FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions include:
1. Why are chat bots a big deal?
A: Chat bots are *hot* right now because marketers and website owners have figured out that people respond to chat 90% of the time, just like SMS text messenging, vs. 18-28% for email. While email is still bigger than ever, those percentages do not lie. In addition, there was a study conducted by Harvard Business Review that indicates "website visitors expect a response within 5 minutes -- or you risk losing the lead forever." Those are big numbers when compared with the time it takes to respond via landing pages and email (on average, 40% respond within 2 days... where 50% are never responded to at all).
1. Why are chat bots a big deal?
A: Chat bots are *hot* right now because marketers and website owners have figured out that people respond to chat 90% of the time, just like SMS text messenging, vs. 18-28% for email. While email is still bigger than ever, those percentages do not lie. In addition, there was a study conducted by Harvard Business Review that indicates "website visitors expect a response within 5 minutes -- or you risk losing the lead forever." Those are big numbers when compared with the time it takes to respond via landing pages and email (on average, 40% respond within 2 days... where 50% are never responded to at all).
2. Is EMAIL still relevant today?
A: EMAIL is growing - with over 200 Billion EMAILS sent expected to grow to 280 BILLION by 2020, EMAIL as a business communication tool isn't going anywhere but up. In fact, our companion product MIDAS MESSAGE METHODOLOGY began by focusing on EMAIL campaign scripts. It was when we decided to focus on ways to implement campaign scripts in LinkedIn Messages and then subsequently Facebook Messenger sequences that we determined ai bots (chat) is as powerful as texting (SMS). The challenge for email is response time. As you'll see in the chart below, 90% of companies FAIL to respond within the 5 minute recommended time frame by Harvard Business Review. And that, in our opinion, represents OPPORTUNITY for chat and messenging.
A: EMAIL is growing - with over 200 Billion EMAILS sent expected to grow to 280 BILLION by 2020, EMAIL as a business communication tool isn't going anywhere but up. In fact, our companion product MIDAS MESSAGE METHODOLOGY began by focusing on EMAIL campaign scripts. It was when we decided to focus on ways to implement campaign scripts in LinkedIn Messages and then subsequently Facebook Messenger sequences that we determined ai bots (chat) is as powerful as texting (SMS). The challenge for email is response time. As you'll see in the chart below, 90% of companies FAIL to respond within the 5 minute recommended time frame by Harvard Business Review. And that, in our opinion, represents OPPORTUNITY for chat and messenging.
3. How long is the typical response for chat bots?
While the typical response time for a chatbot can be instant, many programmers will add a second or two to give the appearance of the bot thinking or working on the answer, as that feels more interactive as with a live person. This is a style choice, but literally the response of the bot is typical seconds - not minutes, and most certainly not DAYS (as in static landing page forms and EMAIL). Can you see why Chatbots are a big deal?
While the typical response time for a chatbot can be instant, many programmers will add a second or two to give the appearance of the bot thinking or working on the answer, as that feels more interactive as with a live person. This is a style choice, but literally the response of the bot is typical seconds - not minutes, and most certainly not DAYS (as in static landing page forms and EMAIL). Can you see why Chatbots are a big deal?
4. Why are ChatBots so popular right now?
A: We believe that 1990 ushered in what we now call "The Information Age"... but as we know, many people weren't even hip to the Internet until Y2K. And when the Internet really exploded was AFTER the dot-com collapse of 2000... and we didn't even see FACEBOOK emerge until 2006. Today, we consider the present age "The Robot Age" and conversationally, that is all about a thing called NLP, or Natural Language Programming. Conceptually, the idea for chatbots has been around 50 years; however, several changes happened between 2010 - 2018 that have ushered in the CONVERSATION AGE part of the Robot Age: First, Apple SIRI was introduced in 2010. Anyone with an iPhone knows well the value of "hey Siri, what's the weather today?" Text messaging applications have aso exploded, and eMarketer predicts more than a quarter of the world will use messaging apps by the end of 2019. The tendencies in communication technologies indicates that text communication became the socially acceptable form of personal interaction to where people prefer chatting rather than personal contacts or even making phone calls. In fact, in our testing of one of our conversation solutions, the majority of people will choose to select "5" in a prompt to put them in an instant chat RATHER than go through the IVR (phone voicemail system) to a live agent! Ironically, the person handling the chat service can be that same telephone agent, on the backend, if you desire.
