What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a software program that uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) to comprehend human wants and guide them to a desired outcome.
Chatbots use existing information about conversations to understand human questions. The chatbot will then analyse answers to those questions over a certain period of time. It will then use artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) to consistently improve at answering those questions as time proceeds.
Chatbots are typically utilised by sales development teams and also customer support. A live chat is a simple avenue to answer questions instantaneously.
Chatbots have been cropping up like flies after Facebook and Google paved the way and showed the tremendous abilities of chatbots.
How Chatbots Work
Chatbots can be generally classified into two classes: rule based chatbots and AI chatbots. The former follows preprogrammed rules to lead users down a decision tree often built using a graphical interface. The latter automatically learns after a training period with a developer.
Once a user submits information to a chatbot, it will automatically analyse the user’s request. It will then proceed to identify the user’s intent and entities. It will then formulate a reply based on the information it collects about the user and the query asked.
Benefits of Chatbots
An online marketer is always under pressure to not only improve sales but also customer experience. It is a daunting task considering the ever changing expectations and preferences of modern consumers.
Chatbots have various benefits one of them being that they will tremendously increase your conversion rate. Traffic conversion rates are usually less than 1% so use of a chatbot is a game changer if you can get conversion rates of up to 10%.
Another advantage of using chatbots is that they generate more quality leads. Digital marketers know how hard it is to find leads let alone get good ones. A good chatbot does both.
Great customer support is another benefit of using chatbots. They are always available, never get tired and can present answers by quickly sifting through your knowledge base.
The Importance of Chatbots
When chatbots first appeared, most people thought that they were a passing fad. On the contrary, they are proving to be revolutionary in the digital marketing sphere.
The influence that chatbots are having on online experiences is real and has been measured. Almost a quarter of consumers have communicated with a chatbot in the past year.
The efficiency that they have brought to digital marketing also cannot be understated. They are sure to be here for the foreseeable future.
Picking a Chatbot
Picking a chatbot can be an incredibly intricate process. There are so many aspects to chatbots that it may be impossible to qualify all of them.
However, you should ensure that the chatbot can help you achieve the results you want. Once you have an objective, you can program the chatbot accordingly.
Any online business not implementing chatbots will struggle going forward. The benefits they offer and their ease of use may render some businesses obsolete.
