What are Chatbots, and How do Companies Use Them?
What is a chatbot? Is it a contributor to your digital success or a source of annoying notifications? While you are puzzling over the chatbot effectiveness, smart marketers are already putting chatbots to use and reaping the benefits.
This article will be your guide if you are curious about what chatbots are, what chatbots are used for, or how chatbots work. What are chatbots, and how do companies use them? Let’s get started now!
What are chatbots?
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence tool used to imitate an online conversation through websites and messaging or mobile applications. Chatbots can be integrated into your website or connected to your Facebook Messenger. In fact, as of 2018, Facebook counted over 300,000 active chatbots.
Why are chatbots popular? Well, according to Drift, users are likely to turn to chatbots to resolve an emergency or to get detailed information:
Source: State of Chatbots Report
Are you starting to see the major benefits of chatbots for your business? Not so fast, knowing what a chatbot is and its beauties isn’t the only thing you need to keep in mind. There are also two types of chatbots to choose from:
Code-based
These chatbots are highly tailored to your company’s needs. Yes, they are beautiful and very on-brand, but creating one is a long, winding, and expensive road. You will either need to have some coding skills or turn to a developer to code the chatbot from scratch for you.
If your code-based chatbot is powered by a specialist, you will have to ask for their help to change or fix your chatbot in any way. If your specialist quits, the chances you will need a new-built chatbot escalate.
Scripted (Rules-Based chatbots)
These kinds of chatbots are made on SaaS platforms and create a conversation flow using pre-set keywords. After a user types in a script-friendly question, the chatbot responds according to its script. In the case that the user’s query is different from the script, the chatbot won’t produce an answer.
This option is right for you if you are squeezed for time and money or if you are just starting out. You will be able to create a chatbot yourself within a day, and — unlike code-based chatbots — improve, change or fix it whenever you want.
In a nutshell, if you are just launching your project and don’t feel like investing a fortune into it — try building a scripted chatbot and save yourself a penny and some time.
How does a chatbot work?
While the creators of your code-based chatbots can leave you waiting for months, you can construct your own chatbot using a builder in a day. 13Chats will gladly help you succeed in this in seven steps.
1. Sign up in 13Chats to create your project. Give it a name and click “Create project.”
2. Connect your 13Chats account to your Facebook page. Remember to keep your page public and to be the administrator of the page. Choose the basic appearance settings and click “Continue.”
This way you integrate your chatbot into your business from your website right to your Facebook business page. Your chatbot users will see your Facebook integration right in the widget and you will be able to continue communication on Facebook if needed!
3. You will see a window asking to log into your Facebook account. Do so and choose a business page you want to link with 13Chats and click “Yes” on all the necessary permissions. When you’re done, you’re all set to customize your widget: its appearance, default message, and default behavior.
4. You are ready to create your chatbot workflow! You can edit and customize welcome, standard, and unsubscribe flows in the “Messenger Chatbot” menu as well as create your own.
5. Create triggers to adjust your chatbot to the user inquiries and make it less of a bot and more of a chat. You will be able to add some keywords that will start a flow or create one with it. You can edit or delete triggers anytime.
6. Start building your chatbot flow by connecting and editing the four blocks and multiple elements in the builder.
Connect the flows you’ve created so that the user will travel between them while communicating with your chatbot.
7. Manage the flows, add new triggers, check the stats of your chatbot, and bring in any edits in the “edit trigger” section.
From now on you are unstoppable. Everything you can build in our chatbot is only limited by your creativity. Good luck and have fun! 😉
What are chatbots used for?
By this time every digital marketer and their mother had their say on how cool the chatbots are. We will jog through the most prominent benefits chatbots help to improve.
Customer service
Your customers may need assistance in understanding which steps to take next or which product to choose, so connecting a chatbot will play a huge part in boosting your customer experience. As your chatbot continues to improve, it will tailor its answers to some unique questions using keywords from users’ searches — shipping, price, refunds.
Online purchases and payments management
Relieve some of your sales team’s routine work and let the chatbot do the work in processing orders, payments, making bookings, etc. Your chatbot can be a win-win solution while supporting prospects through the sales funnel or for product consulting.
Moreover, you can set up your chatbot to take and complete orders. This way your customers will stay engaged with your chatbot and won’t need to travel to other apps to place and complete their order.
Sending information and news about your company
Imagine going to a new website trying to find the refund information. Feeling anxious yet? Chatbots are somewhat better at processing huge amounts of data and can come up with the necessary information in no time provided there are preset keyword auto-replies.
That’s why a chatbot is necessary: by making a well-organized and caring chatbot the touchpoint with your business, you save your customers’ time and set up a positive company image.
Generate and qualify leads
You can write a script triggering the chatbot to initiate a conversation while the customer is “just looking,” ask certain questions to understand their needs, segment the audience, and eventually come up with attractive offers.
Apart from being able to push the customers through the sales funnel, lead generation creates higher website traffic and uplifts conversions. According to Chatbotslife.com, chatbots boost conversion rate by 25% on average. You can fuel up these stats by launching targeted ads over Facebook or connecting Facebook Ads to your chatbot. This way you will be able to enlarge your footprint and enjoy higher conversion rates.
Assistant 24/7
Users can (and will!) reach your product at very odd hours, while you and your managers may be sound asleep. In the meantime, you could lose a client and thus — money. That’s how chatbots can help — chatbots don’t need any sleep! Set up a script for FAQs and your chatbot will be able to serve customer queries during non-working hours. Once your managers are available, they will finalize the deal with the client that your chatbot has saved for you. This way you will reduce users’ stress and earn you some customer loyalty.
We know chatbots inside out
13Chats suggests only the most well-tried and best working chatbot options that you can tailor to your needs! 🔥
Create one to relieve your support team’s stress!
Final thoughts
Chatbots continue to get more and more efficient at helping serve customers quicker than a flash. If you want to cash in on their popularity, add a chatbot to your business routine today. They help you conquer customers’ trust by providing 24/7 automated assistance, guidance, and support.
Since chatbots continue being a revolution in messaging, staying aside is a big no-no. Try 13Chats for free and watch your sales improve in no time. Get in touch with us to get more details! 🙂
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