Today, every company is competing for market share. While product quality and branding undeniably contribute to gaining market share, customer service is more important than anything else.
Have you decided never to revisit this company? You wouldn’t be alone. Many consumers no longer spend their money in stores offering poor customer service.
Chatbots offer an exciting new way to improve your customer service. At the same time, they can increase your advertising and marketing initiatives and incorporate them with your other advertising and marketing strategies.
Regardless of what type of digital products you sell, implementing chatbots on your website or social media can assist you in communicating with your customers in a new way.
It also works for B2B and B2C marketing. Depending on your preferences, you can use them on your website, a dedicated website, or on social media.
Right now, Facebook chatbots seem to be one of the most popular. They are easy to implement and monitor, primarily if you already use Facebook as a marketing channel.
We recommend you take an in-depth look at chatbots. They offer a variety of ways to stay in touch with your target audience.
But first, we’ll answer some usual concerns about chatbot marketing and show you the benefits and strategies you can use for your knowledge commerce business.
What is chatbot marketing?
Chatbot marketing is where you help your customers find what they need in your business by communicating with them through a bot. Like a text message chain, a chatbot simulates communication between two people.
You’ve probably interacted with a chatbot before. Maybe you were looking for clothes on a retail website when a box opened at the bottom of the page and prompted you to ask questions.
That’s a chatbot. Businesses are using them to speed up the buying process and guide customers to the best products for them.
However, chatbot marketing requires a strategic approach to chatbots. It would be best if you had a targeted strategy that outlines your goals and desired outcomes. Simply enabling a chatbot won’t help your business.
For example, you might use chatbot marketing to drive more conversions. In this case, the dialogue should focus on driving potential customers to your digital products – the ones that will benefit them the most.
However, you don’t need to stay awake around the clock or employ many customer service representatives to accomplish this task. Chatbots utilize artificial intelligence to have significant discussions with prospects, even when you’re not sitting at your work desk or on the phone.
“Think about chatbot advertising as a method to be regularly readily available to your clients. It’s like having your group of customer support reps standing by for your leads.”
We’ll enter into even more information regarding the advantages a little later. Initially, let’s discuss just how chatbot marketing jobs.
You probably have autoresponders and drip campaigns for your e-mail marketing list. You can do the same with chatbot marketing.
For example, let’s say you’re using a Facebook chatbot. To sign up, a prospect needs to send you a private message.
From there, you can send an automated response or a series of drip messages designed to get the prospect to convert. For example, you can ask questions about what the prospect is looking for and then direct them to your landing page for that product.
You can even segment your audiences to receive chatbot messages based on their position in the sales funnel.
Benefits
Numerous marketing and advertising channels are available, from e-mail marketing and SMS marketing to paid search and social media. You can blog, run contests on social media, and send cold e-mails.
Why would you want to include another channel?
That’s a relatively common question. After all, today’s business owners are pretty tired. Let’s look at some information to figure out why chat box marketing should be a priority for you.
First, messaging enjoys an extremely high adoption rate among consumers. One study’s 73% satisfaction rate surpasses that of e-mail and phone.
In addition, a 2015 study found that messaging improves many metrics, including cross-sell revenue, customer satisfaction, customer abandonment rates, and up-sell revenue.
The numbers speak for themselves. Even though some customers prefer e-mail, phone or SMS, many prefer to communicate with your chatbot and get their questions answered immediately. If they have an extra complex concern, your chatbot can refer them to the most effective choice approach to interaction.
While they may seem complex, chatbots are relatively easy to set up, monitor, and customize. You can test multiple platforms to see what works best for your business and tweak the messages you send to your prospects based on feedback.
Now, let’s look at some specific benefits your business can enjoy by implementing a chatbot.
Offer personalized interaction
One of the best advantages of chatbots is that you can personalize them more than an e-mail. For example, many brands use chatbots for status inquiries. A customer might want to know if their order has been received, and they can find out in seconds.
There are many other ways to personalize. After taking clients through a short survey, you can offer them product recommendations, fun or interesting facts, and other personalized messages. The responses are based on the survey answers, so you can be sure you’re delivering something that interests the prospect.
There’s something intimate and engaging about a conversation on a messaging service. For example, we’ve seen the meteoric rise in text messaging compared to phone calls, and WhatsApp reached one billion users in 2015.
This data shows that consumers like to communicate via instant messaging. Think of chatbot marketing as the excellent middle ground between phone and e-mail. It’s personal, but without the need to talk to someone on the phone.
Artificial intelligence has advanced rapidly in recent years, and experts predict it will continue to evolve shortly. As chatbots become more intelligent and intuitive, communication between your messaging service and consumers will become more personalized.
