Has the ‘Bot wrath’ and Artificial Intelligence cast a permanent shadow on all social media campaigns starting with Twitter?
What we do know is that ‘Bots’ are a software or an algorithm that can perform autonomous tasks, masking as an actual ‘user’. We also know that they are real and have become a ‘given’ across almost all social media platforms, especially Twitter. This is irrespective of whether conversations are being anchored by brands, political regimes (Russia being amongst one of the oldest adopters of it as a state tool) or a political party! Bots add to both ‘followers’ as well as the quantum of content being put out and both put together is better known in our marketing world as ‘engagement’.
To the slightly suspecting & trained mind, a Bot account is easy to identify. They would usually either have no images or a stock one as their profile picture, their accounts would have little or no original tweets but only re-tweets, and original tweets that they would have be worded exactly the same and repeatedly broadcasted across their multiple engagements.
So much to their discomfort, both brands and audiences have realised that all ‘engagement’ is no longer authentic. Infact, while percentages may vary, it is safe to assume that at least some part of it is algorithm-engineered, across all social media platforms. In 2014, Twitter itself estimated that atleast 5% of their accounts were Bots. And as per various estimates, that number today stands anywhere between 5% to 15%.
However, Twitter is not the only platform that faces the Bot onslaught! Other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest too face this annoyance although admittedly ‘bot-traffic’ on these platforms, shows a lower incidence vis a via Twitter – ranging from anywhere between 2% to 9% individually (as per Pixalate).
Don’t get me wrong, Bots anchored in artificial intelligence are not always a menace – they can be consciously employed as assets by the brand if they choose to automate predictable audience interactions and engagements. In fact, this employment can really power simultaneous one-on-one conversations ‘en masse’, freeing up valuable human time to focus on other tasks. But all of this is a subject for another discussion – what is the highlight of this piece, is how do brands and their marketers deal with the Bot-plagued media environment that brews mistrust – the most fundamental concern that both brands and their audiences have had when it comes to conversations on social media.
So what does this new perspective mean for brands that today more than ever before employ digital & social media platforms to engage with their audience with their messages? And at the same time, what does it hold for the audience in terms of trust and authenticity of the message they are consuming? Can either be really sure about the nature and amount of engagement they are involved with their ‘true’ suitors? Are Bots already manipulating conversations, seeding propaganda and can they potentially sabotage public opinion? These are real issues and they must be acknowledged and addressed by all stake-holders (brands, audiences, media buyers, owners & publishers) in a comprehensive & transparent manner.
And yet I think most of us will agree that the programmatic led approach has ensured more customized content is now getting delivered more effectively and to more relevant audience sub-clusters. That promotes efficiency – a metric that all stakeholders have endeavoured to better.
But the question still remains: How to deal with the new reality and the possible impact it could have on credibility of the brand’s message and its authenticity in this new, exciting and ‘real-time bidding’ world we live in? How can brands target higher safety ratings for their campaigns – meaning that atleast 95% of all ad impressions served, were served ‘brand-safe’ or ‘real’ audiences, via more rubust media planning & buying?
While there is no picture-perfect answer to that, atleast there are some solutions that are available that can detect and minimize fraud and even rank publishers and publications on their safety status. Contextual analysis is another method that can determine the relevance and appropriateness of the environment the brand communication is being served in. Intelligence analytics firms like Moat also track & measure the bona-fides of websites and publishing environments the communication is being served in. And then there are Private marketplaces and Publisher alliances that offer ‘guaranteed safe’ environments for brand communications to be served in. So while Bot-administered traffic, ad frauds and fake sites are real-time issues, it is encouraging o note that there are atleast some technology backed solutions that can successfully address this issues, even if so, partially.
Since civilisation was acknowledged, human-kind has been thrown multiple unexpected challenges. The human spirit has overcome all and continues to work what remains unresolved. The nature of challenges differs basis the environment & time we live in. The digital & social media ecosystem is another example of emergent and exciting ways in which our ecosystem evolves and without doubt, this new environment as well has and will continue to bring with itself a set of challenges. I have no doubt that while there will always be a share of naysayers, the collective human genius will find answers to these questions that face us.
Yes, while media planning & buying will need to become more intelligent, transparent & accurate, at the same time, I am equally sure despite all advances made on these subjects, campaign capability & efficacy will continue to remain a part of all ‘social’ conversations, in every sense of that word!
#BolderMarketing
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