Are Chatbots an Effective Tool for Entrepreneurs?
by Shishir Chakma Digital Marketer and SEO ExpertsAsking whether chatbots are right for your business is like
asking if social media marketing is right for you. If they haven't made it to
your industry yet, bots are well on their way.
Messaging apps are becoming the next big thing in marketing.
Social media is still king, but messaging apps are slowly taking over. The way
to capitalize on this is through bots.
Tread carefully, though.
When a new channel starts to show promise, we tend to get
overexcited and overwhelm our audience.
A little restraint will go a long way, especially with
chatbots. As efficient as they are, research shows that people really don't
like them. They can be the key to overwhelming success but their proper
application is crucial.
What Exactly Is a Chatbot?
There's a simple answer and a complicated answer to that question. Forget
the complicated answer, as it doesn't pertain to you as a marketer.
All you need to know is that a "bot" is a piece of
software that automates a task or a group of tasks.
There is a variety of bots available. Some are able to
handle a range of tasks, while others are more limited. Bots are designed and
built to do very specific things.
In practical terms, this means that the build
chatbots program will have a series of pre-written responses
to interact with humans.
For example, imagine your company that manufactures
harmonicas. People often find themselves on your website trying to find the
best harmonica for them. Instead of directing them to support staff, you
implement a chatbot. When the person visits your site, the chatbot initiates
interaction. It then reads the visitor's questions and uses preprogrammed
responses to answer them.
Instead of communicating with another person, your customer
gets an answer from an automated system. It's more streamlined, faster, and,
best of all, instantly available.
The Benefits of Bots
The surface benefit of using chatbots is pretty obvious. You
don't have to pay a staff member to engage in customer service. But that's not
all. Bots are useful in a lot of other ways, as well.
- Bots
are easy to build and implement. You can design a bot for Facebook
Messenger in under half an hour. Granted, this won't be the most
sophisticated bot ever made but it will get the job done. Even a simple
chatbot can be very useful and cost-effective.
- Bots
give simple answers to simple questions. A lot of people just want a
quick and simple answer to a short question. So, instead of having to sift
through the database or speak with a person, people can get their answers
instantly and be on their way.
- Bots
always put your best foot forward. An interaction with a bot will
always be predictable. Your brand image will be presented in the best
possible light every time. A chatbot won't lose his temper or insult
anyone.
- The
potential of bots is still unexplored. Bots are being adopted en masse
and the sky's the limit for them. At present, it's hard to predict how the
use of bots will evolve. However, it's worth considering the earlier
statistic about messaging apps. When messaging apps finally take over,
companies with the best bots will lead the pack.
Chatbots Are Already Here
To answer the original question: bots are not only effective they are a necessary tool
for 21st century entrepreneurs.
Just about every enterprise can benefit from using chatbots.
Not to mention the very real ROI potential of bots as compared to humans.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows here. Poor
implementation of bots can signal that a brand is losing touch with its
customer base. Even a short string of negative experiences is enough for
customers to walk away from a brand.
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Created on Aug 25th 2021 15:00. Viewed 267 times.