Four killer conversion rate optimization musts for 2016

Bots, artificial intelligence, and messaging — cost-effective, easy-to-implement automation technology —- is gaining a major foothold in customer service organizations, and the impact is palpable. Contact centers are on track to shrink by 50 percent in the next three years as routine tasks are taken over by faster, efficiency-saving bots that can triage requests, boost customer satisfaction, and offer an 8.6 percent increase in profit margin per customer.

These technologies are also making it easy to tap into the gig economy, which is producing a growing supply of tech-savvy labor for companies that also saves costs. For workers, it means flexible arrangements with low barriers to entry, plus more satisfying employment, now that the grunt work has been eliminated by automation.

AI and automation is set to level up the workforce, the economy, and your bottom line. For a closer look at the long-term implications of automation, how to invest in the brave new world of work, and more, don’t miss this VB Live event!

Attend this webinar and learn:

* The workforce implications of customer service bots
* How bots and employees can work side-by-side
* What smart companies are doing to lay the groundwork
* Future of work - what does it look like?

Speakers:

* Abinash Tripathy, Co-founder, Helpshift
* Peter Ryan, Principal Analyst, Ryan Strategic Advisory
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst-at-Large, VentureBeat
* Dilan Yuksel Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Helpshift

While companies have been ditching traditional marketing methods in their race to capture the online-savvy millennials, no one is on their phone 24/7, and delivering brand messages out in the world is still vital to capturing mindshare.

Those first-gen marketing methods, including outdoor, tv, direct mail, and more, are still valuable and essential to building a stronger bottom line, especially when integrated as a vital part of an overarching marketing campaign, firing on all cylinders. That’s easier than ever, because traditional doesn’t mean old-school and analog anymore, and innovations in marketing technology don’t only apply to your online channels. You can apply your martech capabilities not just for tracking, measurement, and attribution, but to keep tabs on omnichannel competitor strategies, design the most effective campaign copy in every arena, create the most impactful rollouts between all your channels and more.

To find out how to integrate offline marketing channels with your online efforts, how marketing technology can bring those traditional methods into the twenty-first century, and more, don’t miss this VB Live event!

Registration is free.

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How to use martech to digitize offline channels
* How to integrate traditional marketing efforts into their newer tech-driven marketing stack
* The importance of combining online and offline marketing
* How to track offline conversions

Speakers:
* Evan Jones, CMO, Fender
* Mark Coffey, SVP of Strategic Partnerships, GasBuddy
* Myllisa Patterson, Senior Director, Event Cloud Marketing, Cvent
* Shannon Ryan, Head of Marketing, CI&T
* Dilan Yuksel, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Cvent

The landscape of voice and chatbot-to-customer interactions is blowing up. Whether it’s a trusted AI assistant like Alexa or Google Home, or an integrated voice or chatbot tool within a brand interface like Kayak’s customer service experience, customers are increasingly willing to engage with brands via voice chat.

AI assistants are getting smarter, and becoming capable of helping consumers sort through the avalanche of choices available in every decision, from buying phone plans to toothbrushes. And your marketing efforts will have to shift priorities in a major way to capture the attention of these newly connected customers as assistants get smarter and customers learn they can rely on their results.

To hear about actual voice chat use cases, the differences between integrated bots and AI assistants, and how to leverage voice and bots for amaze-and-delight experiences right now, don’t miss this VB Live event!

Register here for free.

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How bots and voice are uniquely positioned to help customers make purchasing decisions
* How brands can address the advantages of integrated bots and an AI trusted assistant like Alexa
* The best ways to leverage voice and bots to optimize the customer experience
* What's next for voice and bots

Speakers:

* Bharath Kadaba, Chief Innovation Officer, Intuit
* Ryan Lester, Director, Customer Engagement Technologies, LogMein
* Matthias Keller, Chief Scientist & SVP Technology, Kayak
* Russ Tar, VP EMEA, Artificial Solutions
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Bold360 by LogMeIn

They’re savvy, those consumers – they can smell “targeted advertising” from a mile away, and they’re really not interested in it. But they’ll listen to recommendations from their peers, and they trust the integrity of the influencers they follow to never steer them wrong when it comes to brand buy-in.

