Since people spend their time on social networks and messengers, it is there that you need to attract their attention. Many people already run their own groups in social networks or channels in messengers (quick messaging services), creating trusting relationships with participants there and attracting new participants. However, the most effective interaction is built through chatbots, which can significantly reduce customer service time and the cost of attracting and retaining customers. They allow you to automate the process of communication with potential customers and provide them with the necessary information online.
Chatbots are used for various tasks, from collecting contact information to placing orders. In this article, we will look at how chatbots can help your business attract new customers and increase sales.
Bonus Read : Marketing Automation Platforms Lookinglion.net
Under chatbot or bot, in this case, we do not mean programs that scroll likes and simulate activity, and which do not bring any benefit. Programs that are able to communicate with users, provide access to information, offer options for action, and are created specifically for messengers.
The main task of such a chatbot is to attract and retain customers. Although it can perform other tasks - automate business processes, take and process orders around the clock, answer most of the questions asked, collect feedback and conduct surveys, and show on the map how to get to you. And this all happens in a messenger in which potential customers communicate.
In fact, a chatbot is a website, a messaging and notification service, and a survey service in one flacon. Chatbots allow you to build an effective sales funnel, leading its users to the desired actions for its owner.
A chatbot is an additional tool for interaction with customers to solve business tasks, which other tools (website (landing page), mobile application, e-mail distribution, survey service, operators on the site) cope with either less effectively or more costly.
Today chatbots are unrivaled in terms of efficiency, and cost of attracting customers and are one of the most relevant trends today.
Today chatbots are the modern analog of a business card, representing the business owner telling about his biography, hobbies, about the services provided, giving links to any convenient ways of communication, and increasing trust.
A chatbot can become an online store, showing your products, talking about their features, and taking orders. It can notify you of an incoming order. For the service sector, for example, tourism, it can help pick up a tour, show the rules of behavior in another country and customs restrictions, tell about popular excursions and events, or lay out the route to the hotel if the client gets lost, provide contacts in case of an emergency situation. With the right integrations, Chatbots can validate emails coming through chats to prevent spam.
Chatbot can divide users into groups, depending on their behavior in the bot, and each group or all users at once to send messages with notifications about activities, events, news, and promotions. At the same time, chatbot messages will not be subject to the limit of 60-100 characters, as in SMS or mailings. It will easily send a 3500-character-long message with a picture or video file, show a price, or send a commercial offer without additional costs.
A chatbot can relieve technical support and free up time for employees who have to answer the same questions many times a day. It can easily cope with information support of events: when, where, what time, who is speaking, how to get there, where to live, where to eat, etc. Even in case of any changes, it will easily and effortlessly send all participants the necessary information.
A chatbot can conduct surveys to find out the degree of customer satisfaction or collect answers and notify its owner about filling out questionnaires without resorting to third-party services, but by asking questions right inside the messenger. And the received information can be uploaded to Excel or CRM system for processing.
The chatbot can show your stores, branches, offices, ATMs, cafes, gas stations, etc. within a 5 km radius of the user and show him the route on the map.
Tell customers about your company's history and what your goals are. This way, you'll pique the interest of your customers and get them comfortable with you. Don't forget to tell them about the products and services you provide, because that's what a chatbot is for. Is your business promoting a seasonal event, such as a Halloween party? Have your chatbot promote the event!
Advertising directed to a chatbot is more effective than to a website. This is explained by the fact that by clicking on an ad and launching a chatbot, each visitor, without any registration, gets into the list of bot users, and the bot into the list of contacts of the messenger in which it was launched.
No one likes to spend a long time looking for the right information about a product or service. With a chatbot, you can help the customer find everything they need. It already has answers to all the questions for the customer. However, there are some non-standard questions. Don't forget to leave your contact details or add an admin contact button. It's very helpful when a chatbot has the functionality to help resolve customer questions quickly, such as online chat with real-time support.
Increasingly, people are now choosing to order a product without talking to staff. A chatbot can automate the sales process by helping customers place an order or book a service. This can save time and simplify the process for customers, which can lead to more sales and decrease customer churn.
Moreover, your customers can easily forward the bot to their friends, recommending a good specialist or company, and they can activate the bot and take advantage of the discount. A discount of 3-10% of the purchase amount is a much lower cost of attracting customers than the cost of attracting customers by advertising. By the way, the link to the chatbot can be easily hidden in a QR code, which can be generated for free and then placed in all visible places.
An auto funnel automates the sales process from the first customer contact to a successful sale. It allows you to set up a series of conversations with visitors, answering their questions and offering them products or services combining different types of content and formats to suit each consumer. With chatbot auto-funneling, the probability of a sale is increased, conversion rates are improved, costs are reduced and of course, revenue is increased.
For example, if customers have started placing an order but have not completed it, then after a certain period of time, set by you, the customers can receive a message reminding them about the unformatted order. Note that such a return of customers made from a chatbot, unlike specialized services to return customers to the site, does not require additional investment, but it increases sales.
In case bot visitors have looked at your offers, but have not made an order, the chatbot can unobtrusively ask what they are interested in.
You can even combine this concept with shortcode texting or other SMS methods, using automated “chatbot” responses via SMS to really engage customers.
To Sum Up, in 2023, everyone needs chatbots. The use of chatbots in business, on the one hand, is useful for customers, as they can get the necessary information or perform any actions in a simpler and more convenient way, and, on the other hand, it is beneficial for companies that can use chatbots to promote their brand, collect the necessary information and increase the loyalty of their audience.
If you want to save money on customer acquisition and retention, automate internal processes in your company with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning reduce service time and staff costs, get feedback, and stand out among your competitors, a chatbot should be your tool.