Phone calls are going out of style. An ever-growing number of consumers elect to get their inquiries answered online through text-based platforms rather than speaking directly to a human representative. This is where chatbots come in, as they allow you to provide your customers with prompt and efficient service at any time of day, and they help your marketing and sales teams catch a break. So how do chatbots work in marketing? 

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How Do Chatbots Work?

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There are many different contexts in which chatbots can be used, and there are also many different kinds of programs that can be used to create them. In straightforward situations, chatbots that respond to inquiries the same way each time一or respond depending on keywords the customer uses (rule-based chatbots)一may be used. In situations where live chat features are replicated to better provide a sense of natural conversation, AI chatbots are often used, as they can learn over time how to respond in unique circumstances. 

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Why You Should Use Chatbots for Marketing

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Chatbots can be used to improve your customer experience. Automating processes is always a plus in business一specifically, in marketing. A Userlike survey showed that 68% of chatbot users reported that one of the main aspects they liked about chatbots was the speed with which they responded. This feature is not only beneficial to the customer, but also lightens your marketing team’s workload.

A pop-up chatbot on your website will market your products for you 24/7, and unlike the people on your marketing team, you don’t have to pay them a salary! Additionally, chatbots can help customers progress in their customer journey (just like any good marketer does). For example, if the customer has a question about shipping, they may be closer to making a purchase than a customer that inquiries about the features of a product, and the chatbot can provide them with the appropriate resources to encourage them further.

Great marketing by humans and robots can only happen if the proper data is available to them. By recording and analyzing the data that your chatbot acquires through interactions with people, you can get an idea of what direction to take your marketing strategy as a whole. 

To sum it up, chatbots can make it easier for you to market to more people more quickly, help drive people through your sales funnel, and provide your marketing team with valuable data that can be used for future strategizing. 

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How to Use a Chatbot on Your Website

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The first thing you’ll want to consider is what kind of issues you are trying to solve with a chatbot. Perhaps your marketing and sales teams are being overrun with simple questions that could be answered easily with an automated chatbot, or maybe you currently don’t have enough touch points available to your customers. 

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The Bottom Line.. 

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Understanding the main reason why implementing a chatbot will benefit your business will help you decide what kind you want to create. For many businesses, a rule-based chatbot is sufficient, meaning you should spend time creating a comprehensive set of responses and focus on limiting the user input. This way the chatbot can work as intended without any customer dissatisfaction. (Example: have specific options for asking about product features, pricing, order tracking, etc.).