- Chatbots have seen tremendous rise
over the last few years
and I see them becoming commonplace in marketing.
Now, a chatbot is really just a computer program
that automates certain tasks,
and usually you see them pop up in the bottom of a website
offering up automated responses to common questions.
But the most advanced bots
are powered by artificial intelligence,
giving the bot an ability to understand complex requests
and personalized responses.
Now, this technology is still evolving
and right now you can use a platform like Drift or AgentBot
to design a set of rules that you outline,
and this is all done without any code.
You just create a big, long decision tree,
much like if you were building a dialog on a phone system,
but chatbots are great for the end user.
They eliminate the need for cluttered conversations
and bots often get answers to common questions,
or get to direct consumers to a real human
who can then carry the conversation forward.
And bots also get a lot of the lead generation aspects
out of the way.
The bot can slowly collect your name, email,
and phone number as you navigate that interaction.
This way, not only can you direct the customer
to the right agent,
but you're also building your lead list.
What's also neat is that chatbot platforms layer in
some artificial intelligence, which helps the bot learn.
So if you design a response
to the frequently asked question,
"What are your store hours on Sunday?"
The bot will connect the dots,
even if people ask,
"What time do you close on Sunday?"
or "Hours on Sunday?"
or "Are you open on Sunday?" and so on.
You can use a chatbot for all sorts of marketing endeavors.
Perhaps you create an interview to identify
which product is the right fit for your customer.
And there's no need to try and build
a complex chatbot right out of the gate.
Just find a valid use case, launch a simple bot,
and then work to improve its capabilities.
Bots are also an incredible way to capture user questions.
Even if your bot can't respond,
well, now you'll know what people are asking.