The technology revolution led by deep learning and artificial intelligence has significantly improved the relationship between brands and consumers. E-commerce is evolving at a rapid pace and technological immersion is embraced far greater than any other decade.
In recent times, chatbots, a key product of AI, have made a huge impact on various industries from e-commerce to financial services and healthcare. AI and NLP powered bots are aimed at helping businesses automate a number of processes and enhance customer interaction.
- According to a new research, chatbots will help business slash their operations costs by more than $8 billion per year by 2022.
- Another research by Juniper suggests that between 75 and 90 percent of queries in healthcare and banking industries will be dealt by chatbots within the next five years, saving up to $0.70 per interaction.
Before we move further, let’s explain chatbot in few simple words.
Imagine yourself buying a dress online for your wedding. Instead of browsing through the whole website and failing in the end, you will simply ask the chatbot for help.
Going through a series of questions like what dress would you like, what size and color, the chatbot will present you with the specific dress that you are looking for without any delay. It’s just like you go to bricks and mortar shop and having a conversation with the salesperson in the store.
Aside from dealing with customer care queries, AI-powered chatbots can be part of your marketing plan and help drive your customers seamlessly through your sales funnel.
How can you integrate chatbots to fit into your marketing strategy? Have a look at it.
1. Personalized Experience for Audience
Have you ever visited a store, where you can find similar products as per your needs? If not, a sales rep offers you instantly and you are pleased with the customer services. That does not hold you to shop again from the store again.
Chatbots on the other hand act as a virtual sales rep in online stores, waiting for you 24/7. They are integrated with social media that collects data of an individual. When the shopper has an inquiry, chatbot can answer perfectly, and take the conversation to the next level by further offering a personalized shopping advice and offering products based on shoppers search history and preferences.
Hiring a human sales assistant is a tough call, in terms of cost, capacity and time. It is nearly difficult to hire a person 24/7 and give a prompt reply. This is where chatbot comes to rescue retailers like you.
2. Engagement at Higher Level
Chatbots are not good at interacting with the customers, but also develop a higher engagement level. They retain them by keeping them busy.
For example, a person has bought a new Smart TV from an online store. The person might need some additional peripherals such as DVD player, sound system or headphones. While the person is still on the website, chatbot can display these items as “Things you might find interesting”.
Even if the person was not in the mood of buying such peripherals, but the chatbot might change the mind and result in a successful sale.
Chatbot is good at catching customer’s attention and learn from the past behavior. In simple words, it is able to upsell and cross-sell in a customized, engaging and conversational way.
3. Reach Wider Audience
Chatbots are normally found on social media platforms and with each passing day, people are attracted to these social media websites. In this way, chatbots are able to reach a wider audience, target them and sell. They can tap into new demographics and reach new customer base, which can be integrated across various messaging applications. Thus, it results in higher sales, deeper engagement and wider audience reach.
4. Gather Useful Data
Chatbots are not only good at offering superb customer experience but also helps you analyze the feedback. How many times have you filled the survey form, probably one or zero? However, if you want to collect the feedback from customers, your chatbot can help you gather the data by asking them in a soft way.
Moreover, by incorporating machine learning tools, the chatbot can analyze feedback and other responses by the users, resulting in deeper insights into what your audience is looking for. It is a great opportunity for you to revamp your marketing strategy, mainly focused on customer’s needs and creating a perfect inbound marketing approach.
5. Send Appropriate Notifications
When it comes to sending emails and texts, people often ignore it due to bombardment or are not interested in what’s being offered. For instance, if you have introduced a new product or added a new service, you instead of spreading the message, try to focus on generating sales. Feeding the customers with the same texts and emails might annoy them, which is likely of no interest.
Chatbots, however, capture and analyze data that is relevant, helps in sending relevant notifications through social media.
6. Amusing Interaction with Customers
Not only chatbots can help gather information and provide quality information to the customers. They are also helpful in interacting with the customers in a more amusing way. Take an example of Whole Foods Chatbot that allows customers to search for recipes through Facebook messenger using simple emojis.
Chatbots help you get your marketing to the next level by creating fun and leaving a long-lasting impression on the user. It can also help drive more traffic to your website by sharing links to the specific blog posts and other pieces of content.
How to Develop Your Own Chatbot
AI Chatbots are helpful in optimizing the workflows, build stronger relationships with customers and engage with them. What are your plans? Are you going to rely on a traditional way of dealing with your customers or ready to embrace the technological revolution?
We at IQVIS can help you build conversational AI and chatbots across myriad of platforms including websites, Slack, Microsoft, and Facebook. Whether you are a leading eCommerce store or offering some kind of services, we can help you analyze your business and devise you a solution that caters to your needs.