Why is this important? Because people crave personalization
Provide better and faster customer service
People often complain about customer service. They don’t like the wait times at restaurants, the poor recommendations at retail stores, or the endless elevator music businesses play while their customers wait to speak with an employee.
We live in a culture based on urgency. Everyone wants packages delivered the next day and their groceries within two hours. They don’t want to wait for anything.
However, that’s fine when you’re using chatbot marketing. When you’re away from your desk, the chatbot takes over and communicates directly with the consumer. Recommendations, answers to questions, and other messages are relayed immediately.
You don’t want customer service to mess up your company’s operations. That could prove disastrous, mainly when it involves your brand name equity.
With a chatbot, you can personally engage with your customers and immediately get them the necessary information. That is a great way to connect with customers and show that you care about their needs.
Remember that your chatbot doesn’t have to dominate the entire conversation. If you use Facebook, for example, you can always add personalized messages if needed.
Just make sure that every message you send is helpful to the user. You don’t intend to waste anyone’s time, but you want to point potential customers to relevant products.
Focus on customer retention, not just acquisition
Let’s face it, and most business owners focus solely (or at least primarily) on customer acquisition. It’s all about generating new leads and selling to people who have never heard of the brand.
There’s nothing wrong with acquiring new customers. Most businesses could not survive without this aspect of marketing.
Nevertheless, you can not forget about consumer retention. Individuals who have bought digital items from you are far more valuable than potential consumers who might acquire them in the future.
Think about it. When you see a restaurant, you’re more likely to purchase something you recognize you’ll see rather than take the chance of something that might be let down. Of course, some people are culinary risk takers, but it is the prevailing human tendency to stick to the safety plan.
The same is true for other products. If someone has purchased an online course from you in the past, They are more likely to join your subscription site than someone who has never worked with your company.
You can utilize chatbot marketing to remain in touch with existing customers and encourage them to acquire your latest products. For example, let them know about new releases and inquire about their progress with their first course.
Nurture leads through the entire sales funnel
We’ve discussed customer retention, but remember that people don’t become customers overnight. They often have a dozen or more touch points with a business before they buy something.
Therefore, business owners need to focus their attention not only on conversion but also on the rest of the sales funnel. Chatbots can help you nurture these leads as they compare their options, consider the features of your products, and otherwise think about their decision.
You can take the same approach you did with e-mail marketing. Write content that engages people at the sales funnel’s beginning, middle, and end.
Encourage potential customers to interact with you on social media
If we’ve learned anything in marketing, you can’t rely on a solitary channel to attract or retain clients. You need a multi-channel method to get to as much of your target audience as feasible.
That’s why it’s essential to integrate chatbot advertising with various other marketing and advertising strategies.
For example, you can use the chatbot to remind potential customers to follow you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms. You can also point them to your latest blog posts or invite them to join your e-mail list.
Don’t go overboard with this. You want to show your consumers, as well as possible consumers, which means they can interact with you on social media sites; however, you do not wish to stumble upon it as marketing. When possible, try to sandwich these requests between other kinds of messages.
Establish alerts for vital messages
Another excellent chatbot function to discover is the capability to launch discussions with clients regarding signals. For instance, when your clients log into your subscription website, you can send a verification message.
That may look small, but it can significantly impact your brand awareness and customer support satisfaction rates. People want to be informed by brands about matters that directly affect them.
Alerts should be personal and urgent. Please don’t use them too frequently, as the messages could be perceived as spam.
11 chatbot strategies you need to adopt in 2022
By now, you know how your business can benefit from chatbot marketing. But how can you translate those benefits into solid results?
Several strategies and best practices can help businesses achieve better results with chatbots. Learning from your predecessors will give you a leg up on the competition.
That’s always a worthy goal.
Below are 11 actionable strategies to help your chatbot marketing campaign run smoother. We’ve highlighted some essential best practices that have worked for us and other brands.
1. Approach chatbot marketing like any other product
A chatbot is inherently like a product. You use it to help people buy your products, so you want as much interaction as possible.
Let people know they can claim your chatbot. Mention it on social media, include a CTA at the end of your blog posts, and mention the features and benefits your customers will enjoy when using the chatbot.
In other words, please don’t give it less attention than a new product you’re releasing for sale.
2. Promote your chatbot to encourage usage
Don’t hesitate to promote your chatbot when you talk about it. You can offer it a name and character to make it much more attractive.
The objective is to convince individuals that they intend to connect with the chatbot. Not only will they get helpful information, but they’ll have a good time doing it.
Promoting word of mouth can work very well. You can let your customers know you appreciate every referral they give to their friends and family.
3. Develop a landing page specifically for your chatbot
You most likely have landing pages for your products, e-mail opt-in types, and other functions, so do not allow your chatbot down. Create a landing page specifically for it.
You can include CTAs from any other source on this landing page. In the CTA, specify all the benefits the user will get from using the chatbot.
