Technology Resolutions for 2018

On the way into work today, I heard a sad stat, “80% of New Year’s resolutions will fail by the second week of February!”  That is rather dismal, but perhaps the resolutions were too lofty or ill-conceived or simply never a real commitment from the beginning.  Whatever the case, we have list of realistic and beneficial technology resolutions that you will definitely want to keep this year!

1. Engage at a new level with LiveStreaming at your annual Event: Live streaming for your event can expand reach and generate a larger audience. Make 2018 the year to grow your annual conference audience with Facebook Live. According to MediaKix, Facebook Live videos are watched 3x longer than videos that aren’t live, and users comment on FB Live videos at 10x the rate of regular videos. You will be able to stream conference video and gauge how well your conference is received from your virtual attendees with Live Reactions.
2. Launch an AI Chatbot on your website or event registration site: Chatbots are everywhere on the web and in apps – ready to schedule a meeting, report the weather, assist with the purchase of a pair of shoes, etc.     According to Aspect Software Research at the end of last year, 44 percent of US consumers prefer interacting with chatbots over humans for customer relations.  Chatbots could potentially cut your labor costs or save staff time while improving your member’s experience with your organization’s website or app. For example, employ a Chatbot for your event registration site to answer event and registration questions, minimizing errors and improving speed to answer time.
3. Include App Push Communications as a channel in your 2018 communication strategy:  While other communication channels are saturated, push notifications may allow you to be heard above the noise by your members throughout 2018.  Push notifications is a newer and personally relevant channel for your members.  This is backed by research undertaken by On Device Research, which shows 55% of consumers respond to Push notifications in some way, outstripping response rates of all other marketing channels (e.g. SMS 10-20%, email 3.2%).  23% surveyed ranked Push notifications as their preferred mode of mobile communication for brands and organizations.  You probably engage your members with push notifications at your events via your event app, but what about harnessing the power of push throughout the year?
4. Launch an education app:  According to James Spellos, Keynote at last year’s GLES Summit, on average a person touches his/her phone 2617 times a day.  No other device boasts such a stat!  According to Wordstream, over 50% of all video content is viewed on mobile and 90% of all Twitter video views happen on mobile device as well.   Including video content, resource materials, study aids, and test, educational apps personalize the member’s educational experience while tracking credentials and certification. It is time to meet you members where they live, and offer an immersive mobile Education Program.