in. Yesterday, the company reported better than expected results

Starting point is 00:02:09 with Facebook adding 27 million users in the latest quarter. That means Facebook now has 3 billion monthly active users, hitting that number for the first time. Doing the math, that means more than half of the people on the planet who have access to the internet log into Facebook at least once a month. Majority of this user growth stems from the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in developing markets like India and Indonesia. On the financial numbers side, Meta generated $32 billion in revenue for the period. That's an 11% increase year over year. Ad performance also remains strong, with a 35% increase in impressions delivered across its apps compared to the previous year. And good news for us, the average price per ad decreased by 15%.

Starting point is 00:03:00 Despite these positives, Meta's VR and AR division, Reality Labs, remains a concern, posting a $3.7 billion loss for the quarter. VR headset sales also declined again during the period. Meta's standout moment, though, during its second quarter was the launch of its Twitter rival, Threads, which reached 100 million users in record time. Apple's upcoming software update iOS 17 is slated to be released in September, and it is set to bring a new level of personalization for consumers to apps like phone messages and FaceTime. But for marketers, the update's tightened privacy measures have raised some concerns. One big change is the removal of URL tracking parameters from links accessed within Apple's Mail and Messages apps, as well as Safari's private browsing. This move, of course, trying to limit access to consumer data,

Starting point is 00:03:57 which does make it more difficult for advertisers to follow the consumer's purchase journey. URL tracking parameters have long been used by advertisers to track consumers across multiple sites. But with Apple's new link tracking protection feature, user identifiable information will be stripped from those URLs. Marketing Dive reported today that this change could have far-reaching effects on marketers. One industry executive quoted in the piece reminded that measuring campaign success may become more challenging as specific audience data becomes less accessible. And so, as a result, some marketers are already preparing for the rollout of link tracking protection and analyzing its potential impact on their businesses. As consumer privacy continues to tighten, the report advises advertisers to prioritize getting consumers' consent for collecting first-party data.

Starting point is 00:04:49 Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. While tech giants like Google and Meta reported improvements in ad revenues for the second quarter, some popular publishers are struggling.

Starting point is 00:05:22 Theinformation.com reporting today that in response to this challenging ad market, firms like BuzzFeed, Vox Media, and Bustle Digital Group are turning to live events as an alternative source of revenue. Media executives say sales of ad sponsorships tied to events are outperforming other ad businesses, partly due to pent-up demand from the pandemic when most were cancelled. For instance, media startup Semaphore reported that half of its revenue this year came from event sponsorships. According to the report, advertisers see event-related ad deals as an opportunity to drive larger deals, counting on consumers to share social content from events

Starting point is 00:06:03 on their personal accounts, giving marketer-sponsored events more attention. As a result of this market shift, several digital media firms are expanding their event businesses. Well, it was only a matter of time. Reddit has hopped on the verification bandwagon. The platform started testing verification badges for select brands yesterday. There is no blue checkmark. Instead, it will be a label that reads official. The company said the label will be displayed next to usernames, similar to how flares appear across a subreddit. Reddit added that the label is only a visual indicator of

Starting point is 00:06:42 authentic brand accounts and doesn't unlock any special privileges. The company also clarified that this label is not to be confused with its existing promoted label, which is its only indicator of a paid ad. The official label is currently in early testing and available to a small group of organizations. Good news for niche brands. Google has added several new business profile categories this month.

Starting point is 00:07:09 And here they are. Bee relocation services, cannabis clubs, farrier services. I had to look that one up. That has something to do with horses. Rehearsal studios and state parliaments, among others. Bad news if you're in the hot spring hotel industry, though, as that category got the boot. God, I hate Air Canada.

Starting point is 00:07:38 Like, I just fucking, I hate Air Canada. I left them 10 years ago, went to WestJet, never looked back. Here's a perfect example. So I have a credit card that collects Air Canada. I left them 10 years ago, went to WestJet, never looked back. Here's a perfect example. So I have a credit card that collects Air Canada points and I have 107,000 points. Okay. My wife and I are going to Mexico. I tried to book a flight down to Mexico, cost 45,000 points. Coming back from Mexico is 47,000 points. That's doing the math on my computer to make sure. 92,000 points. Remember, I have 107,000 points. And it said, sorry, you don't have enough points.

Starting point is 00:08:11 There's 15,000 left, but Air Canada's website apparently can't do math properly. Unbelievable. Canadians, run away see you tomorrow let's get down yeah let's get down to business

Starting point is 00:08:37 let's get down yeah let's get down

Today in Digital Marketing - Will Shopify’s AI Plans Support or Supplant Humans?

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