4. Speed up the process with Facebook plugins
Many brands prefer chatbots integrated with Facebook, such as Botsify and ManyChat. They are easy to use and allow you to get more value from the social media sites system you currently use.
Nevertheless, that does not recommend you need to utilize Facebook alone.
Several plugins allow you to integrate your Facebook chatbot with your website or other custom properties. For example, with some, you can automatically share your blog posts with your chatbot subscribers.
5. Promote your content via chatbot marketing
Speaking of content: Don’t focus your efforts solely on product promotion. Remember that your content can also help you make sales.
Chatbot messages that route your clients to the recent article can help them relocate via the sales funnel. They establish credibility and further immerse the customer in your business. That is always a good thing.
However, please don’t overdo it. If you share content seven times a day, it’s likely to irritate users and trigger them to eliminate you from their Facebook sphere of influence.
6. Prevent unneeded messages that might frustrate users
That brings us to the following factor: you need only to send out messages when it is essential. For example, if you are running a drip campaign, you should distribute the messages so that you do not annoy.
If the other person interacts with the chatbot, there is no reason to limit communication. Instead, it would be best if you encouraged it. Just don’t send too many unsolicited messages.
7. Write in clear, complete sentences
When you set up autoresponders for chatbots and other dialogue elements, you may be tempted to write in “text language.” Resist this urge.
Instead, write in clear, complete sentences, as well as use punctuation. You do not intend to harm your reliability by communicating like a young adult.
Many people utilize shorthand when interacting online. You can do this sporadically for funny impact, but you do not want every line to be phrases and other shorthand.
8. Choose a system that recognizes Text Speak
At the same time, don’t devalue people who communicate with your chatbot in text speak. These people may use abbreviations, acronyms, and other commonly accepted shorthand. Your chatbot should understand as much of this as possible.
For this reason, we recommend well-rated chatbot platforms. You can rely on their artificial intelligence is smart enough to recognize what your consumers, as well as prospects, are seeking.
9. Suggest numerous items when proper
One of the primary functions of a chatbot is to recommend you’re possible consumers the best product for their requirements.
Also, experienced sales associates who work with consumers face to face don’t constantly obtain every little thing right on the first try. You can’t expect a machine to do it better than a human.
When configuring your chatbot, you should suggest multiple products to each user. That way, they have a selection to explore.
Who knows? Customers may think they want one thing, then realize they need something else. You can also upsell and downsell offers this way.
10. Don’t try to hide the existence of the bot
Some brands mistake pretending that a bot isn’t a bot (or that a human hasn’t taken on the bot’s role). It is deceptive. Don’t fall into this trap.
There’s nothing wrong with using a chatbot; many consumers prefer it to communicate with a human. They want the facts – without editorializing.
You can provide your robot a name and make it “pleasant,” yet do not try to disguise its true nature. Your customers will recognize that it’s a crawler and value you less. Not because you utilized a bot, yet because you tried to hide it.
11. Maintain your branding regular
Chatbot advertising and marketing involve branding, just like any other marketing method. Even though customers are speaking with a maker, you want that machine to feel like a part of your brand name.
For example, if you use a lot of humor in your marketing and branding, make your chatbot funny. If you use a lot of abbreviations and conversational phrases, your chatbot should too.
You want the chatbot to give users a consistent experience – especially those who have been following your business for a while. They may not trust your chatbot’s recommendations and responses if they feel the connection is off.
Bottom line
It’s hard to keep up with technology. A new device or app has changed your perception of marketing whenever you turn around.
Chatbot marketing is just one instance. Unlike numerous other fads and trends, however, we don’t see this trend disappearing.
The most competitive companies and brands will be using chatbots in a big way, and now is the time to start. Learning and refining the process is easy when the technology is still in its infancy.
Of course, chatbots have been around for years. But it’s only now that they’re accessible to businesses large and small.
With chatbot marketing, you can have personalized interactions with potential customers and provide better customer service. It lets you focus on customer engagement and convert leads at every sales funnel stage.
A chatbot can also assist you in promoting your other social media presence and blog. And even when prospects and customers aren’t contacting you, you can use a chatbot to alert them to important events or circumstances.
If you launch a chatbot, however, you need to know industry best practices.
Make sure your chatbot is “friendly,” engaging, and marketable. Don’t hesitate to promote it through other channels.
Keep your communications professional but on-brand. You don’t want to send unnecessary messages that could irritate your subscribers. And make sure you choose a platform that meets your specific needs.
Make your marketing chatbot using our super easy point-and-click marketing chatbot software. We will make you a marketing chatbot to get more leads, conversions, and customer feedback or automate customer acquisition and support.
To get more information about chatbots, check out our Engagerbot site. You will certainly learn what it requires to create an efficient chatbot.
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