Chatbots

Technology is expanding at breakneck speed and it’s no secret that people are more likely to use the internet from their mobile phone or tablet than their PC. Google’s updates to their algorithm reflects this shift in search habits.

People have come to rely on the immediacy, innovation, and convenience their phones offer—shouldn’t you meet your customers where they already are?

Take advantage of this trend and consider incorporating a chatbot into your marketing strategy.

Chatbots are Ingenious

As the first wave of AI technology to be introduced to the masses, they’re increasingly becoming a part of your customers’ daily landscape, and becoming more cutting-edge every day.

The natural language processing and real-time business-to-consumer messaging are just part of what makes chatbots such a natural fit for marketing. They’re becoming more perceptive all the time— your customers won’t feel like they’re talking to a robot; instead, they’ll focus on the fact that their needs are being met instantly, thanks to the ability to program your chatbot to perform specific actions based on what your customer is typing.

Messenger apps have been developed to do all sorts of things, from providing users with in-depth customer support to offering people information about special offers when they click on a website. Why wouldn’t you insert a chatbot into your marketing strategy?

Whether you’re using a chatbot to provide basic customer service or as a sales tool, you might be surprised at just how useful it will be to have an automated system in place to handle simple customer interactions. It doesn’t have to be stilted and robotic— thanks to the updates made to modern chatbots, it can feel as conversational as talking with a real person.

Your chatbot is only as limited as your imagination. Create a chatbot that reflects your company’s image. Engage your customer with an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind chatbot experience that will establish brand loyalty and excitement about your company.

Focus on User Experience

In a world with a 24-hour news cycle, 24-hour online shopping, and 24-hour access to social media, there is an increased expectation for 24-hour customer service as well.

Employing someone to be available to answer questions, take orders, and provide assistance all day and all night, isn’t just impractical, it’s expensive. A chatbot can be there when you aren’t available to answer customer questions. It will provide service to your customers all night long, hours after your team has gone to bed.

Just as a great website can be a 24/7 sales machine, a chatbot can be on the job all the time— your customers will appreciate the convenience.

Messaging Has Taken Off

In 2016, messaging apps surpassed social media usage. More people than ever are relying on messaging for communication. Consumers want the one-on-one attention that messaging provides. Utilizing a chatbot is a great way to be able to offer customized service to every single visitor to your website.

38 percent of users prefer to use messaging apps to communicate with brands. 69 percent of people don’t want to deal with customer service to solve issues. These statistics don’t lie: customer service is moving towards messaging apps. Your chatbot can do the heavy lifting for you.

A New Way to Drive Sales

Your chatbot can be engineered to learn user preferences. It can use their past likes and purchases to suggest other products, offer promotions, and drive sales.

Chatbots don’t have to be passive; they can reach out to your website’s visitors to continue to engage them in your company, your website, and your products or services. A proactive chatbot is not just available to answer questions, but it assists in selling, too.

Do you have questions about how a chatbot can make a difference in your company? Let us work with you to develop a chatbot that is personalized, professional, and specific to your company’s needs, and see just how much difference a chatbot can make for you. Contact us today for more information – let us show you just how revolutionary a chatbot can be.

If you’ve visited a website recently, odds are good that you’ve encountered a chatbot.

When you arrived at the home page, if a little window popped up and asked, “Have any questions?” or “Want to chat?”— that was most likely a chatbot. And if you’ve been on Facebook Messenger (like 1.3 billion people around the world), you’ve definitely encountered a chatbot.

If you want to learn about a revolutionary way your company can generate more leads, expand your brand awareness, and a simpler way to do business online, you’ll want to keep reading.

What is a Chatbot?

Before we dig into the advantages of using chatbots, let’s get back to the basics. For starters, what is a chatbot?

In essence, chatbots are computer programs that are able to respond to digital chats or texts from customers. Basically, they can carry on conversations with your current and future customers. How is this possible? It’s all due to the advances that have been made in Natural Language Processing, or NLP.

Gone are the days when customers have to use a precise sequence of words to get the answer to their questions. Today’s chatbots are agile enough to understand different permutations of the same question, making them more useful than ever before.

