January 2018 -

4 ways Chatbots can help Hotels

As the technological innovations get better, businesses have to keep evolving to hold their spot in the race for user attention. 2017 witnessed an explosion of chatbots dominating multiple industries at the same time. Chatbots are a perfect addition for businesses that are heavy on conversation with consumers like hotels.

The core of every hotel’s success depends on the quality of service provided. With the surge of internet and smartphones, users want to know all there is to know about a hotel from the comfort of their homes. So, hotels have to constantly innovate themselves to attract more bookings.

Here are some of the ways a chatbot can prove to be an useful asset for Hotels –

Responding to enquiries and FAQs

This is the first step involved when it comes to a hotel booking. Users want information about the hotel, right from its location and amenities to the additional recreational facilities provided. They want to know details about the types of rooms available, tariff, etc. Bots can help address these queries instantly.

Assist in bookings

This is one of the key tasks for a hotel. A lot of resources are employed to ensure that there is a smooth transition for customers from enquiry to booking. Phone reservations have become a thing of the past, customers now want to book rooms through online communication. This is where bots can be highly useful. Customers can instantly confirm their reservations with the hotel. This simplifies the effort taken by both parties i.e the hotel and the customer.

Receive guest feedback

There is always scope for improvement when it comes to providing quality service to guests. Hotels must pay a lot of attention to the feedback and comments from guests. Afterall, they’re the ones keeping the business afloat. Bots can be an efficient medium through which guests can give feedback about their stay. Their responses can be connected to relevant teams to ensure that suitable action is taken

Alerts about offers & discounts

Bots can also communicate about the available offers/discounts/promotions when a user initiates a new chat or even alert users who’ve already interacted with the bot. This helps the bot stay in touch with the customer database of the hotel and create awareness about offers that would result in more bookings for the hotel

Busting the common Chatbot myths

Chatbots are currently experiencing a peak in their growth. More business are companies are joining the AI bandwagon. This technology has been developed, customized and innovated to suit the needs of different businesses in multiple industries. But there are still some common misconceptions surrounding chatbots and we’re here to bust these myths once and for all!

Myth 1 – Chatbots are only for big businesses

This is one of the most common misconceptions when it comes to chatbots. Yes, it is true that some of the biggest brands in different industries have made use of this technology to achieve big results,but, it is not restricted to the elitist brands. Chatbots can be developed for your business, irrespective of the size. And you need not worry about the costs of the chatbots being super high. You can actually develop a cost-effective chatbot for your business without compromising on its quality.

Myth 2 – Chatbots are only used for Customer Service

Most people believe the biggest function of the bots is to address customer queries when the employee is unavailable. But in reality, the potential of these bots is so much more! They can used in various functions like Sales, Accounting, Communications and many more.

Myth 3 – Chatbots lack human touch

This would be the biggest myth that surrounds chatbots. People believe that Chatbots can only offer robotic and repetitive replies to questions. But that is not true. Chatbots can be built to constantly evolve and learn from every interaction they have. It generates useful insights from every conversation it has. Bots are even being utilized for counselling. So the matter of personalised touch purely depends upon how effectively your bot is built.

Myth 4 – Chatbots will lead to unemployment

Chatbots are developed to make the jobs easier for people, not to completely eliminate them in the process. Even though these bots can be built to perform multiple tasks effectively, its benefits pose a limit. Certain activities need to pass through a human.

With these busted myths, you can surely understand what bots can and cannot do. In this day and age where technology dominates every aspect of your life, bots are the perfect addition to grow your business to the next level.

The Complete Guide to Facebook Messenger For Businesses

Today, ignoring Facebook Messenger in your business strategy means ignoring a network of over 1 billion active users. Probably not a wise decision for your business.

If you thought that this platform is only suitable for private conversations, then you will be surprised to know almost 53% of consumers are more likely to buy if they can have a direct exchange with the brand. (Based on a survey by Nielson)

And yes, over 1 billion messages are exchanged with companies each month on Facebook.

Why does your brand have to worry about Facebook Messenger?

