Have you ever browsed through a website and wanted additional information on a product but well, it’s 4 am and no customer support to help you? Or are you a business in the rush of the holiday season with a backlog of customer queries waiting to be addressed? On both ends, as a customer and a business, a chatbot can come to the rescue.
Chatbots are the new holy grail of marketing. It combines the perks of automation and AI to provide optimal marketing services. Handing over the reins of marketing to chatbots is the future. A growing number of consumers, especially millennials, state their preference for chatbots over human agents, while some of the largest corporations like Facebook, LinkedIn and Starbucks have been using chatbots to reduce operating costs and reach their target audience.
Take your first steps with our insightful guide on chatbots and become a digital marketer ready to take on the future of marketing.
What are Chatbots?
Engaging in conversations with machines may have seemed like a fantastical scene from a sci-fi movie just a few years ago. Not anymore! Chatbots (conversational bots or conversational artificial intelligence) have changed how we interact with technology and vice versa. Chatbots are software programmed to interact and converse with users through texts, audio, and images.
They are the digital personal assistants that today’s consumers need and want from businesses as time has become the most valuable commodity. Here chatbot marketing steps up to the challenge as a digital marketing strategy.
What is Chatbot Marketing?
Chatbot marketing is the use of chatbots by businesses to engage in one-on-one conversations with visitors or users to achieve marketing objectives. They are at the beck-and-call of users from the start (welcome) to finish (checkout and feedback).
From increasing sales, providing round-the-clock customer service, making appointments, acquiring customer feedback, amassing consumer insights, and connecting leads to the sales team- chatbot marketing is the master of all trades. You can even integrate the chatbot across multiple platforms for your business without having to sweat the extra effort or drain your resources!
A marketing chatbot’s seamless juggling of multiple tasks at a time makes it a winner among digital marketing tools. Take a look.
Reasons You Need Chatbot Marketing
Marketing chatbots combine the skills of a team of customer service agents and marketers with the efficiency of a machine. Chatbot marketing’s adoption in the industry is a testament to its competence.
Here’s why you need chatbots in your digital marketing strategy:
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Optimal use of resources
With a 24/7 chatbot at your service, you won't need an army of people dedicated to performing services that can be automated. You can reallocate valuable resources and personnel time to more critical tasks.
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Cuts down response time
With a chatbot, users can access its services in real-time without the hassle of waiting for personnel to become available to respond. Gone are the days of call waiting and call queues.
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Personalisation
Give your users the personalised experiences they desire. Chatbots segment traffic based on consumer needs and their unique requirements. The process of completing a sale and providing any additional information is streamlined with a marketing chatbot.
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Increase conversion rates
Chatbots make it easier to increase conversion rates. They provide all-in-one customer support to make the journey through the conversion funnel easier for users by generating awareness, interest, desire, and action.
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Boost customer retention
Data is digital gold. Chatbots help collect and analyse the data required to elevate the customer experience in tune with their past information. Knowing your customer is half the battle won, and a marketing chatbot is an ally you need.
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Multi-platform support
With one software, you can meet your target audience wherever they are. Why limit your interaction with customers to only your platform? Connect with your audience across multiple social media platforms by integrating your chatbot marketing strategy at scale.
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Get qualified leads
Chatbots are a messiah for the sales team. They act as the first line of lead generation by screening through the sea of potential customers for the business. Chatbots can qualify leads and directly connect them with the sales team cutting down the lag time in the process.
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Gather customer feedback
Customer feedback is essential to improving products and services. With chatbots, getting feedback becomes more interactive, thus, increasing response rates from users.
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Measure performance
Performance metrics are essential to measuring the performance of your strategy. Keeping track of how your marketing chatbot is doing will give you insights into your future digital marketing strategy.
Conclusion
Chatbot marketing holds the key to the digital marketing kingdom if done right. Its scope and potential in building a foolproof digital marketing strategy is a no-brainer. If you aspire to become a digital marketer, knowledge of chatbot marketing can open up doors for you.
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