December 2017 -

How Did ChatBots Win On Facebook Messenger?

In 2011, Facebook launched Messenger. Today, the platform has more than one billion users.
It’s almost five years since its launch, Chatbots, conversational robots run by algorithms, have embarked on the application.

The arrival of Chatbots on Messenger was perceived as a bomb in the digital world.
The experts split in two: the optimistic ones who saw the full potential of Chatbots and the pessimists highlighting all the past failures of these robots.
The press has notably titled “Please Facebook, do not let me talk to these ugly Chatbots” (The Guardian) or “The Facebook Chatbots are frustrating and useless”. (Gizmodo).

However, keep in mind that Facebook only develops Bots tools, not the final tool. It would therefore be more judicious to throw the stone on the right target: the developers of Bots …

The first generation of Messenger Chatbot was able to order his meal or send air tickets on his laptop. These were appreciated and highly effective.
However, other inefficient Bots provoked controversy, prompting David Marcus, Messenger’s manager, to declare ChatBots as old-fashioned and boring.

Today, this speech is over. Nearly 1.2 billion entities communicate on Messenger and contrary to popular belief, they are not all human. More than 100,000 conversations have been created by developers for the Facebook platform. Every month, these Chatbots send 2 billion messages.

The turning point of Messenger

We spoke with Anand Chandrasekaran, director of products and partnerships at Messenger, to understand how the platform has grown. He summarized Chatbots’ success in three key factors:

1- Design elements that support conversations
2- Improved entry points for the consumer
3- Understanding monetization for developers, brands and businesses.

The need for visual aids pushed Facebook to add media and interfaces. One of Chandrasekaran’s favorite Bots, Epytom, uses image and language understanding to give customers clothing advice and products.

Chandrasekaran, however, also highlighted the weak points of these Bots.
To be able to interact with a Bot Messenger you have to access it via the Facebook page of a brand (unless you are already familiar with the Bot and the brand). Most of the time consumers will not press the “send us a message” button. Moreover, even if the client has already interacted with the Bot, the conversation is lost in their history because it is mixed with their personal discussions (with your Facebook friends). A customer who can not easily get in touch with a Bot is quickly discouraged. He gives up the conversation.

“We knew this behavior was important, but it was talking to the developers that we realized the problem. It also allowed us to understand customer expectations, “says Chandrasekaran. To solve the problem of losing Bots conversations in personal conversations and creating the Bots of tomorrow, Facebook has recently introduced Bots at the top of the screen that are more accessible.
Also, Facebook has launched a new service: “The M Suggestions”. This option offers solutions that are useful for a given situation. For example by sending: “I’m on the road”, the Bot will directly offer a share of position with your interlocutor. This option can also be extended to applications like Lyft or Uber to allow you to order your taxi online.

Finally, Bots are mainly used for social activities like ordering a concert ticket, buying new clothes or organizing a trip.
Chatbots are integrated into Messenger conversations, right next to the text box and uploading photos.

From growth to monetization

The avant-garde consumers of Chatbots quickly identified their potential to generate a flow on their activities.

SnapTravel has recently raised nearly $ 8 million. The company allows consumers to book a room via SMS and Messenger application. According to Chandrasekaran, SnapTravel would earn nearly $ 1 million, only through Messenger.
Meanwhile, brands like KLM, T-Mobile and Sephora have developed Messenger Chatbots that deliver a consistent consumer experience with their brand.
Chandrasekaran claims that Sephora Chatbots represent 11% more than the other digital channels of the brand. In addition to boosting business revenue, Juniper Reserch calculated that Chatbot would reduce business spending by at least $ 8 billion by 2022.

How can Chatbots help market your Brand

Chatbots are starting to become a crucial part of every brand’s marketing strategy. Brands are realizing the potential of this growing trend and they are all slowly joining the Chatbot bandwagon. No matter what your business or industry, chatbots can be develop it in one way or the other. This elasticity of bot has made it a hot commodity for brands.

So if you are wondering how chatbots can help build your build, then look no further, we’ve some points that will help answer your question.

Instant customer service

This is probably one of the most popular reasons brands are incorporating bots into their business. Chatbots act as the first line of assistance and are available to solve customer queries irrespective of the time or the day. This not only helps boost the sales of the brand but also helps in marketing it. Customers will appreciate the assistance provided by the brand and it might even help in increasing the brand loyalty.