By studying the general trend of the use of social networks, it is impossible to miss the dazzling growth of Facebook Messenger. The number of instant messenger users has now exceeded that of social networks.

According to Business Insider, the top four instant messaging applications have 500 million more active users per month than the top four social networks.

It is also interesting to compare this trend with that of mobile applications. According to a Yahoo Flurryshows study, the use of instant messaging is 5.6 times greater than that of traditional applications (11% over the last 12 months for applications against 62% for instant messengers).

If you take into account these numbers, but also all the benefits Messenger offers, like: communicate privately with your customers, customize your message but also set up automatic messages with ChatBots, it is importnat for your business to have a specific marketing strategy for Facebook Messenger

How to use Facebook Messenger for your business?

Now that you know WHY your business should use Facebook Messenger, this guide will explain how to integrate this application into your marketing strategy.

How to configure Facebook Messenger?

Before having fun finding original ways to use Facebook Messenger, you must first go through the less glamorous step of the configuration.

If you company does not have a Facebook page, it’s time to create one. Messenger and Facebook are intimately linked and inseparable from each other.

1. Choose your username

If you have not done so already, you will need to create a username for your Facebook page (which will also be your Messenger username). It starts with the @ symbol and immediately appears under the name of your page in the left column.

It is also visible in the URL of your Facebook page. It must be at least five alphanumeric characters. It is obviously wise to create a consistent name with your company to facilitate the search for your customers.

How to set up your Facebook Messenger username?

1. Click Create a @username page in the left column of your page

2. Enter the chosen user name

3. Click Create User Name

If this name is already in use, you will need to look for variations until you find the combination available.

2. Enable Messenger for your page

Once you are ready and available to answer future incoming messages, you can enable email on your page.

How to enable email for your page?

1. From your Facebook page, click Settings

2. Click General in the left column

3. Scroll to Messages and click Edit

4. Select the Allow me to contact my page in private checkbox

5. Click Save Changes

3. Configure instant responses and welcome text

Instant answers, without much surprise, are sent instantly when a user sends a message to your page. For example, you can use these messages to inform the waiting time of your response, or to redirect visitors to a page on your website that answers “frequently asked questions”. It is also possible to customize the response with the name of the user.

How to enable instant answers on Messenger?

1. From your Facebook page, click Settings

2. Click Messaging in the left column

3. Under Answer Wizard, select the Yes check box to Send instant answers to everyone who sends messages to your page.

4. Click Edit

5. Edit the message of your choice

6. Click Save

In addition, the greeting appears in Facebook Messenger as soon as someone triggers a conversation with your page. You can use this text, for example, to highlight the types of services you provide through Facebook Messenger and how users can access them.

How to activate the welcome message in Messenger?

1. From your Facebook page, click Settings

2. Click Messaging in the left column

3. Under Answer Wizard, click Yes for a Messenger greeting.

4. Click Edit

5. Edit the message

6. Click Save

4. Manage your response time

Now Facebook posts the speed at which you reply to messages (just a few minutes, a few hours, or more than one day) right on your page. Needless to say, if you want to encourage users to interact with you via Messenger, a shorter response time is better.

If you are ambitious, you can even target the status “Very responsive”. To obtain it, you must have an average response rate of 90% and an average response time of 15 minutes in the last seven days.

To improve your response rate, you can set the email status of your page to “absent” during your idle hours. Messages received during these hours will not be counted in this rate.

How to set your email status when you are not available?

1. From your Facebook page, click Settings

2. Click Messaging in the left column

3. Under Answer Wizard, select the Yes check box to remain responsive when you can not access your computer or phone.

4. Click Edit

5. Edit the greeting to indicate when the user can expect to receive a response from you

6. Click Save

7. Under Stay responsive when you can not access your computer or phone, click Edit.

8. Click Schedule

9. Select your time zone, and then click Add Time Zone

10. Enter the hours when your business is closed or if you can not reply to messages

11. Click Save

Good tips for building your Facebook Messenger strategy

Now that your Facebook Messenger account is ready, let’s see how to use Messenger in your business.

