MarTech Today: Consumers and AI, Amazon’s Alexa skill dashboard & Twitter adds direct messages to chatbots

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

From MarTech Today:

• Two new reports: Many consumers afraid of, and confused by, artificial intelligence
  Apr 7, 2017 by Barry Levine
  Separate studies by Pegasystems and InsideSales depict ‘fear and confusion,’ but offer some strategies for AI-using businesses.
• Take the MarTech survey: Is marketing art or science?
  Apr 7, 2017 by MarTech Today
  The phrase “art and science” of marketing gets thrown around a lot. But what does it really mean? What exactly is the art part of marketing, and what is the science? Where are the boundaries between them? Do they overlap? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Please take this short survey on […]
• Amazon launches a metrics dashboard for Alexa skill developers
  Apr 7, 2017 by Matt McGee
  Developers can see how often their skills are used, how many people are using them and how successful consumers’ “utterances” are.

From Marketing Land:

• Twitter officially opens direct messages to chatbots
  Apr 7, 2017 by Tim Peterson
  Now any brand can create a chatbot to handle direct messages on Twitter, in the same way it would on Facebook Messenger.
• 5 Hottest Trends in Advanced Analytics
  Apr 6, 2017 by Digital Marketing Depot
  Marketing data is everywhere. With so many new consumer touchpoints – from chatbots, to in-store beacons and virtual assistants – the sheer variety and volume of data is exploding. Beyond your out-of-the box product dashboards, custom Excel spreadsheets, and basic data visualizations – are you really leveraging your data in meaningful ways?
• In the age of RankBrain, these foundational SEO issues still matter
  Apr 6, 2017 by Nate Dame
  Search engine technology has evolved, algorithms have become more advanced, and SEO tactics and strategies have changed in response. But columnist Nate Dame believes fundamentals will still move the needle.
  

From Around The Web:

• 3 Free Business Dashboards to Track Your Marketing Like a Pro, Constant Contact
• 5 Multi-Touch Attribution Models for Measuring Campaign Success, 3Q Digital
• Facebook virtual reality unit Oculus faces lawsuit over imaging patent, Reuters
• 5 Ways to Leverage Market Research Tech to Improve Marketing Strategy, MarTech Advisor
• MarTech Advisor’s Investscape Q1 2017, MarTech Advisor
• From AMP to Progressive Web App, Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
• All Periscope Users Can Now Broadcast 360 Video Through iOS, Producer, Adweek
• Live Video: Tips and Techniques for Creating Great Content, Social Media Examiner