Additionally, these cutting-edge programs can capture feedback and questions as they send visitors to the part of your site that will provide them with assistance they seek. In other words, your customers will get the answers they need quickly and efficiently.

Why Should You Incorporate Chatbots Into Your Strategy?

Imagine a world in which your customers get 24-hour service, without having to hire additional staff. Your customers get immediate responses to their questions— even when you’re handling another customer’s issues. Sounds amazing, right? There are so many ways a chatbot can benefit your business, here are just a few.

Say your website sells a line of high-end skin care products. If a prospective customer has a question about the ingredients in your moisturizer, a chatbot can easily provide them that information.

If the customer is ready to make the purchase right then and there, your chatbot can even handle that with its own built in payment tool. If you want to let people know about a promotion you’re having, your chatbot can inform customers as soon as they land on your site or your Facebook page, boosting sales without any extra effort on your part.

Is a Chatbot Right For You?

If you’re intimidated by the prospect of incorporating a chatbot into your marketing strategy, we get it. But here’s the thing— chatbots do the work so you don’t have to.

They help your customer service pros focus on truly complex issues.
They improve your response time.
They provide information and education about your brand.
They reach out to website visitors to inform them about promotions and to welcome them.
And more!

Consider your chatbot to be an ambassador for your brand. They establish instant goodwill between you and your customer. And now, thanks to innovations in today’s chatbots, you can completely customize it to reflect the tone and image of your brand.

Are you ready to get started? We can help you create a personalized chatbot that will take your business to the next level. Contact us today to see how Crush My Market can revolutionize the way you interact with your customers and prospects!

Looking for a way to triple your leads? Close more customers? Provide better and faster service to your current audience?

Well look no further than Facebook Messenger chatbots.

They do all that, and more!

And that’s the reason why we’ve crowned them our “2018 Growth Strategy Of The Year”. Although I don’t suspect Mark Zuckerberg will be coming by anytime soon to pick up his award 😀.

If you’re unfamiliar with a chatbot, it’s a piece of software that communicates with humans through a messaging application like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, etc.

For businesses, chatbots can help in a variety of areas such as lead generation, customer acquisition, customer support, and more.

No other strategy can be implemented as quickly and have such a powerful impact on the bottom line.

Here’s why:

1) Over 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger making it the #1 messaging app in the world.

2) Your customers are on Facebook. Every day. You need to BE WHERE THEY ARE.

3) Messaging apps have now surpassed social media sites in terms of usage. In other words, more people are using messaging apps than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social sites.

4) People use smartphones more than desktops and laptops these days. You need to be mobile, but developing a mobile app can be expensive. Chatbots don’t need to be.

5) Users open chatbot messages at a staggering 80% rate compared to around 20-30% on email.

6) More importantly, users are clicking on links in chatbot messages around 40% of the time versus 5% in email.

7) Have personalized conversations with your audience AT SCALE.

8) Capture a lead using a chatbot with ONE CLICK. No need to ask for a bunch of information. They click and immediately become a lead.

9) Send follow-up messages to chatbot users based upon how they use your bot sending highly relevant messages.

10) You can use Artificial Intelligence to teach your chatbot how to answer all of those frequently asked questions that you get asked over and over and over.

11) Not only can you use your Facebook Messenger bot on Facebook, you can also use it on your website!

We’re seeing chatbots work for all sorts of businesses.

Larger e-commerce companies where customers can purchase without leaving Messenger.

Sites that create and deliver amazing video and written content.

Local companies who are connecting with local audiences – online.

If you haven’t already implemented a chatbot, what’s stopping you? Right now, you’ll be ahead of the competition and have a long-term unfair advantage.

Boom!

Need help? Let us know.

If you haven’t encountered a chatbot on Facebook Messenger, it’s only a matter of time.

Messenger apps and chatbots are growing at an incredibly high rate. In fact, they are expected to grow in use by over 24 percent each year, with an estimated market of $1.23 billion in the next seven years. With this kind of fast growth and earning potential, it’s easy to see why so many companies are employing chatbots and Messenger apps to expand their business.

Chatbots and Messenger apps are a great way to grab your customers’ attention and get them the help they need quickly, but they are only effective if you use them correctly. Here are a few tips on how to make the most of your chatbot.

