Today, consumers want, I would even go out on a limb and say need, immediate satisfaction. When a potential customer bounces from your site, you are potentially losing hundreds to thousands of dollars.
There is a simple, customer-facing solution your website can implement TODAY to help generate revenue and create raving fans.
The solution is chatbot marketing!
Chatbots are a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that artificially replicate the patterns of human interactions in machine learning that allows computers to learn by themselves without programming natural language processing.
Basically, chatbots can learn from the conversations they are having with your customers and provide the best response or guidance in an instant.
Where one customer service agent can serve around 2 or 3 conversations at once, Chatbots can serve ALL OF THE CUSTOMERS AT ONCE. Seriously, all of them.
Still not convinced that chatbots are right for you? Well, take my hand and I will show you the 11 proven ways chatbots can help boost your customer service efforts immediately!
1. Chatbots Can Scale-Up & Streamline Your Business
Looking at your business right now, does your customer service team consist of employees who actually dread interacting with customers, have limited time, and are only there to punch the clock?
If so, your company is losing out on valuable customer inquiries about your products and services and ultimately, undeserving your clients.
Let’s be honest – even if your customer service team is made of the fastest typers that know your business’s products or services inside and out, your customer service reps are only humans.
Humans have days where they don’t want to be at work due to life stressors, make mistakes, and can’t always have the overwhelming passion to perform at maximum capacity.
And we all want to provide the BEST customer service to our customers, not a half-baked response because we have too many queries at once to respond mindfully and timely.
Chatbots can help streamline your business and scale-up your operations. Those repetitive questions your customer service team always receives can be automated so your chatbot can provide a response accurately and instantly.
Moreover, most people have interacted with a chatbot and are not afraid to interact with one upon entering a website.
In fact, taken from a report published by Usabilla, which surveyed 1000 US consumers, found that, although they do not want chatbots and AI to take over total human interaction, they do enjoy the convenience of chatbots.
Almost three out of four (70 percent) of respondents said that they have used chatbots already, and of those who have not, 60 percent said that they would feel comfortable doing so. (source)
Additionally, 54 percent of respondents said they would always choose a chatbot over a human customer service rep if it saved them 10 minutes.
Your company needs to have a chatbot available on your website because customers want immediate satisfaction and to save time when conducting purchases online. Chatbots will help your brand do just that.
Lack of a chatbot available on your website could be costing your company money and customers. Incorporating chatbots into your website can streamline your business and save your customers time.
And time is money, we all know that.
Chatbots will serve your customers with the easier, more mundane, questions and then leave the harder questions for your customer service team.
I mean, to me, it’s a win win!
2. Chatbots Keep Working, Even When You’re Tucked Away at Night
As a hard working business owner, I know you are dedicated to your company, and if you could, you would work all through the day and night to best serve your customers’ needs. I don’t know about you, but after 24 hours of no sleep, I would definitely start typing nonsense.
Customers don’t want nonsense, they want answers.
Do you know what doesn’t need sleep? Chatbots!! And they will continue to work and be your dedicated marketing and customer service agent while you catch some zzzzz’s.
I am sure your business has invested hundreds, if not thousands, into a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign as well as a strong SEO strategy so that you can rank higher and drive meaningful traffic to your website.
But, in reality, you have about 15 seconds to capture someone’s attention before they move onto your competitors.
Now, what if these customers are doing some late-night browsing, and have a question about your goods or services. Who are they going to ask? Your customer service reps are home in bed, so they will do one of two things:
- Impatiently send an email to your customer service team and have to wait for the next day to receive a reply, or…
- Bounce from your site and go to purchase from the competition.
But, if your site offers visitors the option to interact with a chatbot, they will be able to receive immediate satisfaction for their query. The chatbots keep chatting while you take some time to rest.
Chatbots will automatically become your 24/7 sales reps.
So those nocturnal customers that make their best purchases at ~2:30 am (me) can still have the best experience, just like they would during regular business hours.
