Chatbots are a new way for brands to interact with their customers. By using artificial intelligence, chatbots can answer frequently asked questions, handle customer service inquiries and even sell products. Chatbots are not a trend; they’ll continue to grow as a marketing tool for the foreseeable future.
Brands large and small are experimenting with chatbot marketing because it’s an innovative way to reach customers directly where they spend much of their time: messaging apps. But should your brand invest in creating a chatbot? Read on to see if this AI-powered marketing tool is right for you.
What is a Chatbot?
In simple terms, chatbots are computer programs designed to simulate human conversation. In other words, they’re designed to pick up on the context of a conversation and respond naturally with engaging, personalized answers. They’re quickly becoming the go-to tool for customer service and sales.
Automated bots can process large volumes of data quickly and accurately, enabling companies to offer personalized interactions at scale. Chatbots are becoming particularly popular for marketing purposes. By creating “conversational” marketing experiences, brands can reach potential customers with more ease than ever before.
How Do Chatbots Work?
Chatbots are powered by artificial intelligence, which allows them to process massive amounts of data to generate natural conversations. Chatbots can detect what type of information customers are looking for and help them get the answers they need.
To start chatting, users simply open the app or log into their accounts. Once they’re logged in, they can send messages to the bot; no need to search for a specific contact. When the bot receives a message, it reads it, processes the context of the conversation and returns an answer.
Bots can handle a wide variety of tasks across multiple industries, including customer service, sales, marketing, hosting and more. This makes it easy for brands to find a bot that best fits their needs.
For example, if you sell health products, choosing a bot that focuses on customer questions related to health is a great idea. If you’re an eCommerce brand that sells food, a bot focused on grocery questions might be a great option.
How Can Bots Help with Marketing?
Chatbots can be helpful in a wide range of marketing situations. First, they can make it easy to interact with customers. Before the rise of chatbots, most eCommerce brands relied on emails to drive sales. That’s perfectly fine for announcing sales or loyalty programs, but when it comes to marketing new products, email requires some effort.
Chatbots can help eCommerce brands reach customers quickly and easily. Compared to email, it’s much easier to reach customers with chatbots. Email is still one of the main ways customers interact with brands, but it’s becoming less common than messaging apps, which is where chatbots really shine.
Why Brands Should Use Bots
The first reason to use a bot is to simplify interactions with customers. Chatbots can help companies streamline their interactions with customers, making it much easier to respond quickly and avoid miscommunications.
Many of the biggest brands are now using chatbots to solve important customer problems. For example, a bot for customer service can help a brand solve its biggest pain points by gathering data about customer questions and needs.
As mentioned, bots can also be useful for marketing. By creating an experience around a product, brands can use bots to facilitate conversations around the product’s benefits. A bot focused on wellness questions, for example, could offer tips and insights on how to stay healthy.
Why Aren’t All Brands Using Bots?
With all the advantages of chatbots, why aren’t all brands using them? Marketing leaders, like those at Walmart, have been cautious when it comes to investing in AI. And in many industries, like healthcare, bots are still finding their footing.
To get a better sense of what chatbots can offer your company, it’s helpful to understand how they work. Chatbots are powered by artificial intelligence, so they need to be trained to understand context and respond appropriately.
In other words, brands must manually create the bot and then use an algorithm to train the bot to understand the context of the conversation. This can be time-consuming and rather expensive. However, it’s a worthwhile investment for companies that have a healthy marketing budget.
Key Takeaway
Chatbots are delivering personalized experiences that are transforming the way brands connect with their audience. They’re not simply retailing solutions either; they’re an entirely new way to engage with your customers. Chatbots are not a trend; they’ll continue to grow as a marketing tool because they’re a more efficient way to reach people in the digital ecosystem. That’s why they’re such an important part of the future of marketing.