In a world where consumers are smarter, live streaming makes TV ads irrelevant, and ad blockers are de rigueur, influencer marketing – when you do it right – means making meaningful connections, building trust, and securing loyalty.

What does “right” mean? Don’t miss this VB Live event where you’ll learn how influencers can improve your brand reputation, how to build authentic relationships with the right influencer for your brand, and the mistakes to avoid at all costs.

Register now for free!

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How influencers and customers drive brand reputation and how they differ.
* The relationship between PR tactics and community voice
* Real-world tactics used by brands to overcome PR nightmares
* How to create an influencer marketing plan that retains authenticity and believability
* How real brands think about influencers + consumers as a strategy to strengthen their bottom line

Speakers:
* Mae Karwowski, Founder and CEO, Obviously
* Amanda Brown, Senior Manager Digital Marketing, TGI Fridays
* Taimoor Dar, Head of Community, Yummly
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst-at-Large, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Obviously

Money is pouring into esports. There are more players, more games, more viewers, and bigger prize pools — and companies are taking note. Investment is coming from all angles, and everyone is looking for a piece of the pie. But many of the existing monetization models of esports only seek to follow the tried and true formats from traditional sports.

There is a lot for the video game industry to learn from the legacy sports broadcast model; but there’s a catch: The video games industry uses some of the world’s most advanced interactive technology to create some of the world’s most compelling entertainment experiences.

So why would we just do it the same way as before? The answer? We probably won’t. Not for long at least.

In this special session, our panel of experts will unpack the old and the new of esports, and explore where genuine innovation may come from in the future. We’ll discuss how to get the most out of traditional methods, and how some companies are experimenting with new approaches to engaging with audiences and driving revenue.

Register now to join us for free.

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How the current esports model stacks up against traditional sports, and where the money is coming from now
* The new technologies that will change the existing business model
* The difference between formal esports and personalized broadcasting — and what those differences mean for your bottom line

Speakers
* Jonathan Singer, Industry Strategist, Akamai
* Robb Chiarini, Director esports, NCSA at Ubisoft
* Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, Gamesbeat
* Kent Wakeford, Co-founder and COO, Gen.G

Sponsored by Akamai

Forrester found that only 11 percent of companies are able to deliver a customer experience (CX) that sets them apart from their competition. Without a CX that elevates the brand, companies are at risk of being left behind while customers choose to spend their purchase dollars or business investments elsewhere.

There are four key ways to ensure that your CX is flawless and your market share keeps growing. It starts from the inside out, with a unified vision of CX; a strategy to solve problems fast while offering self-help; continuous, ongoing iteration and improvement of best practices, and a consistent, personalized experience in every way.

To learn more about why CX has to be the core of your company and how to launch the strategy that ensures your company maintains competitive advantage, don’t miss this VB Live event!

Register here for free.

Webinar attendees will learn:
* How to build trust with increasingly savvy consumers
* Why brand reputation is your most important calling card -- and how to protect it
* The key qualities customers look for in a trusted brand
* The secrets of the modern customer-focused organization

Speakers:
* Louise Thorpe, Chief Privacy Officer, American Express
* Andrew Leede, Product Owner, Blinker
* Ting Ting Luo, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Docusign
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst-at-Large, VentureBeat
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Docusign

More and more, savvy customers are willing to share info about themselves and their browsing behavior — but in return, you have to use those powers for good. Or in other words, start serving them up completely personalized web and mobile ads that reflects their tastes, values, and preferences in every (not-creepy) way. It’s the key to delivering the kind of goods and services that keep your customers clicking — and more than happy to keep handing over their personal information.

It’s also hard to pull off. To learn how companies like Pandora flawlessly serve up the customized advertising that clicks, don’t miss this VB Live event!

Register here for free.