1. Use e-mail codes

Like Snapcodes, Messenger codes allow users to connect to your business by scanning this “image”.

How to find your Messenger code?

1. From your Facebook page, click the Messages tab

2. At the bottom of your inbox, click on the information icon

From this screen, you can see your Messenger code and download it as a graphic file for inclusion on your website, share it on other social networks or add it to your business card.

2. Use Messenger links

Like your Messenger code, your Messenger link is a tool that you can use to encourage customers to start a Messenger conversation with your page. You can use it on your website, in your e-mail signature or even on the various social networks on which you are present.

Your Messenger link is: m.me/[username].

3. Use the “Send a Message” button on local ads

Local ads are among the easiest to create. You can launch them directly from your Facebook page. They allow you to target people based on geographic distance.

Adding the Send a Message button to a local ad encourages potential local customers to contact you directly to learn more about you.

4. Pay attention to your clientele

When your customers encounter a problem with your business, they will not fail to talk about it on social networks. Facebook Messenger can help you in many ways.

Respond privately to public messages

Sometimes customers post questions or comments directly to your Facebook page (rather than sending you a private message). These messages are visible to everyone, this can be a problem when, to answer, your company needs personal information about the customer (such as contact information, customer number …)

Rather than urging your customer to send you an email with the information you need, you can now respond directly to a public message with a private message.

The initial comment will remain visible on your public page, but it will display a message saying that you have responded privately, so that other visitors to your page know that you are not ignoring your client.

Offer a customer service directly via Messenger

Facebook Messenger can also play the role of customer service for your business. It’s even easier for them to find you on Facebook than to find the email address of your customer service on your website.

Rogers Communications, a major Canadian telecommunications company, has tested Facebook Messenger as a customer service. After several months of use, she noticed a 65% decrease in customer complaints to give way to a 65% increase in customer satisfaction.

However, if you want to use Messenger as a customer service, you must have someone dedicated to this position during your opening hours. Indeed, customers expect a quick response from you. Rogers Communication justifies these very good customer satisfaction figures thanks to its response rate (“Very responsive”).

5. Provide services via chatbots

ChatBots are undoubtedly the most interesting way to exploit Facebook Messenger. They allow you to automate everything while personalizing your message.

The use of ChatBots Messenger by the Dutch airline KLM is among the most developed. KLM uses Messenger to provide flight updates, send you your boarding pass and even change your seat.

6. Vender your products directly on Messenger

A new program has emerged in the United States. It allows you to sell your products directly via Facebook Messenger. However, you must apply to access this program.

Tommy Hilfiger started this practice during New York Fashion Week. Customers had access to the new collections directly after the shows.

For the moment, in order to benefit from this service, your company must be based in the United States. However, you can already start thinking about the strategy to adopt when the service becomes more widely available.

7. Share your location

This feature has no business purpose. It is only a way to simplify the internal communication of your company. By sharing your position, your colleagues or customers know exactly where the meeting or meeting is. This ensures that everyone gets together in the right place.

How to send your location in Messenger?

1. Open a conversation

2. Tap the three-dot icon at the bottom of your screen

3. Click Location

4. Move the pin to the desired location or locate the location by name

5. Tap Send

8. Use a DropBox

It is also possible to attach a DropBox link in your Messenger conversations. This is especially relevant for images and videos because they are displayed directly in the conversation. The receiver will be able to instantly comment the image / graphic … etc on the chat.

For other documents that are not visible, you just have to open them, and these will be available on DropBox.

How to attach a Dropbox file to a Messenger conversation?

1. Make sure the Dropbox application is installed on your computer

2. Open a conversation

3. Tap the three-dot icon at the bottom of your screen

4. Choose Dropbox

5. Select your file

Social networks are constantly evolving. To stay ahead of the pack, your business has to be responsive and adaptable.

How to humanize your Chatbot

A chatbot is a computer program which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Of Late, bots are slowly making their way into daily activities and businesses. They’ve already revolutionized the way users communicate with different brands online.

