Jason Debacco

Need to be seemingly everywhere, all the time? TOTALLY. 

You’re not alone. 

Which is why Dikayo Data‘s Danielle Oberdier recently sat down with our very own Kately to look at how AI and data science are working together to help you create the content cycle your business has been dreaming of. (Hint: LATELY!)

Because… We get it. Anyone who’s seen an episode of Black Mirror probably thinks AI’s a scary mystery beast that will eventually replace humans completely. Gah!

The truth is that using AI doesn’t mean living in a completely impersonal world at all. 

1 + 1 = 3

As Danielle and Kately discuss, truly successful AI is designed not to replace humans nor to make humans “better”, but to genuinely help humans make something else better than they ever could’ve done on their own. A sort of “1 + 1 = 3 equation”, as Kately puts it. 

And that’s the magic.

In fact, AI is a rapidly evolving entity. We’re now approaching a world where AI is not only able to read longform content and break it down (like Lately does), but is able to study content and create brand new thoughts based on everything it reads (also like Lately does – take a sneak peek here). 

Now, all that evolution is good and fun, but that means that brands have to grow with it. Gone are the days of not relying on organic social media as a bedrock for marketing and connecting with target audiences! 

Organic Social Media and the Power of Individuals

For small businesses, this stands as a potential issue, as the extraversion required and demonstrated by enterprise companies is expected – regardless if it comes naturally to them. This same extraversion is more and more required from individuals themselves, whether at small or enterprise businesses.

Can AI help people who are expected to use social media for their livelihood, but may not know how to, by providing them with a strong jumping off point – by starting them at third base? Yasssssssss.

Can entrepreneurs now run the ship while simultaneously fully immersing themselves into social media? Also yasssssssss.

Learn how and listen to the full interview HERE:

About Dikayo Data

Dikayo Data provides the data science community with 24 hour support and resources. Their podcast, Data Femme, hosted by Danielle Oberdier provides listeners with discussions on all things new in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science tools and technologies while also touching on the importance of diversity and inclusion as a whole. You can hear more of Dikayo Data’s Data Femme Podcast here: https://www.dikayodata.com/datafemme.

We’ve all been “just a customer.” On the phone with your cable company (blahrg), at the post office, in a restaurant — whether indignant, blasé or robotic, that distinctly “just-a-customer” treatment from a seemingly inhuman human is universally frustrating.

So we set out make Lately’s customer service 100% world-class (even though the world doesn’t quite yet know about us :-)).

Sounds easy enough: treat customers like family — everyone knows that. 

But all relationships travel a two-way street. Meaning, “just a customer” isn’t only someone a business doesn’t know. It’s also someone who doesn’t know the people at that business. And it occurred to us that to truly be world-class, we’d need to get our customers to think of us as family, too. 

How do you get customers — a.k.a. people — to care about you? Be human.

Rule #1 – Talk and Write as We Actually Do

Emojis, contractions, idioms, hyperbole, exclamations and all manner of naturally human vernacular (including the occasional spelling errors!) is the Lately way… Formality has no place in our brand of human, “warts and all” is our motto and Emily Post is not our queen.

When we communicate genuinely, our customers do, too. Which means we learn more, faster and can help, better. 

Rule #2 – Share a Little Life

We have kids, wives, husbands, girlfriends, stepmoms, half-brothers, younger sisters, nephews, dachshunds and unwanted groundhogs. We also love rock n roll, making tie-dies, playing rugby, swimming with sharks (really!) and shooting traps.

We’re on a first name basis with every customer and do our damndest to get to know them. We’re personally connected with nearly every one of our customers on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter (including me). And we’re proud to say that many of them have become friends.

When we let our customers into our worlds, they reciprocate. Which helps us both gain a greater understanding of all the factors that may impact someone’s marketing workflow but also to gain the trust that we’ve got their back — because that’s what humans do.

Rule #3 – Own Up

Saying sorry is easy. Saying sorry and meaning it is harder. And when you’re a startup, you say sorry a lot (hi, customers reading this now who are nodding their heads). 

But sorry alone doesn’t cut it. Because our customers take a gamble with us. We’re new and they’re willing to try us out. We know this is a BIG deal. 

So when we make a mistake… man, oh man, you should see our Slack threads. It’s a team event, trying to figure out the best way to solve and apologize, let me tell you. 

Which is why it’s essential our customers know that we mean it. We must be upfront, honest and give thoughtful explanation. We must also express empathy. No scripts. Just a real, human apology. 

And we of course must make amends, whenever possible. 

And if the mistake isn’t ours? We still say sorry. Because we are. 

When we apologize, genuinely, our customers are more forgiving. And boy are we grateful. After all, we can only learn from mistakes if we’re allowed to make them. And that’s what being a startup is very much about.

So, thank you, wonderful customers, for letting us.