Imagine that you have an assistant always next to you helping you managing all your daily working urgencies. Who wouldn’t like to have something like that? This is exactly what a chatbot does.
A chatbot (also known as chat bot or chatterbot) is a software conceived to simulate a conversation with a human being and, if it is properly programmed, it can understand questions and be a perfect customer care tool. It can give answers in different ways (through texts, links, videos) and manage lead acquisition, customer care and even e-commerce transactions in an automatized way, succeeding in carrying out most repetitive works of an employee and making us saving time to devote to more responsibility activities.
If this is not enough, these assistants are active 24 hours and, for this reason, they are excellent allies in an effective social media marketing strategy.
According to a report released by My Clever Agency, chatbots are the consumers’ favorite channel to get simple questions (84,6%), just beyond face-to-face interactions. Moreover, according to 2018 Chatbot Report, 34% of users intend to use Messenger BOT as an intermediate communication means before speaking to a human being.
In the last few years the use of these instruments has increased a lot also due the more and more widespread use of online messaging platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. According to Facebook’s 2018 FB Conference data, over 8 billion messages via chatbot and Facebook have been exchanged, while on Messenger there are over 300,000 active bots.
To make it simpler, we can group chatbots in three categories:
COMMERCE BOTS: they allow users to search for, select and purchase products without ever leaving. Pizza Hut gives you the chance not only to order a pizza via chat, but also to memorize your own favorite pizza. Next time…a tap will be enough!
CONTENT BOTS: they enable users to receive personalized news, starting from a specific request or letting the bot suggest hot topics. First in Italy, the Municipality of Chioggia has just begun promoting the use of a chatbot in a Public Institution. “Leo - the virtual assistant” is connected to the page of IAT Comune di Chioggia (VE), available 24 hours to help tourists and citizens with: event calendar, sightseeings, information on transports and much more.
CUSTOMER SERVICE BOTS: they are ready to answer to users’ requests and complaints in any moment during the day. During this year’s Play Copy, Dotti, the virtual assistant of BPER Bank, was presented.
In a delicate sector like banks, the expectations of clients (or potential clients) are extremely high.
With professionalism and empathy, Dotti was able to:
- increase the conversion rate by 30%
- successfully close 85% of conversations
- obtain 90% satisfaction of the customers that used it
Certainly we are speaking about numbers that cannot be ignored! A “traditional” customer care service wouldn’t be able to guarantee the same efficiency. On the contrary, sometimes the risk is the users’ frustration, as they often find it difficult to receive simple information or an answer in a short time.
If you read again the passage above, however, you will notice that we haven’t spoken only about numbers, but also about empathy. Why?
In order to create a high-level chatbot, obviously we need the help of an expert developer…but this is not the only important professional involved! With the help of a copywriter, indeed, we will be able to give a touch of humanity to our virtual assistant.
The ideal chatbot, indeed, is not only able to answer in a simple and clear way, it is also able to do that in a “human” way. Do not forget that this instrument has two objectives: solving a problem as well as contributing to the reinforcement of the emotional bond between bot and users (and consequently with your own company!), working as a fast and easy loyalty tool.
Would you like to test them in first person? On sites like ChatBottle.co you can choose a ChatBot to speak with and start becoming familiar with this world!
SOURCES:
http://www.mycleveragency.com/whitepapers/messenger-chat-bots-research-direct
https://blog.leevia.com/web-marketing/chatbot-report-2018/
https://www.pennamontata.com/news-copywriter/testi-per-chatbot
https://www.vivabot.it/migliori-chat-bot-italiani/
https://www.ninjamarketing.it/2017/12/01/content-bot-cosa-sono/
https://www.digital4.biz/marketing/big-data-e-analytics/bot-assistenti-personali-e-chatbot-il-customer-service-nell-era-dell-intelligenza-artificiale/
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