[THE LATEST] Chatbots vs. Live Chat, Bob's 10,181-Mile Trip Across America, & When Influencer Marketing Goes Too Far

Here's THE LATEST from the marketing, business, and tech world...

Chatbots vs. Live Chat, Bob's 10,181-Mile Trip Across America, & When Influencer Marketing Goes Too Far ...This Is THE LATEST!  As Bill Pullman so epically reminded us in the 1996 cinema masterpiece Independence Day, "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day." But (fingers crossed), given that there will be no alien invasions to spoil our July 4th barbecues and other firework-oriented adventures, we wanted to give you — our dedicated subscribers — a little gift...  That's right. The team here at IMPACT all chipped in and we created a summertime Spotify playlist of all of our warm-weather favorites for you all to enjoy during your holiday weekend shenanigans. Because when you're declaring your own independence this July 4th — however brief it may be — from early morning alarms, coworkers who always forget not to reply-all, meetings that could have been an email, and a never-ending waterfall of reports, you should have a fantastic soundtrack. Now, of course, the digital sales and marketing show must go on.  So, for the workaholics out there in the audience who want to stay sharp this holiday weekend, I've got a few hand-selected articles you've got to check out. 🤖 Chatbots vs. Live Chat: Do You Know Which One You Should Be Using on Your Company's Website? Whether you're talking about bots or live chat options, conversational marketing is a big deal for one very specific reason — our buyers have become less patient about how long it takes for them to get answers to their questions online. The challenge, however, is knowing which are the best conversational marketing tools to use and when. Especially if you're worried about whether or not you even have the staff to support such options. In this expert interview, IMPACT HubSpot Consultant Nick Bennett breaks down the most common misconceptions about bots and live chat, and how to make the right choice for your company website. ⭐ RELATED: 6 Examples of Conversational Marketing Done Perfectly Right 🕵️ Our CEO Traveled 10,181 Miles Across the Country to Capture Clients' Success Stories & Here Is What He Learned When IMPACT CEO Bob Ruffolo embarked on his cross-country tour to meet with clients to learn more about how they created their own successful digital sales and marketing cultures, he did so with the goal of sharing those stories with the world. While Bob knew it would be an important experience as a business owner himself, he was not prepared for how powerful and transformative the trip turned out to be. Read IMPACT CEO Bob Ruffolo's personal account of his trip and the lessons he says are some of the most important he has ever learned in the past 10 years of running IMPACT. ⭐ RELATED: Why We Created the Digital Sales & Marketing Scorecard 🏆 This Publicity Stunt "Engagement" Has Many Wondering If Influencer Marketing Has Gone Too Far At first glance, Marissa Casey Fuch's globetrotting scavenger hunt — supposedly orchestrated by her boyfriend, Gabriel — was the stuff made of fairy tales. And her 160,000+ Instagram followers were enraptured as they waited for her to get to the end of that scavenger hunt, where they assumed Gabriel would propose. Swoon! As it turns out, however, the entire scavenger hunt proposal was pitched to advertisers and brands as an exclusive influencer marketing opportunity. IMPACT Account Executive Jenna Ott has the scoop on this wild influencer marketing story, why it's ruffled so many feathers, and what the implications are for marketers who still look to influencers in their strategies.  ⭐ RELATED: Influencers & the Real Effect They Have on Purchases [Infographic] 🎧  Our Latest Shows & Podcasts  Commitment to New Routines Takes Practice (MarketHer) What You Should Know About Outsourcing Video Production (Film School for Marketers) Aligning Sales & Marketing with Jimmy Daly of Animalz (Inbound Success Podcast) Email Replies by Rep Reports, Email Tool Updates, & Getting Behind the HubSpot Curtain (Hubcast) 📆  Upcoming Digital Sales & Marketing Events The cat's out of the bag! HubSpot CEO and co-founder Brian Halligan is the final keynote speaker to round-out the incredible line-up we have for IMPACT Live 2019 — and now the main event is only a little over a month away!  (Eek! Who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and needs to get her talk together? This gal.) The theme behind this year's event is They Ask, You Answer. They Ask, You Answer is a business philosophy that has sparked a movement, with thousands of businesses from around the world transforming how they grow their businesses and generate revenue from their digital strategies. We invite you to join this movement by attending IMPACT Live 2019, and you can get 15% off your ticket with promo code SPEAKERHALLIGAN. But only for a limited time!  ⚡ IMPACTers at #INBOUND19 Don't forget! Now is the time to favorite the sessions you want to attend at INBOUND this year — and three IMPACTers will be rocking the stage this September in Boston: Marcus Sheridan: "7 Secrets to Content That Generates the Greatest Results, ROI, & Lasting Impact" Carina Duffy: "3 Steps to a Killer HubSpot Implementation" Kathleen Booth: "Double Traffic & Revenue by Shifting from Content Marketing to Brand Publishing" Yes, favoriting is a big deal! The INBOUND team uses that data to determine how much interest a session has, so they can make sure that there will be enough room for everyone who may want to attend. ⏰ Throwback Thursday It's not often that I get to laugh and learn at the same time. But when I read through IMPACT Design Supervisor Jessie-Lee Nichol's article, 10 Web Design Mistakes You're Making That You Love (& Your Visitors Hate), I was so utterly delighted by her candid and hysterical approach to saving all of us from ourselves.  Here's what I mean: Trust me, you'll want to take a few minutes to read through this gem before you head back to the office. I guarantee that you'll not only laugh, you'll also have a few moments of, "Uh oh, we're doing that."  And that's OK! The first step is admitting you have a problem. 🗞️ What I'm Reading And now, without preamble or context, here is what I'm reading right now: Yesterday's Facebook image outage unveiled how the social networking giant uses artificial intelligence to tag your photos. The story is equal parts funny and annoying.  Grubhub is buying up a bunch of restaurant website addresses, boxing out small business owners. Understandably, people are not happy about it. Wix.com is using LinkedIn to target designers, engineers, and agencies. Yet another story proving that there's tons of value in the LinkedIn platform.  OK, time to crank some jams and fire up the barbecue here at the Murphy residence. And reply to this email if you think there are any songs our Summertime at IMPACT playlist is missing!  Liz Murphy Director, Web & Interactive Content @naptownpint I'm not interested at this time Sent with 💙 by IMPACT  470 James Street, Suite 10, New Haven, CT