Chatbots are AI (artificial intelligence) based computer programs that mimic human conversations. At times, they are regarded as digital assistants which seek to understand the capabilities of humans. They can help businesses to communicate with people through translating the popularity of some messaging apps. Chatbots have inbuilt programs that are programmed to respond to queries in the same way a human would, responding differently to each unique query with the use of different keywords in their chatbot vocabulary. Chatbots are able to update their own algorithm regularly to adapt how they speak with their customers. Chatbots are now also making use of various customer support mediums such as website chat windows, text, and social media sites, with many of them being available 24 hours a day, allowing on hand customer support tools at all times.
Based on the Aspect Consumer Experience Index, almost 62% of customers report that chatbots are powerful tools to boost businesses’ growth. Thus, you can also use bots to boost your digital marketing efforts in the following ways.
- They improve customer service
Your customers are able to engage with these computer programs in a manner they would with a live support team. Chatbots can even learn off your call room employees, picking up on basic ques and language used on the phone and over email that they will then use when speaking to their own customers. Since most bots use natural language, it would be simple for them to analyse client’s questions before they provide a response, looking at previous responses to those questions, among quickly checking the account history for that user, meeting the requirements of the customers at all times.
You may also choose to integrate some of these bots with a smartphone app or on a business website to allow customers to interact with your business from anywhere. This will not only save your business time, but will save you money, as paying for 24/7 customer service support advisors can be costly. That being said, customers will be able to engage with you and your brand at any time, without you leaving one of your favourite messaging apps, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
- They boost employee performance
Onboarding new staff members can be expensive and time-consuming, especially when a business is going through a restructuring phase. In such a situation, these computer programs will establish a conversational element to relieve the burden for workers. This, in turn, will allow your employees to concentrate on improving business productivity. For this to be more effective, you can incorporate bots with a performance management tool to help employees to work even harder.
Moreover, chatbots and any other tools that you decide to implement are important for automating mundane performance and can allow your staff members to concentrate on the business’s core digital marketing projects. Repetitive, yet important tasks, may be directed to bots so they can master various languages and respond to all questions in an effective manner.
- They cut down on operational costs
Using chatbots can be a huge investment that can help your business to reduce overall operational costs. They can achieve this without compromising the quality of customer service. It can be expensive to hire new employees, especially when you have to hire hundreds of them to answer customer queries, meaning vast training sessions will need to be given so your employees are equipped to deal with each demand or question. Additionally, these employees will require holidays and sick pay, unlike chatbots that can work throughout the night and never need a holiday. Although a few specialised help desk employees may be needed for your chatbots to learn from, as well as speak with customers directly on the phone, chatbots can be a great supplementary device to fill your customers’ needs. If they are effective enough, they can do the following for your business:
- Automate the daily routine of businesses
- Enable new models of customer service
- Scale the chat support when other users are busy
Since chatbots are found on messaging platforms, they can help you connect to a limitless audience. The bots achieve this by tapping into new demographics. This, in turn, offers you fresh opportunities that you can use to increase sales. In addition, you can use these computer programs to bridge a gap between sales and marketing. This is because they are effective for qualifying leads, gathering information, and setting up a sales team to work towards success. Looping everyone on your bot strategy will help you put sales and marketing on the same page.
- They increase customer engagement
Chatbots are able to take customer engagement to the next level. In fact, research has shown that businesses that are able to successfully engage with their customers were able to increase customer spend by 20 to 40 percent. Not only will customer satisfaction be higher due to being able to get their burning questions answered immediately, but customers in this modern era are on the constant look out for personalisation, and what better way to drive that than through a personalised messaging service. Additionally, chatbots will provide users with real-time responses, rather than the previous automated responses that many businesses would use, thus improving the overall user experience while on the website. If your customers enjoy their experience, they come back, right? Exactly, with the use of chatbots you really could be improving your customer loyalty and driving sales.
How can companies drive traffic to these chatbots?
Using chatbots is a wise choice for businesses, which are aiming to boost engagement and increase their customer base. With effective bot, businesses can enhance their digital marketing value in a competitive market. Thus, if you wish to thrive in a competitive ground, contacting a reliable chatbot developer should be a stepping stone for your success.
The foundation of chatbots is that they are already available on whatever medium your customer is using at the time, thus not directing them somewhere else for support. Thus, your first step should be implementing chatbots across all your customer touchpoints to ensure your customers can easily and quickly reach you from anywhere. However, there are a few simple tips and tricks that can help your customers to see that you have a chatbot available. For instance, if a customer were to comment on a recent Facebook post, you may wish to send them an automated response via the messenger app, letting them know that they can ask any questions through your personalised chatbot device, with a quick response guaranteed. If you’re looking to spread the word about your chatbot feature, feel free to promote it through your social channels and via email if you wish. Through an informational email, you may wish to send it only to those who have asked a question on your website, or have regularly visited your FAQ page, making it most relevant to those users, more likely eliciting a response from those select customers.
Once your customer is on your website, you could add a simple pop-up at the bottom of your screen, letting the customer know that you are here to help at any point during their visit to the website. Although the customer may not decide to use the feature there and then, they will know it’s there, so if and when they do have a question, they know where to go!
