Why ChatBots Will Be A Critical Marketing Channel in 2019?
You land on a website with a welcome message popping up in the corner. You browse contents without settling anywhere for more than a few seconds and again a popup message shows us asking you for any help or any content particularly you are looking for. This is how invisible messages keep talking and helping you through digital interactions. We call them chatbots and they are increasingly becoming popular as a promising marketing channel for businesses.
Chatbots are being used by businesses for all sorts of purposes on the web and mobile apps. They work as ready to grab helpline for users using the web and they appear as the always alert customer service to answer all your queries. They recommend products and suggest solutions to create more scopes of business conversion. Chatbots are also part of marketing on social media now.
What Is Chatbot? How Exactly It Works?
A chatbot is nothing but a computer program that is capable to communicate with the users through a conversational interface. While most Chatbots work by using algorithms to answer a certain set of user queries based on contexts, more intelligent chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies can learn about the user behaviour, habits and preferences over time and accordingly can answer to queries.
· Meeting The Needs Of New Consumers
Consumers in an ecommerce store keep changing over time. They no longer gobble what the marketers dish out without considering the customer preferences and choices. This is why most newsletters are found in the trash box and most I’ll-timed ads are either silenced or reported by the users. When such marketing contents are dumped, the whole investment put on them are lost as well. To prevent such outrageous drainage of resources, you need to dish out contents that consumers engage with.
Chatbots through a messaging interface can provide answers to queries that the consumers were looking for. Instead of prescribing “one size fits all” solution chatbots can try to understand the typical customer problems and their leanings to deliver a befitting solution. This really works as per most statistics. A 2016 report on mobile messaging it has been found that more than 50% of consumers preferred messaging apps over email as this suits their preference for an instant way to communicate. Another survey carried out in 2017 on chatbots found that around 70% of the respondents are of positive opinion about chatbots over human because of instant responses.
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· Chatbots Serving Up To Different Customer Needs
The popularity of messaging us already evident with more than 5 billion users which is even higher than the user base of social media platforms. At the rate messaging apps are constantly being used and penetrating across all recesses of life, they already seem to replace all other communication channels. Now intelligent bots powering these messaging apps can serve the users better than ever before.
It is the user context that a chatbot app can easily respond to. Just think of all the trouble you need to book a flight ticket, a hotel and find a restaurant at the destination city through three separate apps. What happens if one single app can do all of these on behalf of you only after asking you about your budget and preferences? Yes, chatbots can really make things easier for marketers and customers in such ways.
· Data-Driven Insights Derived From Users
Chatbots now can also stretch a little to talk in your preferred tone and can understand your typical insinuations of language. Yes, intelligent chatbots equipped with natural language processing technology can actually indulge in conversation just like a new family member. But beyond the surface, they are also constantly getting updated about the users and adapting to their preferences. They are constantly drawing insights from user data and using the same for making the user experience better.
Chatbots generates insights simply by asking questions to users as well. While traditional ads never really ask you about your location or more personal aspects of life, a chatbot can simply ask you “Where do you live?” or more personal questions like “What breakfast menu you like on Sunday morning?”. When the chatbots get beyond the surface layer of objective questions and ask you questions that concern your choices and preferences at a deeper level, you help it to get more useful insights.
The result of drawing such deep insights about customers is big. The chatbots can quickly recommend you products that suit your taste, preference and context thanks to these useful insights. Based on your earlier answers and an array of user information the bot will give suggestions that fit the user context and need.
· A Living Brand Identity Is More Effective
All the business brands come to our life through media ads, print ads, social media ads, billboards, etc. But, our relation to all these ads is merely passive and so the influence of one ad doesn’t take long to get swept over by another ad.
In total contrast, the Live chatbot of a brand by allowing two-way communication and conversation keeps the brand continuously alive to the users. Users by getting quick and useful help and recommendations find a new personality in chatbots. Once users get used to these chatbots and start getting personalised recommendations from them, they become lively and personified connecting dots between the users and the brand.
· Deliver Always-Alert Support
If you study the role of chatbots across a variety of applications, you will know that chatbots are mostly relied upon to get quick answers in emergency situations. The helpline for the vast majority of small business organisations work within a fixed schedule and they remain non-responsive beyond the working hours. On the other hand, availing the service of large call centres for customer care is out of affordable limit for small businesses and startups. This is where chatbots can play a vital role.
A business can use a well-equipped chatbot to deal with the regular and frequent queries asked by customers. These chatbots will not only keep customer care available, but they can also do away with the entire manpower burden for answering common and frequently-asked queries. Lastly, chatbots can also minimise the waiting time for response significantly and thus can boost customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
From placing orders via chatbots to handling customer service to working as a recommendation engine for shoppers, the role of chatbots is increasingly becoming evident across all business channels and niches. With so many promises in store, chatbots are all set to grow as a crucial marketing channel in 2019 and beyond.
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