Have you ever wondered why users visit a website? Most of the time, they have a question and are looking for information. Due to this reason, websites are becoming more and more conversational. Hiring so many customers service reps can be very costly. Therefore, chatbots are becoming more popular. They will soon take over all conversations happening online – text and voice included.
Anyone with a smartphone and Spectrum Gold package can go online and search for something. Chatbots have made it easier to get answers. Even search engines like Google and Bing prefer websites with chatbots. Today, more than 1.4 billion people use chatbots and they can answer many standard customer queries.
How Are Chatbots Helpful?
We can categorize all online searches in these three ways:
- Informational: looking for information
- Navigational: looking for a specific person or website
- Transactional: looking for something specific
So, people can be looking for something as simple as a definition, a location, or an item for sale. Without a chatbot, there can be some friction involved. If a person comes to your website and doesn’t find what they are looking for, they will leave. People expect a specific piece of information as quickly as possible. So, even if you design your website well, you cannot put all information on the landing page. People might have to navigate your website a little. While some may do that, others will move on to the next website.
The added friction between a search and the answer can be problematic. If a shopper doesn’t get answers, they will abandon their cart. It happens more often than you think – a whopping 70% of the time! The good news is that chatbots reduce friction and can solve a lot of problems.
Also Read: Best PC Cleaner Software
What Is Changing?
Chatbots are changing how companies deal with FAQs entirely. Before, customers had to talk to an actual human being from customer support. The cost of hiring a complete department could be a lot to handle for small businesses. Moreover, the human element could also sometimes alienate customers. They could simply not like the tone of the rep they were talking to.
Modern-day chatbots integrate natural language processing in programming. It means that they are able to register normal linguistics and answer accordingly. This is an example of conversational AI at play. You don’t have to put in specific sentences to get an answer. All you have to do is use natural language.
How Are Chatbots Good for Marketing?
The most prevalent use for chatbots is for marketing purposes. Customer service for e-commerce stores has been made simpler with chatbots. Moreover, after the customer gets their answers, chatbots can directly recommend a product to them. Bots can message users who visit a website on their own. They can prompt them with push notifications and get their attention. Programmers are also building bots that can send coupons and discount codes.
Bots are also helpful in remarketing. They can grab the attention of customers before they abandon their carts. The food industry is also using bots to take orders from customers. Facebook and Dominoes integrated chatbots in Facebook Messenger that doubled up as customer support and order takers.
What Are the Major Advantages
Chatbots seem to be a great step towards making conversational AI a part of our regular life. The e-commerce industry was one of the firsts to jump on the bandwagon. Although, all businesses can take advantage of chatbots.
Lower Costs
A chatbot costs a lot less than a customer care department. It takes no sick days, and cannot get up one day and resign. Therefore, for many businesses, chatbots are just about the numbers. The financial advantage of chatbots is an inevitable truth.
Customer Outreach
Many companies are using chatbots to attract new customers. They can be a great way to get more feedback through social media. Chatbots integrated into websites can reach out to new customers. They can initiate conversations that can result in a sale.
Availability
Making a customer service team available 24/7 can be a huge task. It is not possible for most SMEs. Chatbots make that problem go away because they are always available, which is the best feature of chatbots. Hence, it can also boost sales.