Attend this webinar and learn about:
* How to offer your customers content that connects to their lifestyle and tastes
* The intersection between art and science in the new world of hyper-personalized advertising
* How to create customized content that connects without creeping out customers
* Best practices companies like Pandora and Trulia use to create authenticity and bring in more revenue.

Speakers:
* David Hardtke, Director of Advertising Science, Pandora
* Deep Varma, VP of Engineering Trulia
* Moira Dorsey, Founder, Dorsey Experience
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Cvent

Your instincts are good — but AI can make them flawless. With AI, every time a customer engages with your brand, you’re making that moment really count.

Add AI powered predictive analytics to ensure the right message at the right time, targeting is accurate and high-value, and customer support is proactive. Automate chat-based customer service, and give your agents more info off the top. Level up the shopping experience by offering the right products at the right time — and add contextual conversation to narrow their choices down.

Customers want this kind of service and attention. And if you can’t deliver, they’re going to find the company that can. So don’t miss this VB Live event, where you’ll learn more about being relevant to your customers, making their engagement meaningful, and more!

Register now for free!

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How AI levels up personalization and customer engagement
* How to use AI-fueled data analytics to create tactical marketing plans.
* How to create personalized moments without being creepy
* How to increase real and effective relevance to customers across channels

Speakers:
* Grant Langston, CEO, Eharmony
* Dave Gerhardt, VP Marketing, Drift
* Brian Witlin, CEO, Yummly
* Moira Dorsey, Founder, Dorsey Experience

Sponsored by Drift

Enterprise preparation for AI has centered almost exclusively on data prep and data science talent. While without data there would be no AI, enterprises that fail to ready the broader organization, chiefly people, process, and principles, don’t just stunt their capacity for good AI, they risk sunk investment, jeopardize employee trust, brand backlash, or worse.

Ensuring sustainable deployment starts with assessing enterprise data strategy, aligning myriad stakeholders, technological feasibility assessment, and a coordinated approach to ethics.

Join VentureBeat and industry analyst and founding partner of Kaleido Insights, Jessica Groopman for discussion on the five fundamentals of AI readiness at our upcoming VB Live event!

Attend this webinar and learn:
* What you need to do to prepare for AI-- beyond the data science team
* Real-world examples and research findings
* Top 5 best practices for strategic AI implementation

Speakers:
* Nathan Decker, Director of eCommerce, evo
* Ken Natori, President, Natori Company
* Jessica Groopman, Industry analyst and founding partner of Kaleido Insights
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Where are your target customers going, and how are they spending their time and, more importantly, their dollars? Location data and intelligence – not just on how consumers are interacting with your brand but also with your competitors – is key to crafting a killer consumer experience and reaching them when and where their hearts and minds (and wallets) are ready to be captured.

From foot traffic patterns and location visits to frequency analysis, custom venue visit analysis offers powerful, actionable insights to companies looking for a competitive edge in a crowded field. Learn how to capture new customer interest, keep older customers coming back, and boost your market share when you join this VB Live event!

Register for free now!

During this webinar you’ll learn how to:
* Boost engagement with location-based consumer insights and competitive intelligence
* Gain insight into the behavioral patterns of customers and prospects
* Apply the best use of location data for your business

Speakers:
* David Bairstow, SVP Product Management, Skyhook
* Sheryl Jacobson, Principal Consulting Strategy and Analytics, Deloitte Consulting LLP
* Stewart Rogers, Analyst at Large, VentureBeat (Moderator)

Sponsored by Skyhook

Are you AI-ready? You need to be. Artificial intelligence marketing applications are delivering on their promise to source new insights to grow your business fast, AI technology is becoming available to any company looking for a competitive edge, and now’s the time to move, if you want to stay ahead of the curve.

But the challenge is not just in defining an AI strategy; it requires developing the infrastructure to support it.

Should you be developing in-house, or look to available technology and collaborate with outside experts? Keep deployment on-premise, or reach for the cloud? Can your current infrastructure, from server performance to processing power, stand up to the demands of increasingly complex AI applications?

