If we talk about trends in e-commerce, it is chatbots. Chatbots are becoming popular in many areas. World-renowned companies are already actively using them to improve customer service. What are the statistics of Facebook Messenger, indicating their steady growth? Just think about it, there are more than 2 billion messages sent every month!
Chatbots is a technology that’s actively spreading, involving millions of people. And if you’re still waiting for the right time to put it into business, know that it’s here.
Table of Contents
What is a chatbot for?
Chatbots are small programs that automatically simulate customer interaction based on a script.
It’s essential for users to get information without waiting, just at the touch of a button. And if that doesn’t happen, they leave, and the brand loses their potential face buyers. Talky bots help to mitigate frustration and retain interest. They provide an opportunity to get:
- A quick response to a query
- Helpful information about promotions and special offers;
- Solving the difficulties;
- Details about the company or brand.
In addition to support, virtual assistants can perform the following functions:
- Online orders
- Entertainment of guests of a web resource or app;
- Finding the right information
- Collecting and segmenting leads.
And, most importantly, it does not imply any long instructions on how to use a chatbot. Everything is intuitive and straightforward.
Benefits of Chatbots
The use of chatbots is following new-fashioned trends and an absolute necessity, entailing many advantages. Among the latter:
24-hour availability
Communicating with a traditional support service is always an expectation. In addition, in strictly limited time. And not all users are ready to languish in the queue or wait the following day to solve the issue.
Chat robots solve this problem unconditionally. They are available and prompt, ready to solve problems around the clock.
Multitasking
While one operator can only have a dialogue with one recipient, bots “communicate” with many people. All applicants receive an immediate response, regardless of their number.
Flexibility
The virtual manager has no limited use. It can be applied in absolutely any industry. The main thing is to set the necessary scenario. And even when you change activities, it is relatively easy to switch to a new direction. It is enough to change the structure of the dialogue of interaction with the other side.
Emotionlessness
A helpful trait is needed in the field of consumer support. The latter is not always in a good mood, expressing rudeness and even aggression. But the machine interlocutor always remains exceptionally polite. It is impossible to upset or angry, unlike the average person.
Economy
One program that replaces an entire team of staff is undoubtedly financially advantageous. And this is a strong argument for a small-income business or a startup that has not had time to reach an acceptable level of development.
Chatbots on social networks and messengers
Today, perhaps, there will be no business that is not represented in social networks. And if there is, few people know about it. The same can be said about messengers. Those who have smartphones are necessarily registered in at least one of them.
Hence the popularity of chatbots on these platforms. And each of them has features that you should know before you get an assistant there.
- Facebook Messenger
It is the most popular site with a vast number of users. Chatbots there meet with enviable regularity, but for their development created all the necessary conditions.
- Telegram
Telegram chatbot is an excellent choice for creating a communicator in the messenger. Moreover, a telegram was one of the first to provide commerce with the ability to create virtual assistants to perform many tasks.
- Viber
Not so long ago joined the number of platforms for the introduction of bots but managed to win the commitment of e-commerce. You can set up online communication through CRM.
- VK
Provides a reasonably limited functionality for network chats without beneficial interactions in menu items or message templates.
But with the leader among messengers is not so simple. Or rather, it isn’t easy because it does not provide an open API, which significantly complicates and makes it more expensive to develop chatbots there. The situation is similar to Instagram.
In any case, online agents in social networks and messengers – it’s a great way to establish, simplify, and improve communication with the target audience. The same Telegram chatbot is excellent for sending news, alerting new news and sales, and collecting feedback. In addition, this method is much cheaper than informing via SMS.
How do chatbots work?
The basis of this unique technology is artificial intelligence, which develops and improves every year. Machine learning and a ready set of instructions are essential components of its work. However, the scenario of standard questions and answers significantly limits the functionality of the communicator robot, not allowing it to respond to unknown requests.
But technology doesn’t stand still, and today programmers create services that learn from customer interactions, becoming smarter after each conversation.
The most straightforward kind of virtual employee is robots that serve for mass mailing. There are particular services to develop them. And you don’t even need to know the code.
Chatbots allow you to solve marketing problems as effectively as mobile apps. However, the development of the latter requires more not only time but also financial investment.
When creating communication bots, there is already a ready base, and this is a messenger. This means that, unlike mobile applications, the development of virtual managers does not require integration into different mobile operating systems. In addition, there is no need to undergo moderation to place the application in official stores.