If the chatbot cannot answer the question at the moment, the customer will know that as soon as the customer service team is in the morning, they will receive a response. Their need for immediate satisfaction has been, well, satisfied!
3. Chatbots Can Guide Customers to the Right Products
Imagine being guided to the product you want WITHOUT even starting to search on a website? Well, chatbots can help you do that, especially if you are in eCommerce.
Today, customers want things in an instant and really hate a long wait. Just think about why Amazon is so massively popular, with prime, you can receive your parcel in two days or less.
Knowing this, your brand needs to streamline the entire buying journey by getting your customer what they need as soon as they enter your website.
Here are some ways chatbots keep selling your products even when you’re not working:
- Immediately show customers deals your brand is hosting – who doesn’t love deals?
- Provide personalized branded messages to welcome visitors to your website.
- Prevent and reduce shopping cart abandonment by communicating with your audience about the product they are interested in.
- Promote upselling and cross-selling based on items your customers have already put in their cart.
- Help customers with the product guides and be there to answer specific product questions.
- Offer communication in multiple languages, which is great if you are a global brand.
4. Chatbots Can Help Reduce Your Abandoned Cart Rate
Abandoned carts, we have all done it. You know, when there is an incredible sale online, and you put all of the things you want into your cart (without thinking of the price) because of that great discount, then check your total and your like woahhhhh, then exit out never to actually purchase anything.
I can’t be alone here, right?
But, in all seriousness, abandoned cart rates are HIGH, with 69% of all e-commerce visitors abandon their shopping cart.
And that means that your business has suffered from visitors coming to your website, surfing and stuffing their cart, then ditching before completing their purchase.
Now, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly why visitors to your website abandoned their cart because there are tons of reasons. Some of the main pain points customers experience when they decide to abandon their cart are seen below:
But, at the end of the day, an abandoned cart will always = a loss of income.
But, I am happy to inform you that chatbots can reduce your abandoned cart rate, and they can do that by improving the overall experience your audience has on your website.
Chatbots can help create a space that improves the buyer’s journey by making a space that supports and elevates the purchasing stage. Chatbots do this by:
- Assisting your target audience by answering all of those frequently asked questions before and during the purchase. It is important that the support doesn’t stop once the item is in the cart as more questions are likely to come up during checkout.
- Providing a high amount of user engagement.
- Providing customers with promotions. Who doesn’t love a special offer of 10% at checkout, I know I do.
- Chatbots will help guide your customers to exactly what they are looking for, making the buying process seamless. All the lazy people will LOVE your brand for it.
- Chatbots can provide your company with meaningful feedback that can help continue to streamline and enhance the buyer experience.
- In case that an abandoned cart happens, because it is inevitable, chatbots can collect user data to send tailored emails about the products they purchased and loved.
5. Chatbots Can Build a Positive Rapport & Gain Trust with Customers
Despite the fact that a person will be asking questions and seeking help from a bot, chatbots really do increase engagement with customers and can positively impact customers’ experience when visiting your website.
Your chatbot doesn’t need to be lacking in the personality department and your company can design templates for the chatbot that exhibit humor and personality that is on-brand.
Your chatbot should be an extension of your brand and can build that positive rapport that customers usually have with members of your team.
But, more importantly, chatbots will provide a great experience for users, and the relationship between your brand and your customers is precious. Especially when one bad experience with a brand can turn a customer away from your company, for good.
It is extremely important to remember that your bot can be an extension of your brand, but don’t have it lack efficiency in the name of personality. Have a healthy blend of both.
Here are some things to keep in mind when determining your chatbots personality:
- Think about what the main function of your chatbot it and if creating sassy responses is acceptable for your business.
- Make sure your chatbot is inline with your brand guidelines so that the type of responses your chatbot gives is something your customer service reps would say as well.
- Think about your ideal target market and what type of response they would appreciate receiving when visiting your website.