1. Update Regularly

Think of maintaining your chatbot like you would a blog post or an update to your company’s social media campaign. It’s another reason for guests to come back to your website. Like a newsletter or weekly blog post, your chatbot should be updated regularly to reflect the newest promotion or campaign, so the benefits of your chatbot don’t die out with expired Messenger rules and technology.

This approach is a great way to grab people’s attention, remind them you’re there, and get them to your website.

2. Throw in a Dash of Personality

When established your Messenger bot, don’t forget to write a personality into your options. There are all sorts of ways to humanize your chatbot for a more enjoyable interaction that will keep your customers coming back.

Lighthearted, fun responses instead of clinical, robotic ones makes the bot experience memorable, pleasant, and worthwhile to visitors of your website. It will also foster a conversation that exceeds expectations of what a Messenger bot can do. Wondering what to say that will connect with your audience? Consult your personas!

3. Reach Out to Your Customers

Don’t wait for customers to contact or reach out to you with questions or special requests, but seek them out with words of welcome that will put them at ease

Develop a unique, attention-grabbing welcome message for all visitors to your site
Incorporate some kind of “let’s get started” button or option
Come up with friendly, informal greetings for your guests to make them feel welcome and engage them in conversation.

By reaching out to your customers, you are engaging them and being proactive about your company. You are offering assistance or explaining a new promotion, which guests to your website will notice and appreciate.

4. Master the Fine Art of Communication

Allow your bot to be conversational! One of the biggest pet peeves people have with chatbots is that they can tell they are interacting with software and not a person. When the chatbot becomes too glitchy or robotic or doesn’t understand what they are looking for, it’s an instant tell.

One of the best ways to combat this frustration (besides keeping it simple- see #5) is to make your bot’s responses as human and personal as possible. A big part of this? Use your customer’s name.

5. Keep it Simple

Your bot is brand new. While you’re getting started, focus on keeping the language clear and concise. Avoid jargon or technical terms that your customers may be unfamiliar with, or won’t know to prevent customer confusion or difficulty communicating. Also, consider using option buttons and limiting options to 3 choices to keep your chatbot glitch-free.

If you keep things simple, it allows you time to see the patterns and habits of your customers, which can help you build more complex functionalities into the Messenger bot technology to best anticipate the needs of your customers. By learning from your audience’s behavior, you can slowly incorporate more complex, intuitive technology.

6. Promote Your Messenger Bot in a Smart Way

Once you have developed your bot, it’s easy to get excited about its potential. You’ll want to share the bot with all of Facebook, which is a lot like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Instead, tailor your advertisements to a small, target audience. Promote your Messenger bot in fun, unexpected ways and to specific people. You’ll have more success in this sort of targeted marketing than by trying to appeal to all of Facebook.

7. Inform Your Audience

It’s not enough to just tell your audience that you have a bot. You also need to let them know how they can expect to use it and what purpose you want your bot to serve.

Also let them know:

The name of your Messenger bot
Your bot’s intended purpose
When customers can expect it to be available
The functionalities and capabilities of your bot
Where customers can find the bot on your website or Facebook page

In informing your audience of how the bot works, you are helping them know how they can use it. If your customers know how your chatbot is to be used, they will be much more likely to use it.

An example of this? Domino’s Pizza’s chatbot, Dom, can take direct orders, but guests are also informed on the proper steps to correctly do this. They first message Dom with the word “PIZZA” and then proceed in the next message with their order. Customers first learn how to use Dom before interacting with it.

8. Start with Pre-Existing Customers

Don’t start building an audience from the ground up, instead, make the most of an already-developed customer base, like your social media accounts, to introduce your bot. You can automatically notify and update your Facebook followers to inform them of a promotion via your bot.

Do you want more advice on how to market and use your chatbot? Are you ready to develop a chatbot of your own, but maybe you want someone else to handle the technical side of it?

Crush My Market has a dedicated team well-versed in Messenger bot technology who are waiting to help you. Contact us today to find out how fun and easy interacting with a chatbot can be.

Better yet, use our chatbot at the bottom right of this screen!