In 2020, brands have adapted to shifts in everything from business practices to employee structure to customer expectations. But there’s one thing that never changes, and we’ve seen it reinforced time and time again over the course of this year: the fundamental need for human connection. We’re announcing our 2020 Autumn Launch to help our customers develop this important form of connection with their own customers. Our newest innovations will help brands improve their community management, team collaboration, and customer engagement processes. Here’s what’s new in the platform: The best way to manage all of your communities With new gesture-based scrolling (patent pending) and machine learning in Manage View to reject hate speech, Khoros is innovating on behalf of the people nurturing both owned communities and social media communities. Whether moderating for spam and accuracy or managing for participation and delight, community managers will have the best Engagement Manager on the market today. Learn more here. Shared visibility and coordination between Marketing and Service teams We’re bringing customer-facing teams together with shared visibility and coordination. With Khoros, service teams can take the right action on conversations based on the marketing content that inspired it. Marketing context — like campaign initiatives, plans, and tags — will now inform workflows and automatically route, prioritize, and filter conversations so customers have a cohesive experience with the brand. Plus, all customer-facing teams will see who owns the conversation so they can break down silos and speak with one brand voice. ____________________________________________________________________ What’s new in Khoros Communities Events experiences Our new Event capability with social media video live streaming makes it more rewarding to host events in your branded community. Brands can now also simplify digital events, from the initial creation and promotion to the actual management of the event. When in-person gatherings are limited or restricted, hosting events in online communities can help brands maintain crucial customer relationships. Improved knowledge sourcing and streamlined communication with Slack Our new Slack integration allows brands to connect their community on Khoros Communities in exciting ways. Now, Khoros offers the only solution in the industry for brands to seamlessly communicate and search their owned community within Slack. Learn more here. ____________________________________________________________________ What’s new in Khoros Care Email integration and channel consolidation We’re excited to add email to our repertoire of supported channels in Khoros Care. Brands will now have the ability to respond to inbound emails, and much more, directly in the platform, alongside other supported digital service channels: chat, messaging, social media, owned communities, reviews, and more. AI updates to ease agent strain and improve accuracy Our two newest AI capabilities, intent detection and suggested responses, will help agents increase conversation volume without sacrificing quality. With intent detection, agents will no longer need to manually input every keyword. Instead, intent detection uses natural language processing (NLP) to identify consumer intents and automatically tag conversations. The suggested responses feature analyzes historic brand conversations and surfaces the top responses, improving accuracy and saving agents time and effort, while still conveying a human touch to customers. ____________________________________________________________________ What’s new in Khoros Marketing Greater flexibility for social media marketers With new LinkedIn ads visibility — in addition to existing Facebook and Instagram ads visibility — social media marketers will now be able to see paid and organic data alongside one another. This will help them develop a holistic approach across social media channels.  Learn more here. Custom defined metrics will give social media managers and analysts control over how they define success with the world’s most unified social media analytics platform. Learn more here. Announcing early access for paid execution for Facebook & Instagram, which enables marketers to seamlessly switch from publishing organic content to creating bespoke ads, with calendar visibility and analytics insight across social channels. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you are interested in joining the early access program. ... View more

  This year’s Khoros Engage keynote speaker is author, businesswoman, and tech expert Nilofer Merchant. She will be sharing her years of expertise and thought leadership as we discuss digital transformation and engagement along the theme of her renowned topic: Onlyness, the distinct value of each of us. Want to know more about Nilofer Merchant? Check out this blog on the Khoros website. We’re excited to hear how Merchant’s themes of Onlyness, engagement, and digital transformation take shape in her keynote address. She plans to discuss what it means to engage, just how far engagement has come in the past eight years since her second book was published, and how far it will go in the coming years. As we’ve all seen, times change and require a new way of engaging, so her words are more valuable than ever. Every brand has to look at ways of going digital like they haven’t had to before, making it tougher to engage with both potential and existing customers. These themes, combined with Merchant’s prowess as a speaker, will make this section of Engage one that you can’t miss. If Merchant’s ideas about digital strategy, leadership, and engagement sound like they might be helpful for your business, let us know you're attending on the Nilofer Merchant Keynote Event Page.  Not only will you hear Merchant’s exciting keynote address, but you will also be able to participate in our in-depth breakout sessions, hear from digital experts, and network with leaders in many industries. The event is completely digital in 2020, but there’s just as much great content as ever. Stay up to date on Engage News and Discussions by joining and subscribing to the Khoros Events Group Hub! We can’t wait to ask, “how can digital transformation help foster a sense of Onlyness and build engagement and resilience?” What do you want to ask her? Let us know in the comments below! ... View more

Khoros Engage is going virtual this year, but the event has just as many amazing opportunities as ever for anyone working in digital marketing, customer care, or online community building. Just like we have in past years, this year we’re bringing together experts from top brands in a wide range of industries for a day of learning, networking, and collaboration. The event is on October 14, 2020. We’re a little sad that we can’t hold it in Austin, the fastest-growing tech city in America, but we’re still super excited about the exciting reasons to attend. As hard as it was to choose among them, here are the top three! 1. Connect with the top brands in the world Regardless of your brand’s industry, you almost certainly need a digital marketing strategy, a customer care platform, an online community, or some combination of the three. Since these three needs connect almost every brand in the world, we wanted to bring some of the best and brightest together to share ideas and strategies. At Khoros Engage, you’ll learn how brands like Midco leverage chatbots to support their customer care efforts, and how Paychex manages customer support digitally. Of course, this isn’t simply an opportunity to listen, but to speak and meet! You never know what new ideas or strategies might arise from an interaction with a peer from another industry. Engage is a place for cross-pollination and collaboration, regardless of industry. 2. Listen to industry-leading speakers One of the main highlights of Khoros Engage is the exceptional list of keynote speakers every year. Despite being the first virtual Engage, this year’s event is no exception. Headlining our list of extraordinary speakers is Nilofer Merchant, a global leading expert and author focusing on business in the “Social Era.” Thinkers50 named Merchant the “#1 person most likely to influence the future of management in both theory and practice” in 2013, and in 2017, they ranked her the #22 top business thinker in the world. Many breakout sessions at Khoros Engage will feature Khoros customers at top brands. Jacqueline Simard Ireton, Digital Intelligence Operations Lead of U.S. Consumer Experience at Eli Lilly and Company, and Gina Florence, Managing Director of Digital Engagement, at Charles Schwab, will be leading a session on brand quality control through social media governance. Jean-Philippe Bonnafoux, VP of Growth and Success in Digital Business at Schneider Electric, will speak to a session on how to elevate self-service customer care with online, brand communities. 3. Learn about collaborations with other areas of your business Perhaps the most valuable insights that Engage participants take away are the ones that help them improve workflows and efficiencies in their own organizations. Khoros strives not just to help brands create customers for life, but also to help them break down silos and improve internal communication. Engage is one of the best sources of ideas and information for how to do just that. Khoros’ own experts — including CMO Katherine Calvert and CCO Staci Satterwhite — will offer insights to help businesses across industries. Still, many of the most valuable insights at Engage come from fellow attendees. This is a unique opportunity for professionals in any industry to learn new, fresh strategies from leaders in other industries. Social media managers from retail brands can learn from care teams at tech companies; digital community administrators from cosmetics brands can learn from marketers at financial institutions. This is an unparalleled opportunity for cross-pollination, so don’t miss it! Register for Khoros Engage 2020 today, for free.   ... View more