Forbes Embraces Robots, Alexa Embraces Humans, & Basecamp Rejects Facebook ...This is THE LATEST!

Surprise! It's me, your friendly neighborhood IMPACT community director, Stephanie. I took over today's issue of THE LATEST, and boy, do I have a story for you. (Don't worry, Ramona and Liz will be back next week!)

I just left a grocery store, items in hand, without paying.

Let me back up...

Earlier today, I was walking to my train when I spotted a warm orange glow from a formerly vacant storefront. When I realized what it was my feet immediately carried me inside.

It was an Amazon Go store!

Taken while basking the glorious glow of Amazon automation.

If you haven't heard of this, it's Amazon's checkout-free store with ready-to-eat items you can grab and literally just go.

It was magical.✨

While today's rapid advancements in technology may seem scary, they can also be helpful timesavers. (According to the Amazon Go app, I was only in the store for a total of a minute and 20 seconds -- including the time it took to Instagram my experience!)

Maybe we need to start opening ourselves up to a future with robots... even for content creation.

🤖 With "Bertie," Robots Are Writing Rough Drafts for Forbes Contributors

Yep, robots are creating content. We're not talking your run of the mill robot-generated Olive Garden commercial script, either. We're talking about the big leagues. The team at Forbes is currently testing an AI-driven tool that gives Forbes writers a rough draft to build upon, instead of having them start a new article from scratch. Now, IMPACT Director of Web & Interactive Content Liz Murphy wants her own content robot.

🗣 New Alexa Skill Leaves Robot Voices Behind by Having Real People Read the News to You

Remember in Anchorman when Ron Burgundy got tiffed about Veronica reading "his news" live on the air? That's how many people feel when they ask an Alexa device for a flash briefing and get a robotic voice reciting the latest headlines. (Not all robots get love this week.) IMPACT Controller Eric Choma introduces us to the all-new Noa Alexa Skill and what it's teaching marketers about reaching their audience.

🚫 Basecamp Is Facebook-Free & They Want You to Do the Same

Following a long list of privacy issues and data breaches in 2018, Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson published an article stating their intentions and reasoning behind becoming a "Facebook-free business" in 2019. Director of Client Services Katie Pritchard shares the details of the story and why Basecamp wants you to join them in this article.

👀 ...When You're All Ears (& Eyes)

📅 Save the Date

As a marketer, you want to create customers that are loyal to your brand, but how do you do it? On Thursday, January 24, Will Harris of Real Thread will show you. During this interactive webinar, you'll learn how to retain your customers and what you need to do from first-touch to signed contract (and beyond) to transform those customers into lifelong brand loyalists. Register for this webinar today.
IMPACT Client Success Specialist Myriah Anderson will be a featured speaker for Sales Hacker's Accelerating Sales with Video: Lessons Learned from Those Seeing Success live web event on January 17. Limited spots are available, so snag yours today.
Chicago HubSpot User Group: In Chicago? Ready to win at social media? Join the Chicago HUG on Wednesday, January 23 at 6:00pm as Dan Gingiss, speaker and author of Winning at Social Customer Care, shares how to identify what will get shared on social media. Space is limited so register for the Chicago HUG today.

🔢 Weekly Number Crunching

Did you know hashtags probably won't increase engagement on your Instagram posts?

According to a study by Mention of more than 115 million Instagram posts, 33.3% of Instagram posts contain no hashtags and using hashtags in Instagram posts does not increase engagement rates.

This could be because Instagram's algorithm favors paid ads for reach over organic discoverability -- or it could simply be because mountains of hashtags are distracting and spammy. I guess we just have to stick to valuable content.