Chatbots are quite popular and are increasingly gaining popularity among businesses. According to PwC’s annual report on Customer Management Platforms for the year 2017, ‘Chatbots will prove to be an important way to reach and communicate with customers online.’ These platforms allow businesses to better target customers based on their personal preferences. According to the report, the current chatbot sector is forecasted to grow 20% annually. By 2022, the total investment in chatbots by enterprises is estimated to reach over $2.5 billion. In comparison to social media platforms, chatbots allow organizations to accomplish multiple tasks at a faster rate.
What are Chatbots and How They Work?
Basically, chatbots are real-time communications channels for businesses. Let’s have a look at how chatbots work: From a search engine’s point of view, this interaction is very simple and completely functional. You type a query in the search box, and the bot automatically shows matching links. From a user’s point of view, this is another story. When a user enters a query on a search engine, this is a connection. However, when the user enters a query into a chatbot, it is a conversation. A chatbot might understand the user’s query by using search engine links but will also consider other parts of the conversation and respond accordingly.
Why chatbots in digital marketing?
It is easier than ever to initiate a conversation with your audience. A chatbot can manage up to 1000 conversations at a time, making it much easier for marketers to make sales without spending hours on the phone. There are multiple AI-powered chatbots today that are equipped with all the bells and whistles of modern marketing. For example, there is Alex to help customers find the best rental cars, Chatrty lets you get answers to your common travel questions, and Allo and Duo are more chatty versions of Facebook Messenger. By making use of these chatbots, you can offer the best experience to your customers. There are tons of advantages in using chatbots, which are listed below: Innovative experience: First of all, using chatbots offers an innovative experience to your audience.
How to Create a Chatbot
Creating chatbots with all the features that make them effective and easy to use can be done in an easy and hassle-free way. First, you need to install one of the social media marketing tools that allow you to create and launch chatbot accounts. After which, you need to connect your existing marketing campaigns and social media accounts with these tools, such as Facebook Messenger or Skype. After which, you need to add keywords that are used in your chatbot. The keyword must be one that is appropriate for your chatbot and also that is relevant to your target audience. How to Build a Marketing Chatbot The first step in building a chatbot is to build a model. You must understand that creating the right chatbot model does not happen overnight.
Types of chatbots
Chatbots are specially designed to accomplish many tasks. Chatbots are created in different ways. There are some simple chatbots, and there are others who are capable of different kinds of chatbot techniques. Here are some possible chatbot techniques: Agent Chatbots are simple chatbots that can chat, make or receive calls, send SMS messages, and can even talk to you in natural language, and you will not feel like you are talking to a machine. Visual Chatbots Some visual chatbots also deliver the same functions as agent chatbots but, instead of taking queries in text, they simply show them to you in the form of text. You can see the full details of these chatbots in the video above.
Creating a chatbot using RapidFire bot builder
Chatbots with the purpose of providing a personalized response and resolving any query a customer has about your brand is a major challenge today. Today, chatbots are known as ‘conversational interfaces’ in the technology-driven world. With the help of chatbots, you can create your own brand ambassador. Now, more than ever, the power of chatbots lies in increasing the online conversion rate of a brand. Nowadays, an average business owner creates five marketing channels, but one channel in every channel is better than all the other channels combined. One is the conversion channel, the other is the brand awareness channel, the third is the mindshare channel, and the fourth is the affinity channel.
What should you know before building one?
The first thing that comes to your mind is: What are the benefits of building an AI-powered chatbot? A few of the advantages will be mentioned below. Interactive Conversations with Your Audience It is indeed a big advantage for brands to gain direct, interactive conversations with their audiences. You will be able to answer almost all your queries from them. Chatbots have already answered thousands of questions. The entire process is automated; you don’t need to check a huge database, let alone the list of FAQs. No need to explain them again and again. In short, no problems of responses and timelines are left behind. Precision Business Feedback A good chatbot enables to provide an individualized response, without any hesitation.
Successful Examples of Chatbots In Digital Marketing
Image Source Chatbots are not new to any industry. You can find them in the banking sector, where they assist customers with all their inquiries. Also, in the travel industry, these chatbots assist customers in finding the best hotel and flight deals. According to reports, over 30 million users have interacted with these chatbots. According to WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), artificial intelligence will make over 40% of global jobs redundant. However, in a recent interview, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the use of chatbots is not a job killer, rather, it is the industry’s only job creator. 1. When It Comes To Facebook Advertising Facebook introduced chatbots in their Messenger bot tool.
Conclusion
Chatbots are important tools in today’s digital marketing world. Instead of engaging with your customers, chatbots solve their problems without you. Some companies are turning towards AI as a tool to promote their brand, and some are already implementing chatbots to their websites. Keep in mind that AI is not just helping people live a better life, but it is also helping businesses take the next step.