Nowadays, users expect instant replies from businesses which has led to the increased demand for chatbots.

But there is a constant question as to how to humanize a chatbot? Users feel more comfortable communicating with a chatbot that has some personal touch to it instead of a bot that gives robotic replies.

Bots need to be integrated with some emotional intelligence that evolves based on user interactions.

Here are a few tips that can help create a personal touch for your chatbot –

Build your bot to accommodate your user

Often, chatbots only offer a few answer options to the consumer which severely restricts their options. The bot has to be developed to make things easy for the user. The bots must be constantly improved and made better to understand human dialect. They must also be programmed to learn and evolve from every encounter.

Quick replies to queries

Even though it is important to have a conversation with the customer, long conversations are not appreciated every time. Users wants quick answers to their questions with the least amount of effort involved. This is when you truly know if your chatbot is effective.

Develop a personality for your bot

Although the bot has to be built to accommodate the user, it is also necessary for the bot to have a personality that falls in line with your brand and its values. Tests like Myers-Briggs can help choose the personality traits for your bot. For example, if your brand caters to the millenials, it is important for the bot to have a fun, playful personality that the target audience can relate to.

Irrespective of your purpose of creating a bot, it is important to understand there is a human entity on the other end of the conversation. A humanized chatbot can help build stronger connections with the users and increase the brand loyalty. Afterall, It’s all about creating meaningful interactions.

Ohmybot launches #ChatQuizChallenge to promote Baahubali 2

Ahead of the highly anticipated release of Baahubali : The Conclusion, the makers wanted to
promote the launch with an interactive Chatbot quiz to give fans a quick recap of the movie.

Social & Digital Agency KRDS India was roped in to develop an interactive Chatbot on the page to
promote the movie. The move comes after KRDS India developed a series of movie promotion
Chatbots, recently for Kaabil, M.S Dhoni, Jolly LLB 2 and Badrinath ki Dulhaniya.

The Chatbot was launched on Baahubali’s official facebook page after the trailer was launched on
15th March 2017. The idea was to engage the users and get them to guess on the storyline of
Baahubali 2 from whatever they could gather on the trailer of the movie.

Users can message the page to play the #ChatQuizChallenge that had 5 trivia questions from the
Trailer. The BOT is a multi-lingual BOT and is available in five languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

Commenting on the Chatbot, Senthil Anand – General Manager at KRDS India Agency said:
“With the huge success of Baahubali – The Beginning, fans of the movie across India have been eagerly awaiting the sequel and keeping this in mind, the #ChatQuizChallenge was launched to fuel the anxiety created by the trailer and to get users to subscribe and get new updates from the production crew.
We’ve already seen good reception to the BOT on all languages and hope to hit a milestone with the number of subscriptions to the Chatbot soon”

At the end of the quiz users can receive a customized Baahubali 2 artwork with their profile picture to show their support for the franchise. The user could also subscribe to the Chatbot to get exclusive updates from the production crew of the movie.

The Chatbot was a raging success with over 86,000 users within two days. It can be accessed by messaging the page or on messenger

KRDS launches the first Subscription bot in South India for a TV Show

Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu is a popular Indian regional television game hosted by Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi.

For the promotion of the show, the makers wanted to engage their fans and users in a unique way and simultaneously create a buzz on social media.

The team at KRDS were looking out for ways to engage with the audience on social media and also promote the show. Finally, the team proposed to build South India’s first Subscription Chatbot on Facebook Messenger. Bots are becoming popular by the minute and they have already been successful in the promotion of Bollywood and Hollywood movies. This would be the perfect way to gather the user’s attention on social media about MEK.

Users were encouraged to send a DM on Facebook or on Messenger. Once they sent a message, they were asked to subscribe to messenger. Post this, the users would receive exclusive information and news about the TV Show in their inbox. The fans were even given a poster with the megastar’s signature on it.

The chatbot campaign proved to be super successful with over 60,000 active users within a span of 2 days.