6. Chatbots Help Conduct Research & Collect Data
Chatbots can do a whole lot of great stuff to help your brand flourish, and helping you collect user information is amongst one of those things.
It is bound to happen that someone comes to your website, finds your product or service great, but just aren’t ready to purchase yet.
It’s okay, this is natural in the buying process.
But what chatbots can do is create engagement with a potential customer upon visiting your website. The chatbot can help build a positive relationship with your customer, and if the customer agrees, if you can get your customers to provide a name and email, this can help with your brand’s retargeting efforts.
Once you have the client’s name and email, you can use this to send emails based their preferences and help create tailored conversation.
By having a chatbot help your brand grow your CRM, you will then be able to continue the conversation with potential customers even after they leave your website.
Keep your brand’s name on the tip of your potential clients tongue and nurturen them until they become a raving fan!
7. Chatbots Help Market to Millennials & Gen Z
Chatbots can serve both millennials and gen z and although these two groups have grown up amongst technology, their approach to chatbots vary.
Millennials love to compare. They compare prices, reviews, and brands. Millennials will think a bit more about their purchase and tend not to impulse, so chatbots can serve them because millennials would much rather talk to a bot than an actual human service representative.
Help millennials find exactly what they are looking for and answer their questions instantly by providing a chatbot to guide them through your website and to the products they want.
Gen Z, however, has grown up with technology. They are the digital natives, and having a smartphone in hand is not off-brand for Gen Z. The reason why Gen Z loves chatbots is that they can interact with the brands they love directly from their smartphones.
They are the smartphone generation anyhow, and let’s be honest, growing up surrounded by technology makes this generation have high expectations for the technology they interact with.
Chatbots are smart and quick enough to keep up with the digital natives but take the time to nurture and guide the group of non-impulse buyers.
You know millennials and gen z are a huge source of revenue for you, so cater to them by having chatbots on your website.
8. Chatbots Are a Small Investment that Saves Huge on Customer Service
Let’s talk $$$, because if you aren’t convinced yet that chatbots can save you money, then you are about to be!
Depending on your business goals and the size of your business, there is a chatbot option for you. Small, medium, and large businesses can all benefit from a chatbot, and here’s how.
Chatbots can cost anywhere from $0 if you build a bot yourself, to around 39 to 50 per month for chatbot software, to 500-5000 per month if you hire a chatbot agency to basically execute your sales funnel and maintain lead gen.
For the sake of the following examples, I am going to cater to my small and medium-sized businesses.
Example 1: Save on customer service
For the sake of this example, I am going to say your company is using a chatbot software, such as Tidio and you pay for this platform to have unlimited active chatbots.
The cost per month for your business is $39/month. This means, for only $39/month, any customer that happens upon your site can be immediately served at any hour of the day.
That means 24/7 customer service for a small investment per month.
If you choose to not integrate your system with chatbots and decide to have one or two dedicated customer service representatives, then you could be losing a lot of money that the job of chatbots can fill.
Your customer service representatives work for, let’s say, $8/hr and work a normal 40 hour week. That means that you will be paying these employees $320/week, per employee. And, these employees have a much shorter time range, as they work 8 hours a day, leaving the other 16 hours of a day open for customers to enquire with questions, not get served immediately, and then bounce to a competitors page.
Of course, I am not saying let go of your whole customer service team (if you have a full team) and replace them with chatbots. There is still the beauty of human interaction and you need customer service reps for when the chatbot can’t answer the customer question.
But, you will save money and receive 24 active hours per day with the use of a chatbot on your website.
Example 2 – Chatbots ROI is seriously incredible
Okay, example #2 – we are still hypothetically saying that you are using Tidio for your chatbot platform, and you’re paying $39/month for their service.
Let’s say you’re a medium-sized law firm, and the average customer pays $3,000 for your service.
And one day, a potential client is browsing your website at 10 pm (when everyone in the office is home for the night) and has a question about your services.
