Sure enough, the robots are taking over, but they’ve still got a ways to go.
In an increasingly automated business environment, marketing chatbots have become a popular tool for companies to employ in their customer interactions. A well-programmed chatbot can answer questions, help website visitors accomplish their goals, and generally streamline interactions on your website in ways that don’t involve an actual employee (and lots of overhead).
However, when misused, chatbots can be a disaster. A chatbot faux pas runs the risk of undoing the kind of customer satisfaction the bot was originally designed to facilitate.
So when should you use chatbots? Should you use them at all?
Despite their limitations, chatbots remain useful and necessary tools to take advantage of in your sales and marketing efforts.
While it’s true that there are bots on social media sites and elsewhere online — often engaged in unethical activities — keep in mind that those aren’t the bots we’re talking about here. The chatbots we’re referring to can usually be found on business websites.
There are a lot of practical uses for chatbots, but knowing when and where to employ them can be a tricky thing to learn. You always want to find ways to streamline and improve your audience’s experience, and marketing chatbots can be a great resource in doing that. They can remove the hassle of needing to talk to a real person, provide quick answers to a large variety of questions, funnel visitors to book meetings or demos, and generally aid in making sure the customer’s needs are met in a timely manner.
When used ethically for marketing and customer service purposes, chatbots can strengthen your sales enablement strategy by making it easier for customers to get what they need. Here are some of the things you can, and should, do with the chatbots you use on your website.