People are crazy about instant messaging platforms. As a brand, do you use the communication power of them for better engagement?

Have not heard about them yet? Our interactive, instant helpers – the bots. – Since they became popular a few years ago, they landed on many messaging platforms including Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Kik, WeChat, and Slack. Some of us already tried and solved their issues via efficient conversations. Some of us learned needed information in the blink of an eye. Yet, statistics claim we will be in touch with chatbots in the coming years. According to Gartner, that chatbots will power 85 percent of all customer service interactions by the year 2020.

Realizing the potential of instant messaging craze

With growing attention and investment of industry pioneers including Facebook and Microsoft, chatbots have started to steal the scene from the apps since the start of this year. One of the main reason is the unstoppable growth of instant messaging platforms widely used all around the world. In fact, messaging platforms have surpassed social networks in terms of monthly active users since Q3 of 2015. This means more opportunities for the brands to engage people through artificial intelligence through the use of chatbots. You can deliver information, market and sell products, give guidance to users, run contests and competitions via chatbots. The exciting thing about chatbots is that all these are done in a dynamically through real-time interactions with the users.

Benefits of chatbots in terms of customer engagement

If you run a business where you communicate with masses, chatbots can add value to interactions with your audience. Let’s go over the most important beneficial aspects for customer engagement improvements:

  • Chatbots can be used for customer satisfaction. Problem-solving conversations and effective guidance & assistance will have a positive effect on customer relations.
  • The digital age’s customers love the personalization. So chatbots give them one-on-one communication chances they look for. These types of customers will feel closer to the brand if they are treated as “individuals”.
  • A chatbot provides real-time and instant interactions. It can be used as the fastest response channel when communicating with the customers. This can lead to time and cost savings.
  • Due to their flexible infrastructure, chatbots can be easily integrated with other channels that brands use to improve engagement. For example, a customer can start a conversation about a reservation with the chatbot and then can be led to an online purchase page easily.
  • A chatbot itself is an active data collector on customer behaviors. Thus, scalable and better manageable communication can be constructed based on this meaningful data derived from real-time conversations with the customers.
  • Experiences are enriched with the active involvements of brand ambassadors. You may consider chatbots as brand representatives that have real-time interactions with the customers. Adding an interactive channel to your system will provide another alternative for your audience.

Heading out to the chatbot highway with the assistance of a professional service will most probably shorten the way of engagement success. If you’d like to find out more about how customized chatbots will add value to your business, please feel free to contact us.