Make It With Michael

By Brad Harris It is an inconvenient truth for marketers that we are living in an age of distraction. Researchers and commentators regularly bemoan the fact that people have lost the capacity to concentrate due to the distracting technology available. In 2015, a survey of Canadian media consumption by Microsoft concluded that the widespread usage of smartphones has led to the deterioration of attention spans from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds today. Chances are you’re either reading this on your phone, near your phone, or have reflexively already reached for your phone. That means the other inconvenient truth faced by marketers is that blog content needs to be extremely high quality if it’s going to hold a reader’s attention. Choosing a timely and relevant topic isn’t enough – marketers also need to choose the most suitable format for their blog content to make it stand out. So let’s cut to the chase: what is the best performing blog post format if your aim is to ...

http://ift.tt/2tWlUXS By Brad Harris It is an inconvenient truth for marketers that we are living in an age of distraction. Researchers and commentators regularly bemoan the fact that people have lost the capacity to concentrate due to the distracting technology available. In 2015, a survey of Canadian media consumption by Microsoft concluded that the widespread usage of smartphones has led to the deterioration of attention spans from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds today. Chances are you’re either reading this on your phone, near your phone, or have reflexively already reached for your phone. That means the other inconvenient truth faced by marketers is that blog content needs to be extremely high quality if it’s going to hold a reader’s attention. Choosing a timely and relevant topic isn’t enough – marketers also need to choose the most suitable format for their blog content to make it stand out. So let’s cut to the chase: what is the best performing blog post for...

By Rob Mathison Move over mobile apps, messenger bots are here to stay. The latest mobile tech trend is software that pretends to be a person you can message through your preferred instant messaging platform. And businesses and brands are turning to Facebook Messenger bots in particular—attracted by Facebook’s enormous user base—to engage with and service their customers who use the platform. In fact, more than 100,000 bots chat to and help out people through Facebook Messenger every day. Let’s take a look at what bots are, what you can use them for, and how you can create a successful bot. We’ll also check out some of the most popular and notable Facebook Messenger bots. Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches you how to turn Facebook traffic into sales in four simple steps using Hootsuite. What are Facebook messenger bots? A messenger bot is a piece of software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate tasks and converse with you. The more you chat with a bot, t...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Rob Mathison Move over mobile apps, messenger bots are here to stay. The latest mobile tech trend is software that pretends to be a person you can message through your preferred instant messaging platform. And businesses and brands are turning to Facebook Messenger bots in particular—attracted by Facebook’s enormous user base—to engage with and service their customers who use the platform. In fact, more than 100,000 bots chat to and help out people through Facebook Messenger every day. Let’s take a look at what bots are, what you can use them for, and how you can create a successful bot. We’ll also check out some of the most popular and notable Facebook Messenger bots. Bonus: Download a free guide that teaches you how to turn Facebook traffic into sales in four simple steps using Hootsuite. What are Facebook messenger bots? A messenger bot is a piece of software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate tasks and converse with you. The more y...