Chatbots: examples of how they can help your online business

Customer service and automation now gone hand-in-hand in to such an extent that they can solve some many of the most common problems customers experience, all with minimal effort.  The reasons why a chatbot can be so useful in digital business are explained in our services section; so here we want to show you some examples that provide extra value due to their originality. 

But, before that, let’s review some of the main advantages of chatbots: 

1. They encourage lead generation 
2. They are always available: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 
3. They collect data that helps improve customer relationships 
4. They improve team productivity 
5. They drive user satisfaction 
6. They enable hybrid chatbot models and live chats 

An important consideration is that in some countries, the legislation requires users to be informed that they are interacting with an artificial intelligence tool. There are many platforms that offer this service: Botsify, Aivo, Botscrew, ItsAlive, to name a few.  

Depending on where you want to use a chatbot (web, mobile app or messaging tools like Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp) you will have plenty of options to determine which works best for you in terms of features and price.  

Lead generation, customer support, landing pages… the uses of a chatbot are as varied as websites themselves. This is also true for tone-of-voice: if you want something casual and attention-getting, you can include GIFs and other resources such as illustrations that will improve the conversion ()if that is suitable for your type of business. 

Hybrid chats: welcome, humans! 

These are a great option for sifting through problems that need a more detailed solution. A specialist analyzes the case and sees if it can be easily solved by a short answer or by attaching documentation.  Translation: you will save a lot of time. 

Semrush is a digital marketing tool that features this hybrid chatbot model. When you pose a query, if your question requires a more detailed review, an employee will step in to solve your problem.  These types of chatbot tend to have a slightly more formal tone and appearance in line with more traditional user support.   

Leads, the Holy Grail of Ecommerce 

Whilst a key pillar for most digital businesses, sometimes lead collection goes by the wayside onsite. Chatbots make it much easier to collect user information (for free) in a setting where users are not opposed to it. 

Here is a demonstration of how a chatbot works in Whatsapp(this one is by Smatbot) . Why Whatsapp? The main reason is because Whatsapp is widespread. If you have a smartphone, Whatsapp is pretty ubiquitous: 

If you prefer that the user chats via your website, there are also multiple to guide a  potential buyer to wherever you want the conversation to take place. The important thing is that you do not lose any leads along the way while taking every opportunity so that your user feels both informed and accompanied throughout the process: 

If you’ve seen the film ‘Her’ you know that this can be a little scary… 

Without getting into spoilers, imagine that an artificial intelligence technology can talk to you about interesting topics that no one else does. Imagine that technology “understands” you better than anyone else. Imagine that it is witty, funny and delights you with its responses. However: it’s not human. 

This could be applied to Cleverbot. Their acceptance policy when visiting their website is quite clear:  

“may not be suitable for children – must be agreed by parents or guardians 

learns and imitates, is social content and aims to pass the Turing Test 

may seem rude or inappropriate – speak with caution and at your own risk 

the bot pretends to be human – don’t give out personal information even if it “asks” you 

Cleverbot doesn’t understand you, and it can’t mean anything it “says.” 

Wow. That is quite a declaration! If you try out Cleverbot, you will be surprised by the very witty human touch.  

But can chatbots be used to learn something? 

Indeed! The Duolingo platform for language learning is a clear example. Through its chatbot you can “converse” in real time, develop your communication skills and practice with different characters to try out different styles. A fun and dynamic way to practice a second language! 

In All Around we often talk about human to human😉. This means that your digital marketing and business strategy needs to take real people into account in order to not miss out on opportunities. If what you need is to put a chatbot in your life web, contact us and we can help get you started. Although it may still sound like science fiction, the truth is that we are already more accustomed to talking to bots we know.  

Postscript: This post was written by a human. Or was it? 

Links of interest: 

Chatbot builder (HubSpot) 

The 20 Best Chatbot Examples in 2022 

The Wild World of Weird Chatbots 

Top 12 Messenger Chatbots to Make Engagement Easy 

Author

Andreas Pfister

Managing Director

Andreas is Managing Director at All Around. He worked for years in leading roles and international projects at WPP and Publicis Group agencies. He now leads a multi-disciplinary team of marketing consultants from different disciplines, backgrounds and countries who have joined forces to deliver international digital strategies and measurable results for our clients.