Because you have a chatbot in place, the chatbot is able to answer the potential client’s question instantly, building trust in your firm, which leads to a consultation, and now you have a satisfied client.
But it doesn’t stop there. This client is so happy with your service, they refer one or two friends and use your services again.
That is a potential $12,000 in revenue for your firm, not to mention those new clients will tell their friends, and so one.
And the first client was converted because of the chatbot! 😀
Now, think of all of the customers that the chatbot can convert just like this one client who was browsing at 10 pm.
We are talking about a small cost of acquisition for the lifetime value of a customer.
Example 3 – Chatbots are the peanut butter and conversions are the jelly, they just go together
Let’s say you have a conversion rate of 2.5%. That’s not bad, but I know that chatbots can make that conversion rate even better.
In fact, as long as you are running an effective chatbot, conversions can significantly increase, even up to 3x more than customer service outreach via email.
So, if you have an effective chatbot, and we are going to improve your 2.5% conversion rate by 3, it means you will now have a conversion rate of 7.5%.
Let’s monetize this example:
From the example above, your law firm averages a client retainer of $3000, and we increase your conversion rate with chatbot marketing from 2.5% to 7.5%, that means your firm will increase your revenue by $15,000 in just (90?) days!
Don’t believe me? Let us here at Imagen Media help you and show you how chatbot marketing can increase your conversions!
9. Chatbots Offer Easy Integration Across Messaging Platforms
Your chatbot doesn’t have to end its journey on your website. In fact, you can integrate your chatbots across various platforms to ensure your customers never go unserved.
Which social media apps can you integrate your chatbot onto?
- Facebook Messanger
By integrating chatbots to various social media platforms, your customers won’t have to wait until your team logs onto the channels to be attended to. By having chatbots at the ready on all potential customer channels can help shorten your sales cycle and grow your sales pipeline.
Incresing customer satisfaction doesn’t need to only happen on your website, so integrate your social media channels now and your customers happy.
10. Chatbots Help Your Team Become More Efficient with Less Hands-On Work
Chatbots can help your company streamline your work, become more efficient, rank higher with Google all while your company will take a more hands-off approach.
Chatbots can be assigned to do the mundane tasks originally conducted by your customer service team, freeing up time for more efficient work.
You can use chatbots for task automation, chatbots can schedule meetings, send follow-up emails, and keep the customer service side of operations consistent. You can integrate your chatbot with your CRM to create personalized customer interactions. (Source: HubSpot)
Chatbots can also help your website rank higher with SERPs.
“How,” you may ask??
Bounce rate, that’s how.
If customers head to your website and are not immediately served and bounce quickly, that is an indicator that your website isn’t retaining visitor’s attention. And, ultimately, this will result in a lower ranking.
Having a chatbot that can guide your customer through their journey on your website and bring them to exactly where they need to be will decrease your bounce rate, hold visitors retention, and ultimately improve your ranking with SEO!
11. Chatbots help turn visitors into raving fans
Chatbots, as stated before, can be your company’s go-to 24/7 branded customer service rep, and can improve overall customer experience and turn them into raving fans!
Unfortunately, once a person has a poor experience with your company, they are more than likely to not try again. Don’t believe me?
Well, unfortunately, 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience
You want to ensure that your company is taking the extra steps to make sure all of the visitors to your website are taken care of, immediately, you are in a much better spot to convert visitors to happy customers.
Chatbots can offer comfort and care to your customers, even after hours. Your customers/clients are the most important part of your business, so treat them as such by offering a service to answer and guide them through your website from the minute they enter!
Let’s Wrap Up This Chat
Chatbots aren’t going anywhere, and although for some businesses, working with any type of AI software can seem intimidating, it will only make your website and customers experience that much better.
Not sure where to start in crafting a chatbot marketing plan tailored to your industry? See if we can help. Imagen Media can help you set up chatbot marketing using a combination of market research, competitive analysis, and sales techniques to make sure your chatbot is fully effective and on-brand!
