The Beginner’s Guide to Chat Bots

If you’ve been reading up on the latest marketing trends, you’ll know that there has been a lot of hype, recently, about chat bots. What, primarily, was used as a form of attracting brand recognition by stimulating conversation with a target market has now evolved into a marketing tool.

In this article, we will discuss what chat bots are, how they are used and why you should consider using it if are looking to have a wider reach in advertising.

So, what is the deal with chat bots?

To start off, let’s discuss what a chat bot, actually, is.

WHAT IS A CHAT BOT?

A chat bot is a program created for the purpose of interacting with a user through chat. Through time, you’ll notice that some of the big brands are already utilising chat bots to interact with their market through chat while injecting their own marketing to said chats.

HOW ARE CHAT BOTS USED IN BUSINESS?

While some brands use chat bots for its interactive purposes which is to chat with users using AI, others use chat bots to serve their marketing content with a focus on their CTAs to meet certain goals such as subscriptions, transactions, etc.

Although, one may think that using chat bots is a touch too invasive, you’ll find that just like serving ads on your emails, chat bots aren’t really all that. And the great thing about this is that in the age of mobile, using chat bots to serve ads to messaging apps is surprisingly effective.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Now, this part is important. If you’re a part of an organisation looking to pitch in the use of chat bots, most decision-makers will tend to focus more on the returns.

Why are chat bots important?

Why should we use it?

Will we expect ROI and profit from this?

The above questions are what decision-makers want answered.

To help you answer those questions, we gathered a list of what chat bots can be used for and how they can help your marketing.

Now, as you all know, we are in the age of mobile. Using mobile devices has made it easier for us to access emails, social media platforms and messengers. With this in mind, it is only right to assume that most users tend to prefer messengers due to its casual function of chat.

While we’re not discounting the usefulness of email, it is important to point out that social media has less friction when it comes to gaining subscribers as opposed to email where you need to fill up forms or visit a landing page. By using chat bots, subscribing has less steps necessary because the user has already signed up to that particular messenger.

So to take advantage of that convenience, chat bots have taken an advantage for the following uses:

Customer Service

Chat bots can also make for a great customer service feature by automating it to answer specific queries. While it’s true that some queries will need personal assistance, chat bots will help you save time and manpower spent on queries which can be readily answered.

Sales

You can automate your chat bot by creating a sequence wherein a user enters said sequence when she fulfills a trigger (i.e. clicking a button, clicking a link, etc.) which leads to an actual live chat to pitch your sales. It’s an effortless way to nurture and qualify your leads while saving time and manpower.

Retargeting

You can automate your chat bot to send a private message to your Facebook Page visitors with marketing content offering them promotions, discounts or vouchers. This is especially useful for those who also run their eCommerce business on the platform.

Brand Recognition

Chat bots can also play a part in brand recognition, if you do it right. Most brands become viral because of entertaining content. By making the interaction with users less business-like, users will feel more at ease and will tend to recommend the brand to their friends, family or colleagues. Some even go the extra mile and inject humour to their chat bots, earning the conversation shares across social media.

Lead Generation

This is a pretty neat way to gather leads. You can automate your chat bot to send marketing messages to those who comment on your Facebook post. Marketing messages will be directly sent to their inboxes.

There you have it, the basics of chat bots and why you should consider using it for your business.

If you want a more in-depth discussion of how chat bots can be specifically catered to your business and market, drop us a line and we’ll be glad to discuss.