THE SECRET SAUCE TO CHATBOT SUCCESS: CONTENT

AND A FEW WAYS TO CREATE GOOD CHATBOTS CONTENT

While in the market for some time now, the rise of chatbots in relation to online marketing activities is not a coincidence. The digital world is constantly growing, allowing businesses to optimize their resources and automate their processes. Having chatbots interact with new and existing customers on the web is one of the more common solutions many businesses are in the process of implementing.

Yet, while it seems like everyone is working on developing a chatbot right now, how many people around do you know who actually use one? Chances are you don’t know many.

SO WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CHATBOTS IF MOST AREN’T USING THEM?

Chatbots are definitey a field many are still trying to figure out. There are many reasons why you probably don’t know many people who use them, at least not on a regular basis. tThe main reason is that most chatbots are not good enough. They don’t provide users with the relevant information and content users require. Done right however, chatbots can play a crucial part in lifting online engagement and conversion rates.

THIS PRESENTS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR COMPANIES DEVELOPING CHATBOTS

The online market is very cluttered and in many instances giving users an unforgettable experience through relevant and personalized content can yield amazing outcomes.

Essentally, people who come on to your website are either potential customers or existing ones. In both scenarios they have a need or a problem they feel your brand can solve.

A chatbot is a great way to communicate your brand story and provide users with relevant content and information. You have to remember though that just like in any human interaction, there are often a few steps involved before an action is taken. The more accurately you map those steps for the customer using the chabot, the more likely they are to engage.

Hopefully the below points can give you some useful techniques to use when planning your next chatbot experience:

1. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE

As with any campaign, you need to determine an exact outcome you want to derive from a human interaction with your chatbot. Be it a service issue, new sell or an upsell, this must be clearly established.

Working with many companies in recent years on conversions (or achieving desirable actions online) we’ve seen that more often than not, a few outcomes are acceptable for them and will be considered interesting or successful. That is fine, but each must be mapped and catered for.

While in the online space, experience is easier to overlook as we’re talking in terms pages, this is also why it is so crucial. Because the physical element is non existent, we need to create the same feelings of need, want and trust that will be established in a face-to-face scenario.

The best way to start identifying the process for each action is by creating a map wih the key goal in the middle. Then start brainstorming potential actions and responses for the key goal. From there, you will find it much easier to develop a scenario for each of those actions. Ofcourse, depending on how complex your chatbot is, this process can become a much bigger brainstorming session.

2. WHAT IS YOUR CHATBOT CHARACTER?

This is often easier for well branded companies, but for those who are on the unclear side of things the easiest way to approach this is through a few basic questions:

- If you brand was a person what will be their tone of voice?

- What basic characteristics form your brand’s personality?

• How does your brand look?
• What are your brand nuances? Do you use slang? Certain phrases?

3. MAKE THE EXPERIENCE EMOTIONALLY RICH

The conversation with a chatbot is more than just an interface, it needs to create an emotion. Remember, as a user or a customer people only come back or engage when they experience some emotion. The best way to create an emotional experience is to do a scenario play of the user experience and pinpoint the content blocks that may arise.

4. ENSURE YOU PROVIDE USERS WITH REAL VALUE

When a user enters a page they usually aim to find an answer or a solution for a problem they are facing. Therefore when using chatbots we must bear in mind the chatbot is a way to give an answer or solve a problem, in other words to give the user a positive experience.

Whether its through an image the chatbot attaches to a message, pre-determined answer to a question or ability to identify the problem correctly.

Ultimately, you are not going to have answers to all problems straight up and this is where it might get frustrating for users. Therefore it is extremely important you provide users with plenty of opportunity to provide feedback during the chat. This will allow the bot to get it right as much as possible.