Get ready to level up your marketing strategy with AI, advance your technological capabilities in smart, strategic ways, learn how to make sure your next infrastructure move helps you exploit the AI advantage and more when you join this VB Live event!

Register for free!

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How to tell if your marketing and IT departments are AI-ready
* The fundamentals of an AI-driven infrastructure
* The role of clean, definable data goals in successful AI implementation
* How to scale the AI workload

Speakers:
* Andrew Malinow, PhD., Principal Data Scientist, Zylotech
* Rolf Schromgens, CEO, Trivago
* Sherif Mityas, Chief Experience Officer, TGI Friday's
* Michele Goetz, Principal Analyst, Forrester
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Zylotech

Digital assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home are changing consumers’ expectations on how they interact with all kinds of companies. So it’s no surprise that financial institutions and other financial service providers are racing to keep up and optimize their customers’ current user experience with flexible and contextualized voice and chat capabilities.

But while investment in these types of conversational technologies continues to grow, there is still confusion about how much these technologies can really drive digital engagement and streamline customer communications.

Don’t miss this chance to understand how voice and chat conversational technologies are creating a more engaging and meaningful experience for your customers.

Webinar attendees will learn:
* How are conversational technologies changing the financial services landscape?
* Things to consider when looking to deploy a voice-enabled solution.
* How can Voice and Chat support a broad range of financial wellness solutions?
* Capitalizing on conversational interfaces to capture and improve customer loyalty.

And much more…

Speakers:
* Frank Coates, Executive Managing Director, Envestnet | Yodlee Analytics
* Ken Dodelin, VP Conversational AI Products, Capital One
* Sandi Boga, Director, Product Innovation, ATB Financial
* Evan Schuman, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Yodlee

Reportedly, 44% of Americans would rather scrub a toilet than call customer support. And heeding that cry for help back in 2016 or so, companies across the land stepped up to the plate, taking customer service from the phone to texting and messaging with AI-powered, NLP-reliant smart chatbots that could tell jokes, offer small talk, place taco orders, and more.

Where those messenger bots fell down, though, was in actually understanding customer intent and delivering on-point customer service. So companies were left with frustrated customers who’d still rather get a root canal than talk on the phone, but left with a broken messenger-based solution that only made the experience worse.

The answer: Make bots "dumber," to make customer service smarter. Simpler rules-based chatbots are easy to implement, easy to use, 99-percent effective web and mobile-based messenger apps that don't try to hold conversations — they just solve customer service issues, fast.

To learn more about why companies like Amazon are dumping the NLP bots and going all-in on a new generation of rules-based chatbots, don’t miss this VB Live event!

You’ll learn:
* The difference between NLP and rules-based bots and why it matters
* Why companies like Amazon are turning away from natural language processing-driven bots to rules-based bots
* How to deliver mobile and web-based customer service that works, using the right bots.
* How rules-based bots make the customer journey more effective

Speakers:
* Abinash Tripathy, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Helpshift
* Mitch Lee, Manager, Credit Karma and Co-Founder, Penny
* Leslie Joseph, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Helpshift

The subscription model is booming --subscription commerce grew more than 100 percent each year between 2011 and 2016, and the growth continues. Savvy companies are reaping the rewards: high recurring revenue that’s predictable paired with a competitive and sustainable business model. The potential ROI for global expansion is wide open, but many who try to take their subscription model global overlook important issues that can make or break success in new markets.

Learn about the best practices to expand your subscription business into new countries including how to manage local payments, get the right partners on board, optimize authorization rates, tackle key challenges in potential markets, mitigate fraud, and more when you join this VB Live event!

Register for free now.

Webinar attendees will learn about:
* The opportunities provided by the explosive subscription model growth around the globe
* How to overcome regional challenges, including local payment methods, regulations, data security, and taxation
* How to identify knowledgeable partners to accelerate your global expansion
* How localized communications throughout the subscription lifecycle boost subscriber retention
* Common fraud issues to anticipate and how to mitigate them

Speakers:
* Patrick Unnold, VP Customer, Recurly
* Luke Salinas, SVP Strategy, Adyen
* Lily Varon, Analyst, Forrester
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by: Recurly and Adyen

Are you AI-ready? You need to be. Artificial intelligence marketing applications are delivering on their promise to source new insights to grow your business fast, AI technology is becoming available to any company looking for a competitive edge, and now’s the time to move, if you want to stay ahead of the curve.

