At some point, you may have interacted with a chatbot to inquire about a service online or to check out a product you wish to buy. You may have also wondered if chatbots are here to stay or are these a marketing fad?
According to a marketing report by Drift, chatbots are more than a fad. Chatbots used as a communication channel increased by 92% starting 2019. The study showed 24.9% of consumers used chatbots to contact companies in 2020. This was an increase from only 13% in 2019.
With the world still bracing from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, many companies are still doing business from home. CNBC states that industries like healthcare and banking will use chatbots which will handle around 75% to 90% of inquiries by next year.
There’s no denying many businesses and industries will consider using chatbots in the next few years. If you’re still unsure of using this technology, check out our 7 top reasons why chatbots should be a part of your marketing strategies.
7 Benefits of Chatbots in Marketing
Customers want speed and efficiency when it comes to customer support. Chatbots can make these happen with automated customer communication. Data shows that around 35% of customers want businesses to improve communication using chatbots. They believe that chatbots provide a better customer experience.
From a marketer’s point of view, chatbots are handy tools to forge client relationships. This technology can help you interact with your visitors anytime.
1. Chatbots Boost Lead Generation Activities
Chatbots can engage with customers through the use of personalized messages. This happens as they move through the buying process. This way, chatbots become effective lead generation tools to guide your prospects to make smart buying decisions.
Bots can interact with customers using a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire help qualify leads for easy conversion. For instance, a chatbot for hotel booking can help customers schedule their accommodations 24/7. There’s no need to wait for a live agent to book.
Bots can classify leads and nurture qualified customers depending on where they are in the sales journey. An eCommerce company with a Shopify account must use the best Shopify chatbot. This personalizes product recommendations tenfold. It will also provide special offers, discounts, and other deals to drive sales conversions. A Shopify chat service or a Shopify bot is one of the most common ways customers connect with businesses.
2. Chatbots Improve Customer Engagement
With conversational chatbots, customer engagement comes from user data. With chatbots, engagement becomes interactive. Because chatbots deliver relevant, quick, and consistent answers, customers stay longer. Customers may also consider taking your products or services.
In Shopify stores, marketers can boost customer engagement with chatbots. They do this by adding a personal touch to every conversation. Chatbots may engage from a personal level which most customers prefer.
3. Businesses Enjoy Reduced Customer Service Costs
Your customers visit your website and book your service or order your products anytime they wish. They expect someone to cater to their needs when they visit your site.
Instead of hiring a full-time customer service agent, you can use chatbots to reduce customer service costs. Chatbot apps are a good investment as you don’t need to deal with training, compensation and benefits, and infrastructure.
An online chatbot can answer basic questions about your brand, products, or services. But in case of complex issues, it can connect a customer to a live agent. Also, chatbots can help automate all your routine processes. This can help live agents during the busiest times of the day without any extra costs.
4. Easy to Track Consumer Data For Improved User Insights
Chatbots can help marketers determine customer buying behavior. With a better understanding of your customers’ patterns, you can make different campaigns. Use these to position your products more efficiently.
Bots can collect customer feedback using simple questions. These answers can help improve products or services and optimize the business website.
5. A Chatbot Online Can Meet User Expectations
Customers want quick and efficient responses to inquiries. Chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) allow them to learn from interactions and automate most customer communications. There’s no need to wait for live agents to answer questions and make orders which improves customer experience and retention.
6. Chatbots for Streamlined Customer Onboarding
Customers appreciate it when they are guided and supported. Usually, even with so many guides and tutorials you have on your website, they will still think twice about doing things independently. An AI chatbot can educate your customers and guide them during onboarding.
Chatbots may ask questions and get answers which will lead customers to what they are searching for. Bots will help marketers understand why customers have not moved through the conversion funnel.
Knowing this information will trigger changes to existing marketing campaigns. This will improve the customer buying journey. It’s essential to use the best chatbot service to match your marketing needs and budget. A comparison of the different chatbot platform technologies is available online. This will help marketers and businesses make wise choices.
7. Improve Customer Journey with Chatbots Apps
Your prospects straying halfway into the sales journey is something that marketers would like to avoid. Customers usually drop from the sales journey because of trivial reasons. Things like an awkward step during checkout or an extra fee may trigger an exit. Chatbots can support the customer towards checkout and create a smoother journey towards a sale.
Marketers can program a chatbot app to communicate with customers through bot scripts. With these, bots can efficiently answer any questions at any time. To build trust and value, marketers can support chatbot interactions with videos and extra info on products and services.
Final Words
Marketers who wish to boost customer engagement should consider chatbot marketing this year and the next years to come. Chatbots can help businesses enhance customer service. This can also help with lead generation and different marketing efforts using a LeadBot chatbot.
Businesses can stay ahead with customer service with a chatbot like a Shopify chatbot. And every business knows, customer satisfaction is the key to business success.
