Do you need a chatbot for your small business? Let’s get straight to the point: yes. If you’re still somehow on the fence about using chatbots for your business, ask yourself this question: Was there ever a time that you did not reply to a customer? Did you miss to answer an inquiry? Were you so busy one time that you gave out the wrong information to a customer? That is why chatbots are essential to businesses right now. They eliminate situations that can hurt your business.
But before you install all kinds of chatbots on your website, social media sites, and blog site, make sure you take an inventory of what systems you currently have. An asset management system software will help you with this. It will help you identify the software, programs, hardware, and even people you have for work. The system can tell you which of these are working according to how you intend for them to work.
A chatbot can streamline the products and services your business currently pays for. It is most useful for small businesses because small businesses cannot always afford to hire social media managers and assistants to answer inquiries and manage complaints and suggestions. Without chatbots, it’s almost impossible to create a digital marketing campaign that requires engagement.
Is It a Fad or Something That’s Here to Stay?
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell a digital marketing fad from a real opportunity. Is it worth it to invest in a chatbot? While the numbers are still up, data showed that there is a genuine interest in chatbots. From April 2014 to the current year, the interest in chatbots has multiplied a hundred times. The use of artificial intelligence to communicate with customers will only continue to grow.
Will they stay? Is your smartphone going to last forever? Do you think Apple will one day release an iPhone without Siri? Chatbots are here to stay as long as small businesses cannot afford the human component of digital marketing.
Where to Use Chatbots
Chatbots can be used on Facebook Messenger, websites, and text and apps. On Facebook Messenger, chatbots can reply to a customer inquiring about a particular product or service. It can also collect information from the customers, so you can give them a callback. Most business owners personalize the marketing messages that their customers will receive once they send a message on Facebook.
On websites, chat boxes usually appear on the lower right corner of the page. It works like a sales representative or a customer experience specialist. It aims to provide a venue for the web visitors to ask questions at any point of their journey on the site. If something catches their attention and they need more information about it, they can type their queries on the chatbox. A chatbot will usually have standard answers, but more sophisticated ones can intellectually converse with humans.
When you download an app, you will also encounter a chatbot in one or two big-name brands. These chatbots are essential for businesses that want to streamline their processes and reduce the number of people they need to hire and pay. But more than anything, chatbots have become intelligent throughout the years. The more times the bots interact with humans, the more they know how to answer questions correctly.
Not all chatbots are as sophisticated as the ones that can set an appointment. However, people will accept a dumbed-down version of a chatbot as long as they get the information they want and need. And if the chatbot can answer them in just a few seconds, that makes interacting with them all the more worth it.
Is It the Right Kind of Investment?
Any small business will benefit from the use of chatbots. Aside from not having to pay someone to answer your Facebook messages, chatbots can do complex tasks, too. They can answer simple questions, set appointments, schedule an interview, resolve complaints, and provide detailed and expert answers. Plus, no matter how annoying the customers can be, chatbots will retain their friendly and approachable manner. That’s something a lot of customer representatives are having difficulty with.
That is just the beginning of chatbots. As businesses depend more on digital marketing, this artificial intelligence software will only continue to grow. With such tough competition on the market, businesses should not miss a single message from potential customers. But with chatbots on a continuous ascent, it’s only a matter of time before customers never have to wait for a second longer for a response.
