Are You a Bot?

How to create a human connection in marketing like McDonald's.

There are endless tools that make marketers’ jobs easier. If we want to learn more about our audience, create, test, and schedule content — we are covered. Technology continues to offer a new option on Product Hunt that will answer our latest issue. But can something make us feel human again?

To find out what makes us feel robotic… heartless, we need to look at what is perceived as a bot and what immediately resonates with the audience. Essentially, what do we not want to be seen as, and what is the goal instead?

Characteristics of a Bot

The nameless, the faceless — the army of accounts that immediately conjure negative feelings about spam, misinformation, and trolls exist across the web. Bots have become more recognizable by bad agents than the original concept of a non-human account.

Though you may be a human behind the handle, your behavior dictates how you are treated and perceived.

So what exactly do we look for?

• The profile image is either blank or clearly isn’t of the person.
• The handle isn’t personalized. Yes, I’m looking at you @chad2746593.
• They follow key lists of people. It can be all political or all women
• They tend to have a small number of followers, and their followers in turn also have a small number of followers