Particularly popular in customer care, chatbots are programs capable of simulating a conversation with a human subject.
They are automated responders based on semantic artificial intelligence engines, capable of providing answers to frequently asked questions.
Precisely because of their ability to simulate a conversation and, above all, to collect data about the users who interact with them (suffice it to say that first name, last name and email are the basic data to be provided to initiate the conversation), chatbots are also widely used in marketing, thanks to the sudden spread of messaging systems such as Whatsapp, Telegram and Messenger.
Designing and implementing a chatbot does not require special programming skills: there are numerous marketing automation platforms on the Web that offer this type of feature, as well as ad hoc solutions designed exclusively for it.
The first step is undoubtedly to think of a real flow that allows you to identify not only the most recurring questions on which to program the chatbot, but especially all the possible answers it must provide.
Another important aspect that should not be underestimated is that which concerns the choice of the chatbot’s personality: what tone of voice it should have, how it should pose to the user.
Once it has been implemented, let’s not forget that the most interesting phase is the one concerning data analysis: in fact, it allows us to detect possible weaknesses in the offer, the service and provides a snapshot of how the brand is perceived by consumers.
Here are five steps to creating a successful chatbot:
- define the target audience to be addressed;
- choose the channel that will be used;
- define the flow and questions;
- attribute a personality to the chatbot;
- test and analyze.
As mentioned chatbots have various fields of application. We report the main ones:
- customer service and after-sales services;
- pre-sales services (think, for example, of virtual personal shoppers);
- internal communication;
- entertainment;
- personal assistants.
