Digital Marketing Strategies: Chatbots

At Impressona, we develop effective digital content marketing strategies for businesses from Bristol and beyond.

When it comes to marketing digital content, we know that interactivity equals engagement.

What piece of interactivity can be added to your website relatively simply?

A chatbot.

These days, messenger apps have become more popular than social media apps. According to recently released Facebook data:

1. 56% of people would rather message customer service than call
2. 53% of people are more likely to shop with businesses they can message

Consumers want conversation, and chatbots simulate this. With chatbot technology rapidly advancing, it’s the perfect time to investigate what a chatbot could do for your business.

What are chatbots?

A chatbot is a chat interface that simulates real human interaction by imitating written human speech.

Chatbots are most commonly used for customer service, to answer queries and resolve complaints. That said, they also allow businesses to market their content in new and different ways:

Here are some examples:

• Shopping Chatbot – A bot could find what you’d ordinarily browse the online store for 

• Food Shopping Chatbot – A bot could help you select and order your online food shop

• Doctor Chatbot – A bot could diagnose a possible illness through assessment of your symptoms (a more interactive/personalised alternative to checking symptoms online)

• Money Chatbot – A bot could assist you in the management of your personal finances

• Calendar Chatbot – A bot could book a meeting with Sally at five on Wednesday 

• Weather Chatbot – A bot could tell you tomorrow’s weather forecast for Bristol

• News Chatbot – A bot could summarise the day’s headlines, or help guide you to topics that would specifically interest you

• Advice Chatbot – A bot could offer you advice

• Friendship Chatbot – A bot could simulate friendship (It could, for example, be used like Endurance, a companion bot for dementia patients)

How do chatbots work?

There are two different types of chatbot:

The first type is rule-based.

This type of chatbot can only know what it has been pre-programmed to know. It is less advanced, and only able to respond to specific commands. 

The second type of chatbot functions using machine learning. It is artificially intelligent.

This type of chatbot understands language and requires less specificity. It continues to learn, becoming smarter with each conversation.

What will chatbots bring to your business?

You might be thinking: I understand how chatbots work, but why should I be using them? And that’s a very good question. Put simply, there are two main benefits.

Chatbots can:

• Increase automation
• • The use of chatbots could streamline the customer service and complaint response process.
  • This increased automation would free up human employees, allowing them to complete more valuable/difficult tasks.
  • Chatbots would also allow for a 24-hour support system, and 24-hour availability, without requiring the constant physical presence of a human employee.
  • The implementation of a 24-hour chat would simplify scheduling and business hours, saving money and time.

• Engage and intrigue consumers
• • As mentioned earlier, businesses could use chatbots to communicate with their customers in brand new ways.
  • Chatbots are able to ask personal questions and gather personal data. This allows them to more specifically target the customer experience.
  • Chatbots can also be programmed to have humorous or unexpected personalities.
  • If a customer’s experience of your content marketing is unique and fun, it will be more memorable. If they enjoy the chatbot interaction they have with your brand, they are likely to seek you out again in future.

At Impressona, we specialise in content marketing solutions. If you’re interested in chatbots, but not sure where to start, contact our Bristol office for a friendly conversation.