MarTech Today: Sprout Social’s Bot Builder, a computer vision test & conversational commerce

Here’s our daily recap of what happened in marketing technology, as reported on MarTech Today, Marketing Land and other places across the web.

From MarTech Today:

• Sprout Social releases first non-developer bot-building platform for Twitter
  Jun 22, 2017 by Barry Levine
  It’s not AI, but the idea is to manage customer inquiries before turning the inquiring user over to a live agent.
• A deep dive into online-to-in-store attribution
  Jun 22, 2017 by Michael Della Penna
  Columnist Michael Della Penna walks you through the various methodologies used to understand the impact of impressions on in-store visits and how they affect campaigns.
• Computer Vision Test: Amazon v. Google v. IBM v. Microsoft v. Pinterest
  Jun 22, 2017 by Tim Peterson
  A comparison of major tech companies’ computer vision technologies based on the labels they affixed to 10 photos.
• More than 75 percent of retail passes in Apple Wallet are the result of peer sharing
  Jun 22, 2017 by Greg Sterling
  Each mobile wallet pass is shared, on average, with 3.3 other mobile devices.
• An introduction to conversational commerce and bots
  Jun 22, 2017 by Christi Olson
  Bots are sweeping the digital landscape, giving consumers even more ways to interact with their favorite brands. Columnist Christie Olson believes it’s high time for marketers to think about how to incorporate bots into their digital strategies.

From Marketing Land:

• It’s time for SMBs to go all in on social and mobile video
  Jun 22, 2017 by Jordan Kasteler
  Due to tight budgets and time restraints, video is still a hurdle for many small business owners. But columnist Jordan Kasteler explains why video adoption should be a matter of “when” and not “if” for SMBs.
  

From Around The Web:

• Snapchat acquires social map app Zenly for $250M to $350M, TechCrunch
• Verizon-owned Yahoo is killing off the best app it’s ever made, The Next Web
• 5 Reasons Why Exchanges Are Signing Up For Amazon TAM, AdExchanger
• Performance Horizon Attains Platinum-Level Accreditation in LiveRamp’s Partner Program, PR Web
• VidMob Featured as Launch Partner in Yext App Directory, VidMob
• How to Choose Which Online Tools to Use for Your Marketing Campaign, Simply Measured
• Snap’s Ad Tech Platform Ahead Of Facebook In The Early Days, Buyers Say, AdExchanger
• Introducing the Justice League effects to the Facebook camera, Facebook Media
• The Future Of Video Is A Combo Of Cloud And AI, AdExchanger

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.