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Why Do Fashion And Beauty Brands Bet On Chatbots?

Despite criticism from companies that have failed to integrate Bots into their marketing strategy, the fashion and beauty industries are still adept at Chatbot. More and more brands adopt them in their marketing strategy.

The question is whether this investment in Bots is paying off, and if so, why?

This article tells us why Chatbots are a popular and essential tool for ready-to-wear and beauty brands.

Try before you buy

Many brands have launched their Chatbot in the hope that one day users will naturally interact with them (especially on Facebook). Unfortunately, more than one example proves that it was not enough to encourage customers to create a real relationship with the company. They have failed to create added value for their customers.

For ready-to-wear and beauty brands, it’s different. Indeed, Chatbots can solve the number 1 obstacle of e-commerce: try the product before buying it. This is particularly problematic for cosmetic brands. Customers can not, for example, test the color of their foundation before ordering it.

By incorporating AR in ChatBots, brands are now able to find the right shade of lipstick or foundation just from a photo.

Estee Lauder is using this new technology to perfection. The brand makes it possible to test the different shades of lipstick virtually. The customers have the same service as in the store, but at home. This option encourages consumers to go to the act of purchase.

A stylist online

For ready-to-wear brands, the ability to “try before you buy” is limited. Even with the ARs, trying on clothes virtually remains difficult. However, fashion companies have found a system to attract consumers: personalized advice on style.

This means that brands can combine basic customer service with personalized recommendations. This process aims to reproduce the experience that the consumer would live in the store.

There are of course limits to this ChatBot. The success of this technology depends largely on its progress. The best brands will be those that will come to customize the tips. To illustrate this, we can take Levi’s, which asks users questions about their size, preferred model, the fit they want, and so on. to suggest the jeans that will fit them perfectly.

Another undeniable advantage of the brand is that it uses True Fit technology. It is designed to increase the chances of providing the perfect model to customers. This tool can significantly reduce the return rate.

In addition to providing useful tips, the Chatbot saves the user time, thus avoiding the need to browse the site for hours, without finding the product that suits him.

The question we can ask is: is it really important that the bot clearly has nothing human? Not really – indeed, users do not dwell on this point if the Bot brings a real added value.

Better integration

One of the biggest obstacles to Chatbots success is that many consumers do not know they exist. Many brands have failed in promoting their robots. Users discover these ChatBots when they try to communicate with the company.

However, recently, Facebook has launched a new plug-in that allows businesses to integrate Messenger into their own websites. This allows users to interact with Chatbot on mobile, desktop and tablet devices.

So, will other brands (other than ready-to-wear and beauty) start investing in Chatbots? Certainly. With the advantages mentioned above such as the integration and customization of the RA, it is clear that some industries have every interest in investing in this tool.

How can Chatbots help in E-Commerce?

It is no surprise that the internet and social media have taken over every aspect of life and everything is available to the user at the comfort of their homes. The number of users making purchasing from an e-commerce store has been steadily increasing over the years. Almost 80% of online purchases is made from a mobile device. So the online stores must ensure that they provide a seamless shopping experience to their customers.

This is where the chatbots would be of great help to them. The best part is that, chatbots do not require you to install a specific app, it is inbuilt within the principal store app or within the social media channel.

How can chatbots help boost e-commerce businesses

Build buzz

Chatbots are perfect to build a buzz around latest products, offers, discounts and sales. They help communicate such information to users on social. This is an ideal way to get the word out there without appearing spammy. Users would appreciate the personalized touch. This would encourage them to at least visit the website.

Instant customer service

Customers want instant answers to their questions, especially when it comes to addressing grievances and purchase queries. But the customer service team cannot be available 24×7. In this case, incorporating chatbots ensures that these queries are addressed instantly. This enables the user to have a smooth online shopping experience.

Personalization

Over and above the usual benefits, one of the biggest pros of incorporating a chatbot is personalization. Customers want to feel like the brand understands them and their needs. This aspect is key to brand loyalty. With AI, it is now possible for bots to grow and learn from every interaction. This empowers the bots to provide personalized solutions to the users based on their interests/purchase behaviour & previous interactions.

Case Study : Clean & Clear partners with KRDS Singapore to launch skin expert Chatbot for teens

Clean & Clear is a prominent skin-care company that is known for their affordable line of dermatology products. Its products are available in 46 countries and cater mainly to young women.

The brand wanted to establish themselves as the go to skin expert for teens. They wanted to leverage the digital medium to help achieve their goal in an innovative manner. We set out to find a way to reach the teens in a platform they love to use, Facebook!

This led to the creation of Kimi, a friendly chatbots for teens. She was like a big sister who could answer any skin related issue but also knew how to have fun. She was someone that every teenager could relate to and connect with. Kim was introduced as a chatbot on Facebook Messenger.

How does it work?

Here’s how Kimi managed to capture the hearts of over 30,000 teens.

Kimi asks the user a few questions to understand the skin type, skin problems and the age group. Post this assessment, she lets the user pick the issues he/she is facing, like pimples, oilyness,dull or dry skin. Once the user has chosen a skin problem, Kimi immediately offers useful tips and solutions to overcome this issue.

But it does not end there. She even recommends the right C&C products that’ll help tackle different problems and also offered vouchers to the users.

But all work and no play would make Kimi a dull bot. So, she was also configured with some cool features. Selfie Soundtrack is a feature where where the user’s selfie is analyzed to determine their current mood (happy, sad, angry) using Google Vision API. Once the mood was determined, Kimi picks and plays a song according to the user’s mood using the Spotify API.

The chatbot campaign was immensely successful and resulted in 30,000 user interactions. Out of these, around 25,000 users have opted for ongoing skin care tips. The bot was able to offer 20,000 promo codes, of which, 11,000 were redeemed by users.

The bot can be accessed through Messenger.

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.

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.