HubSpot’s James Gilbert (see main photo), Tribe’s Nick Randall and Thinkbell’s Adam Ferrier will join Enjo’s Barb de Corti and others on June 26th at Optus Stadium..
As we enter an ‘age of convenience’, emerging technologies will play a pivotal role in how businesses communicate with existing and prospective customers, according to HubSpot APAC Marketing Director James Gilbert.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at the first ever State of Social Conference, James shared his thoughts with Startup News on messaging, the future of inbound marketing, and why it is useful to implement machine learning to help deepen relationships.
“The appetite is there from a consumer perspective, businesses just need to figure out how to implement the technology and create the most convenient experience possible via messaging apps for their current and prospective customers,” James said.
With over 1.2 billion people using it and 2 billion messages exchanged, a technology like Facebook Messenger can help businesses communicate efficiently and conveniently with clients, help with generating leads, driving traffic, and be used as a destination for Facebook ads, he said.
James also leads HubSpot’s global Facebook Messenger team and told us that their recent acquisition of Kemvi – an artificial intelligence and machine learning startup – helped sales representatives deepen their relationships with prospective buyers.
Kemvi’s algorithm sifts through millions of pieces of content each day to learn what is happening with buyers and prospects and delivers that information to sales representatives.
“This technology is being incorporated into HubSpot CRM, giving salespeople even more tools to carry out more contextual, empathetic outreach to their contacts,” James said.
Rather than lose personal relationships, Gilbert believes machine learning will only better position businesses to help their clients and customers because of how efficient it will become to filter through data.
“We’ll need to focus on providing frictionless experiences that match the way modern humans want to buy,” James said.
“In 10 years’ time, I imagine the businesses that didn’t prioritise ‘convenience’ in 2018 will no longer be in existence,” he said.
The State of Social Conference will be run around various themes, kicking off with the topic of ‘Influence’. Enjo’s Barb de Corti, the Communications Council’s Danielle Norish and The Urban List’s Anna Franklyn will talk on this, followed by a ‘Behaviour’ discussion with Meerkat’s Gavin Bain, 303MullenLowe’s Derry Simpson and Draftstar’s Andrew Mathwin.
The day is completed with ‘Innovation’ with well-known startup supporter and SOMA managing director Nate Sturcke and others.
So if you’re interested in a day away from the keyboard, and would like a deep dive into these and related issues, have a look at the State of Social conference on June 26th. 12 panellists, 3 keynote speakers, food and drink all day for the ticket price.
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For more on State of Social conference, visit their website. The conference has been the brain child of local social media consultant, Meg Coffey, of Coffey & Tea and #SMPerth.