Shows that the brand is technologically evolving

Gone are the days where the customers run behind the brands. It is now time for brands to think of the most innovative and creative ways to reach out to their customers. Adopting the latest technology and features allows the brand to stay relevant to their users. It also makes them more fun and exciting that the users are happy to constantly engage and interact with the brands.

Helps track and analyse consumer data

Brands are aware of how important it is to constantly analyse and study the user behaviour/demographics and other stats to understand their customer and also help them market their brands to the right audience in the future. And chatbots are the perfect solution for this. They provide holistic customer insights based on their interactions. This enables the brand to take decisions that will impact their company in the positive way.

Chatbots are ideal for simplifying processes, quick answers and for entertainment purposes. Do you think there are other ways in which a chatbot can help market your brand? Let us know in the comments below!

How can Chatbots help cut Customer Service costs?

As we are moving towards the beginning of 2018, businesses and brands have realised the scope of AI and Chatbots and their benefits.

It is a common misconception that incorporating Chatbots often lead to higher costs for the company. But this is not true. It is merely an investment for reducing the costs in the future. These bots have an initial development cost and the occasional maintenance costs.But their usefulness go a long way. Infact, bots are the ideal solution to reduce the costs for Customer Services.

So how exactly can chatbots help cut this cost? Read further to know all about this.

Quicker response time

This is the key aspect of customer servicing. Time is everything. The consumers want answers to their questions as quickly as possible. With human interaction, the user doesn’t always receive an instant reply to their queries. But this problem is completely eliminated with chatbots as they’re available 24×7 all seven days of the week! Bots can completely cut the waiting time for addressing customer queries. This is a huge benefit for the companies.

Better Customer Service

The Chatbot can be customized based on your business requirements. The tone and conversation capabilities can be personalized at the development stage. This cannot be done if you have actual employees in your customer service team. A lot of money has to be invested in their training processes and procedures. Also, the bot can also engage in conversations and provide any value added services (if possible). This is not possible with human interactions.

Bots are constantly evolving

Bots have a ability to learn something from every interaction and conversation with an user. This enables them to evolve constantly to provide a better service to the customer every time. These conversations can be tracked and analyzed which provides right data insights for companies to grow their business.

How to make your Chatbot more engaging?

It is no surprise that Chatbots are technology’s answer for reducing the human workload. The possibilities of incorporating a chatbot into your business are endless and so are its benefits. But care must be taken to ensure that these bots are not only created to join the fad but also adds some value to your business.

We know the one common complaint against the chatbots is the lack of personal touch. Users complain that the conversation with a bot seems robotic and repetitive. Once your customers start criticizing the performance of your bots, it is hard to bounce back. This might have a negative impact on your business.

But worry not, we’ve got some tips for you to consider before you develop your very own chatbot. These tips can ensure that your bot has got all the necessary ingredients to build an engaging conversation with the user :

Establish goals

Goals are important because it is the guiding factor for both the brand and its users. The purpose of a chatbot could be completely different, from providing online support, book orders for the customers, or help solve any customer issues or grievances. Once the goal is established, the company can work towards customizing the communication pattern of the bot.

Make the bot user-friendly and proactive

The chatbot must be easy to use and communicate with. Brands must avoid using complicated and technical jargons and keep the language simple. The customer is not expecting complex words but is only expecting responsiveness and answers to his/her questions.

It is also necessary for the bot to keep the conversation flowing and engaging. Bots can even add some value to the conversation by sharing some offers/discounts/other information that the user might find useful. Or if an user is looking for a particular product which is unavailable at your store, the bot must be able to offer some alternatives to the original one. This kind of value addition is what sets a chatbot apart from the others.

Incorporate Call-To-Action buttons

Sometimes, a customer does not want a long and interesting conversation with a bot but is rather looking for some quick answers. This is where the CTA buttons can help your business. Incorporating these CTA buttons in the right places can also help provide quick solutions to the customers. Some examples of CTA buttons include, feedback button, contact us button and links to certain webpages. These action buttons also track and measure the effectiveness of your bot.

Developing and maintaining a bot is a journey. With the above mentioned tips, you can ensure that your bot has got what it takes to build a conversation effectively and efficiently!