But the challenge is not just in defining an AI strategy; it requires developing the infrastructure to support it.

Should you be developing in-house, or look to available technology and collaborate with outside experts? Keep deployment on-premise, or reach for the cloud? Can your current infrastructure, from server performance to processing power, stand up to the demands of increasingly complex AI applications?

Get ready to level up your marketing strategy with AI, advance your technological capabilities in smart, strategic ways, learn how to make sure your next infrastructure move helps you exploit the AI advantage and more when you join this VB Live event!

Register for free!

Attend this webinar and learn:
* How to tell if your marketing and IT departments are AI-ready
* The fundamentals of an AI-driven infrastructure
* The role of clean, definable data goals in successful AI implementation
* How to scale the AI workload

Speakers:
* Andrew Malinow, PhD., Principal Data Scientist, Zylotech
* Rolf Schromgens, CEO, Trivago
* Sherif Mityas, Chief Experience Officer, TGI Friday's
* Michele Goetz, Principal Analyst, Forrester
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Zylotech

Globally there are 2.2 billion active gamers, and 47 percent of them shell out cash while they play. And 100 percent of them are at risk from fraudsters who rip off everything from a gamer’s identity to their credit cards, online goods, and trust in your company. With every instance of fraud, your reputation takes a nose dive, driving away customers and directly impacting your bottom line.

But fraud is notoriously difficult to combat. Legacy rules-based approaches have never been able to keep up with fraudsters, who constantly evolve their techniques using sophisticated technology like automated scripts and bots.

That’s why machine learning and artificial intelligence are being leveraged to detect fraud before it affects your company and end users. Machine learning can sift through billions of game events and analyze vast streams of data in real time to stop fraud in its tracks.

To learn more about how machine learning and AI can keep your game and players safe from increasingly aggressive online criminals, don’t miss this VB Live event!

In this webinar, you'll learn:
* How the gaming industry can secure gamer data and build trust
* How account takeover, fake licensing, spam, and scams pose a particular challenge to gamers and gaming platforms
* What policies your company should have in place around data breach ransom
* How to combat trolling

Speakers:
* Jeff Sakasegawa, Trust and Safety Architect, Sift Science
* Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer, GamesBeat
* Scott Adams, CEO FraudPvP.com, Former Director of Fraud & Risk, Riot Games
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Sift Science

Unemployment is at a record low, which is great for the economy, but tough on recruiters, now that hiring has become a seller’s market. But new AI-powered solutions for virtually every part of your recruitment funnel can give you the advantage you need in a tight market, and even improve your bottom line: Companies leveraging AI in their hiring initiatives are seeing an increase of 18 percent in their revenue and a 30 percent boost in profit.

And with over 62 percent of companies expected to be using AI to find and hire the best talent by the end of this year, getting on board the AI train has become an imperative — if you want to stay competitive.

Join execs from Adecco, LinkedIn, and Trivago to learn how how AI is revolutionizing their ability to resource high-quality talent, and how your company can do the same, in this VB Live event!

Register here for free.

In this webinar you'll learn:
* How to find the right talent faster, using data-driven AI
* The best tools to find quality candidates who progress to face-to-face interviews
* How to assess and measure existing talent to become smarter about avoiding bad hires
* How to engage and grow current employees to decrease the costs of high turnover
* Whether your recruitment and retention efforts are "AI-ready"

Speakers:
* Angie College, Vice President of Operations for Adecco USA
* John Jersin, Head of Product, LinkedIn Talent Solutions
* Maribel Lopez, Founder, Lopez Research & Data For Betterment
* Rachael Brownell, Moderator, VentureBeat

Sponsored by Mya Systems