If you're browsing a company's website these days, chances are likely a chat frame will pop up in your window. You'll typically be greeted by a friendly photo and a "Hello there! How can I help you today?" Welcome to the era of the chatbot. This popular marketing trend is here to stay, and if you're not already using one, you're probably missing out. Want proof?
From customer service to information sharing to sales, there are incredible possibilities for incorporating a chatbot into your marketing strategy - and no coding experience required! With some time investment up front, a chatbot can offer your clients and prospects a level of engagement that wouldn't be possible otherwise. Here are some reasons to get on board:
- Customers want personalization, and chatbots deliver.
Today, customers simply expect personalized service. Though automation may seem contrary to that idea, chatbots can tailor content to an individual's specific needs in real time. The flexibility of chatbot programming and settings allow you to build frameworks of messages around common customer profiles. This allows the bot to deliver accurate information for a wide array of user needs. You also define the rules for which visitors see your chatbot and when, whether that's all visitors immediately upon accessing the site, first-time visitors only or those who spend a specific amount of time on your pricing page. And it's a good practice to build in the option for users to connect to a human employee if they wish. Customers appreciate the quick, personalized service that a chatbot provides.
- Chatbots can save you time and money.
There are only so many marketing resources to go around. Chatbots are one of many automation tools that are helping marketers free up time to spend on high-impact areas while still delivering quality service. Instead of relying solely on members of your team to monitor your website communication, a chatbot has the capability of taking on the bulk of this work. Additionally, human personnel can't capture every prospect or lead because they are limited in how many people they can connect with at once. Unlike human employees, chatbots are never tired or biased and are always ready to keep multiple leads engaged simultaneously. When communication is streamlined in this way, human efforts are better spent elsewhere, sales conversion rates increase and the savings start adding up.
- A chatbot can engage customers around the clock.
You're probably losing business and you don't even know it. People search at all hours of the day and night, and they expect rapid responses. If your site offers a vague form for catch-all inquiries, many people simply won't bother to complete it. It's also unlikely that they will wait around until business hours to try to contact a representative directly. Instead, they will probably search for a similar business that can answer their needs with more immediacy. That's where chatbots rise to the occasion, running 24/7 for any interested customer. A bot's casual, prompt responses motivate more customers to follow through with action when their needs are met promptly.
- You can increase customer satisfaction and even reward customer loyalty through your chatbot.
We live in an instant gratification culture. Chatbots deliver just that with speed and ease of service. Though chatbots are meant to be conversational in style, they are not intended to actually chat. They serve to answer common, specific queries in the customer journey in a simple, efficient fashion. And that's why many customers prefer this platform to speaking directly with a human. With thoughtful customization, you can even give your chatbot some personality to reflect your brand voice. What's more, you can offer giveaway contests, free trials and exclusive discount codes through your chatbot to encourage engagement, reward customer loyalty and track ROI. With these perks, customers are likely to leave your chatbot experience feeling happy and willing to reengage in the future.
Whether informational, transactional or advisory in nature, a chatbot can surely benefit your business and provide a better user experience for visitors to your site and social channels. And one of the greatest benefits of this technology is the useful customer data it generates. You can use your chatbot to build deeper customer profiles by prompting them for relevant personal and contact information as well as monitoring their website and transaction activity. It's also possible to program your bot to create a customer profile for each lead based on the actions they take. Take the chatbot leap, and you'll be glad you did.