Creating Chatbots: Practical Recommendations
Each network communicator is different, and to make its appearance benefit the business. It is necessary to make it as effective as possible. To do this, it is essential not only to find an experienced freelance developer but also not to stick to a few valuable recommendations:
- Give him humanity
Give me a name and come up with a “face.” Or develop a real character who will be talking on behalf of the company.
- Set up a waiting time
Pauses between messages are an essential point affecting the location of the person you’re talking about. Set them depending on the length of the texts in the notification. Leave time to read it.
- Make “no” polite
Negative responses should be as concise and loyal as possible. They should not create a sense of awkwardness or indignation.
- Don’t leave in English.
The end of a virtual conversation should not end with an unequivocal farewell. Leave the person to re-engage the bot.
- Optimize your assistant
Any chatbot requires refinement and optimization. Don’t forget to improve its performance in line with new trends and audience analysis.
How to Make a Chatbot: Resources and Platforms
If we talk about constructing an intelligent service on a specific site, it is not difficult. It is enough to register there, determine the basic parameters of work and develop a behavior scenario. Here will help a freelance worker who will perform everything promptly and inexpensively. However, the web product will only function on the site where it was created.
If you have more resources in your plans, you should take a closer look at independent universal designers. Moreover, today there are no difficulties with their choice.
The most sought-after ones are:
- Chatfuel (suitable for Facebook and Telegram)
- Botmother (works with many platforms)
- FLOW XO (ideal for creating bots on sites)
- Bot Kits (no programming skills required)
Most designers have a comprehensive functionality to create a full-fledged robot interlocutor, which conducts a conversation and collects user data, analyzes it, and even helps make a purchase.
Why does a business need Chatbots?
In addition, to keep up with modern trends and stay in the trend, there are still many reasons it is worth acquiring innovative technology.
- Improving customer service
As long as the machine assistant helps you solve smaller tasks, the actual support staff has time to service more global queries. Thus, no one has been ignored, and everyone is as satisfied as possible. And this is a quick road to increasing the loyalty of its target audience.
- Effective search for potential audience
Chatbots do a great job of finding a new clientele. They compete with the usual sales agents and win. This helps in this prompt processing of customer behavior on the site and direct messages based on the analysis. They qualify the interested audience much faster than provide their company’s advantage over competitors.
- Optimizing the company’s expenses
Statistics show the record amounts that are spent in the world on servicing consumer requests. And it is officially confirmed that chatbots can reduce these costs by up to 30%. Their implementation is an investment that helps optimize expenses.
The cost of attracting a customer with their help is the lowest. Yes, and the advertising campaign with their direct participation is much cheaper.
- Improving customer satisfaction
You can usually contact your organization via email or telephone. And this leads to one-way communication, in which the dialogue begins only after the consumer’s appeal. However, such a passive approach is long out of date and requires urgent revision.
The organization needs to keep in touch with the audience, and the robotic accomplice can do it well. Dialogues and product alerts or services will increase customer satisfaction and retain their interest in the brand.
Examples of using chatbots to solve problems
Those who have already managed to appreciate the merits of robotic communicators are much more than those who are still thinking about their use. And now, it is no longer difficult to find examples for inspiration.
- Bot Burger
It’s a French company that doesn’t have a website or an app. It is a food delivery company, and its only communication channel is a chatbot. Such remote work only had the best impact on its sales and, in fact, the costs, which have decreased markedly.
- HR-bot
Boston is developing online assistants to help staff get involved in corporate life, adapt successfully, and contact information about work changes, such as when a salary is issued. And the Boston company doesn’t stop there. In the future – the development of a bot that will conduct interviews.
- Golden State Warriors
This is a chat for fans of the basketball team in America. In it, users can quickly receive information about the game’s score during a live match and videos that can be shared with friends. Well, of course, through it, you can buy tickets if there is a desire to see the game live.
Despite the many advantages associated with the technology, it should not be considered a panacea for all problems in business. Before resorting to it, it is necessary to think carefully about the value it must bring. It is essential to determine the chatbot’s role. Otherwise, there is no sense of its implementation. New-fashioned trends are not universal, so you should always consider their resonance in the light of their activities. And perhaps to bring a unique formula of success, which everyone will be equal to!
