Chatbot marketing: How can chatbots leverage your marketing?
Chatbots are widely known for their customer support functionality as tools to be put on the websites to answer basic questions. However, the power of chatbots goes beyond this. In recent years we hear the concept of conversational marketing or chatbot marketing which is the practice of using chatbots to welcome new site visitors, convert and nurture leads, direct existing customers to customer support, and more. Chatbots can provide segmented and personalised buying experiences that drive revenue.
Although customer support was the first widespread use case for chatbots, as the technology gets more advanced and becomes more popular, marketing and sales teams want to speed up their buying cycle and serve their audience faster and effectively by the power of chatbots. New AI-based features not only boost company’s productivity but also the sales and marketing performance. In this blog we will have a look at how marketers can use chatbots to generate more leads, nurture and convert them, engage existing customers better and more, especially in the post-pandemic landscape.
Chatbots that have marketing functionality can be deployed on the web, on mobile apps, on messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, or social media like Instagram. They can also be positioned as part of organic efforts or paid campaigns. You can make a conversational landing page campaign and generate leads in this page form the very first point of contact, qualify them by asking certain questions and send them to a nurture path. You can book a demo or call on the chatbot experience or handover them to a human agent.
The most common ways to unlock chatbots marketing potential
Lead Generation
It is one of the most popular chatbot use cases in marketing overall. Chatbots are more user friendly as an experience than online forms. You can just put a chatbot on your website to collect the 4-5 basic info for your potential leads. After collecting the necessary information, you can direct the lead to a CRM system where the sales team manages the prospects. It’s a particularly ideal tool for a client-based business whose leads are to be followed up by a salesperson.
Lead Qualification
You can build a further assessing conversation to understand the quality of the lead and the likeness of the conversion. It is extending the shorter lead-generating conversation using case-specific qualification questions. It can double-act as a qualification bot and notify sales agents when a high-value lead completes the conversation and possibly even trigger chatbot to human handoff either as a chat or video call experience.
Lead Engagement
For marketers chatbots are a gateway to connect with their prospect. After qualifying the lead, you can push an offer, answer their questions regarding products and services or convert to other calls to actions such as download a guide, join a webinar, read a case study, schedule a sales call etc. using the chat interface.
Appointment Booking & Reservations
Making reservations and booking appointments is probably one of the best ways of using bots for marketing – especially for traditionally offline businesses. Sephora’s Facebook Messenger bot is an example for this use case. Sephora uses a bot that allows customers to book an appointment for an in-store takeover using their bot, which resulted in an impressive 11% higher conversion rate than any of their other booking channels.
Loyalty Programs
According to Capgemini’s research study, 54% of loyalty accounts are inactive, and nearly one-third of registered members quit the programs without ever using any of the advantages. A chatbot on your website, app, or a like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger can be used to make your loyalty program more active by reminding the members about their points, encouraging them to redeem their points, and sending reward reminders.
Data for Analysis
Chatbots can also be used as an analytics tool, as they collect not only customer feedback but also other information about their interests and buying habits. Having this kind of data allows companies to know their customers better and continuously improve the company’s offerings. For example, chatbots are suitable tools for surveys for gathering feedback and rating customer service. Also, turning a survey into a conversation creates a more interactive experience and allows for more personalization.
Conclusion
With the continuous evolution of technology, chatbots are opening up new opportunities for businesses. They can serve various functions such as delivering customer service, supporting marketing and sales efforts, assisting employees, and more. It is crucial for companies to recognize the wide range of fields where chatbots can create value and determine their specific purpose in building a chatbot. Marketing, in particular, is a domain where chatbots can provide substantial benefits, and marketing leaders should undoubtedly explore the potential that chatbot marketing offers.