CHATBOTS – RISING TREND IN DIGITAL MARKETING

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was limited only to movies in my childhood. But nowadays, AI has become quite ubiquitous. With everything in the world leaning towards automation, it's no surprise that bots are everywhere -?the most vital implication of AI in the digital space. It's the most common technology that you would see in digital space, whether Google Assistant or Siri, or Alexa

?As more brands are incorporating chatbots into their marketing strategy, this projected reality is quickly taking shape.

?So what are Chatbots anyways?

To put it in simple words - you must have noticed while surfing the web, chat windows popping up, and then offering assistance, haven't you?

?That's the chatbot.

Source: https://www.connectionmodel.com/blog/what-chatbot-marketing-is-and-how-to-use-it-in-digital-marketing

The most common chatbots in our daily lives are the virtual assistants on our phones that we are now overtly familiar with, like when you ask Alexa to play songs from your favorite movie or ask Siri about any nearby restaurants or ask Google Assistant to set up an appointment on your calendar. Nowadays, advanced bots powered by AI help understand complex personal requests, respond appropriately, and improve interactions over time. These bots simulate a conversation with a user through various channels like websites, messaging apps, mobile apps, or even a call over the telephone.?

As per a survey -?77% of customers were reluctant to make purchases online with no live chat option. The reason is quite apparent -?Chatbots facilitate reading and receiving information, asking and responding to queries, and even making purchases for you. They step in to make your life easier and do the work for you.

These bots are now to be found everywhere, and if you want to stay competitive in this digital era, it's crucial to embed these AI-fueled chatbots into your digital marketing strategy.?

Why Are Chatbots Important for Business?

Chatbots play a very critical role in the growth of businesses. They help collect data and analyze it for better research to be used for future decisions and strategies. These bots can help improve customer engagement and functional efficiency by diminishing customer support costs and assisting consumers in solving their problems effectively. Due to its ease and familiarity, this piece of AI technology has made people latch onto the idea of using a chatbot for digital marketing.

What is Chatbot Marketing?

Chatbot marketing is?a way to promote products and services using a?chatbot that carries conversations with users by a predetermined scenario or with the help of AI. If you look back, this strategy came into popularity with Facebook when they opened up the ability to integrate bots with their Facebook Messenger and now can be added to WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber, or any other app or website very quickly. These AI-powered chat machines allow brands to connect and engage with their customers directly, understand their needs, and serve them better.

Source: https://wedevs.com/blog/153022/how-chatbot-marketing-can-promote-your-brand

How are Chatbots changing the Digital Marketing game?

Digital marketing is one such process in your business that takes time and lots of effort too. Moreover, previously marketers had a terrible habit - grab hold of glimmering, new communication channels and scorch them to the ground. With the audience being ever-dwindling and competition ever-rising, no employee could miss the omnipresent and ever-growing monthly goals to achieve. Therefore these marketers created more content, sent messages even more.

Chatbots make this process of marketing on the digital platforms more streamlined and more manageable by automating the process, which sets "the marketing specialists" free, allowing them to work on other things.

These AI-fueled programs are great human engagement enablers. Whether it's about responding to customer queries, gathering contact information, or assist them in making purchases, chatbots manage these critical steps of the marketing process, the best possible way. Chatbots also collect information from potential customers, creating leads and thus?converting more prospects into customers boosting the overall revenue margins.

How can Chatbots Boost Brand Awareness?

Chatbots enhance brand engagement by allowing to get connected with more customers and initiate more conversations. Since chatbots can automate a large part of the marketing process, managing a higher volume of marketing conversations enables more brand awareness. This improves the overall customer experience, builds rapport with the customers, and thus results in more sales revenue.

Now that you know the basics of chatbots, you are ready to enclasp the future and incorporate these AI-powered chat machines into your digital marketing strategy that will surely drive outstanding results for your businesses.

Chatbot Digital Marketing Examples

?Let's now see how companies from different sectors effectively utilize chatbots in their strategies for digital marketing.

?Travel and Hospitality - Booking.com making use of a booking assistant in its app to enable users to find apartments based on location keywords

?Restaurants - A fast-food restaurant chain- KFC allowing users to order without going to their website

Banking - Bank of Beirut allowing its customer to apply for a loan over chatbot