Your customer experience strategy should include both marketers and chatbots

There has long been a perception that marketers should resist technology. There was a fear that robots would come in and take jobs. But what has become clear in recent years is that technology must be embraced. Chatbots, in particular, have more advantages to offer marketers than disadvantages. Chatbots and marketers can, and must, work together to improve the user experience. There are many ways that new technology can assist marketers to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively. It allows marketers to complete more work, in less time. And who wouldn’t want that? Creating your customer experience strategy can be overwhelming, so if there are ways to automate and improve the process, you’ll no doubt embrace all options. Here are some of the benefits of using chatbots for your marketing efforts.

Always available

Customers increasingly want the businesses they’re thinking about buying from to be available to them. And that means 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those hours are just not realistic for the average contact center. That’s where the addition of chatbots in your customer experience strategy is ideal. They can answer the simple questions which don’t really need human assistance. “Do you have stock of X in size Y?” and “How soon can I expect my delivery of X?” are the kind of questions that late night shoppers tend to ask. And if those questions aren’t answered immediately, those customers will leave your website and click over to a competitor.

Easy to use

One of the biggest detractors for many customers is that businesses require them to download a new app or sign in online. The appeal of chatbots is that they are right there, on your website and popping up on the users’ screens.

Familiarity

Messaging with a chatbot feels normal for users. It feels as familiar as exchanging messages with friends and family members. It’s simple to ask for help when assistance is needed. Customers are increasingly uncomfortable with making phone calls, while sending messages, on the other hand, feels comfortable and familiar.

Shortens the buying cycle

Questions often pop up for customers during their buying cycle. From researching a purchase, choosing what to buy and making the decision to input credit card details, customers have questions. If they were to phone a contact center or drive to the nearest store, it would take time. At any point during this process, they might change their mind about making the purchase. And if they were not provided with the answer they were looking for, they could decide to buy elsewhere. Employing chatbots in your customer experience strategy will eliminate all of this uncertainty. They’re always there for customers and always have the necessary information.

Gain insight

Chatbots offer businesses the unique opportunity to access user data, allowing for more effective personalization and targeting. Until now, this kind of personalization was only an option for big businesses which had the budgets to match. Now, with chatbots, all businesses can make use of data for these purposes. Imagine a unique shopping experience for everyone who lands on your website after a previous interaction with a chatbot. They’ll be offered goods they want and need, in styles and sizes they prefer, and ones that are appropriate for their lifestyle.

Chatbot technology is essential to the success of your customer experience strategy

Chatbots have been successfully used in many different industries. From ordering pizza to making international accommodation bookings and setting up user profiles for financial advisors, chatbots have shown how beneficial they can be for both businesses and customers.

One such chat tool that your business can make use of is Clickatell Touch. It makes use of machine learning technology to learn from its interactions. Over time, Touch will adapt to commonly asked questions and be able to assist with the more complex ones. If there comes a point when Touch is unable to assist, it’ll pull in the assistance of a contact center operator. This operator, because of their wider knowledge, will be able to assist and the chatbot will learn from the interaction.

If you're looking for more details on why your customers are looking for AI-driven advice and why you should include chatbots in your customer experience strategy, read our recent article. It highlights why your customers are looking for AI-driven advice which tends to be accurate and matched to their specific wants and needs.