Today, all the technology big brands have created platforms and interfaces for NLP/AI bots for society to accept chatbots as the norm, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Samsung, amongst others. Siri was introduced in 2010, IBM Watson in 2011, Bixby on Samsung in 2012, Alexa from Amazon in 2014 (Lex more recently), and Google Assistant arose in 2016. Chatbots began in earnest in 2016, and now Apple has announced Apple Business Chat in 2018. What's next? The excitement over chatbots is not waning. See the attached chart:
A: We believe that 1990 ushered in what we now call "The Information Age"... but as we know, many people weren't even hip to the Internet until Y2K. And when the Internet really exploded was AFTER the dot-com collapse of 2000... and we didn't even see FACEBOOK emerge until 2006. Today, we consider the present age "The Robot Age" and conversationally, that is all about a thing called NLP, or Natural Language Programming. Conceptually, the idea for chatbots has been around 50 years; however, several changes happened between 2010 - 2018 that have ushered in the CONVERSATION AGE part of the Robot Age: First, Apple SIRI was introduced in 2010. Anyone with an iPhone knows well the value of "hey Siri, what's the weather today?" Text messaging applications have aso exploded, and eMarketer predicts more than a quarter of the world will use messaging apps by the end of 2019. The tendencies in communication technologies indicates that text communication became the socially acceptable form of personal interaction to where people prefer chatting rather than personal contacts or even making phone calls. In fact, in our testing of one of our conversation solutions, the majority of people will choose to select "5" in a prompt to put them in an instant chat RATHER than go through the IVR (phone voicemail system) to a live agent! Ironically, the person handling the chat service can be that same telephone agent, on the backend, if you desire.
Today, all the technology big brands have created platforms and interfaces for NLP/AI bots for society to accept chatbots as the norm, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, and Samsung, amongst others. Siri was introduced in 2010, IBM Watson in 2011, Bixby on Samsung in 2012, Alexa from Amazon in 2014 (Lex more recently), and Google Assistant arose in 2016. Chatbots began in earnest in 2016, and now Apple has announced Apple Business Chat in 2018. What's next? The excitement over chatbots is not waning. See the attached chart:
5. Exactly what is a ChatBot?
A chatbot (also known as a talkbot, chatterbot, IM bot, bot, interactive agent, artificial agent, or artificial conversational entity) is a computer program which conducts a conversation in natural language via auditory or textual methods, understands the intent of the user, and sends a response based on business rules and data of the organisation. That's about as closely we can define it.
A chatbot (also known as a talkbot, chatterbot, IM bot, bot, interactive agent, artificial agent, or artificial conversational entity) is a computer program which conducts a conversation in natural language via auditory or textual methods, understands the intent of the user, and sends a response based on business rules and data of the organisation. That's about as closely we can define it.
6. How are ChatBots used in business today?
The most recent answer for chatbot use cases looks like this chart:
The most recent answer for chatbot use cases looks like this chart:
6. (use of chatbots, continued) HOWEVER, we believe as exciting as "getting quick answers in an emergency" or "handling customer service complaints" are important, the REAL use of chatbots is JUST BEGINNING to EMERGE: as in (none of these things) 14%.
Remember the early days of Apple iPhone APPS? We are in the early days of Chatbot App programming, as well. And creativity will lead this into many directions as yet unseen.
What we are discovering is that chatbots are AMAZING at leading new site visitors FURTHER DOWN THE FUNNEL towards making a purchase with your organization. Why? Because the customer gets instant information! The user experience is therefore infinitely happier than waiting for the email that may or may not ever arrive in their inbox (or worse yet, never received due to SPAM filters). There is no SPAM FILTER for a CHATBOT. We will get to that more in a minute. But additional uses may include customer-service things like: setting a restaurant reservation... but in the very near future you may have ORDERED YOUR ENTIRE MEAL before you ever arrived to eat. "Yes, Valerie, may I take your drink order?" could just as easily be a question the bot asks you AFTER you set your reservation, could it not? If you think we're kidding, no, we are not! Here is an example of a bot created by ABSOLUT VODKA - in 2016 - so major brands are already hip to bots and the local business should be, now, as well:
Remember the early days of Apple iPhone APPS? We are in the early days of Chatbot App programming, as well. And creativity will lead this into many directions as yet unseen.
What we are discovering is that chatbots are AMAZING at leading new site visitors FURTHER DOWN THE FUNNEL towards making a purchase with your organization. Why? Because the customer gets instant information! The user experience is therefore infinitely happier than waiting for the email that may or may not ever arrive in their inbox (or worse yet, never received due to SPAM filters). There is no SPAM FILTER for a CHATBOT. We will get to that more in a minute. But additional uses may include customer-service things like: setting a restaurant reservation... but in the very near future you may have ORDERED YOUR ENTIRE MEAL before you ever arrived to eat. "Yes, Valerie, may I take your drink order?" could just as easily be a question the bot asks you AFTER you set your reservation, could it not? If you think we're kidding, no, we are not! Here is an example of a bot created by ABSOLUT VODKA - in 2016 - so major brands are already hip to bots and the local business should be, now, as well:
6. Use of Chatbot for Absolut VODKA: "With the case of Absolut, it actually tells you where to go to get a free drink on Absolut, what cocktail you want to have, get a code, you show up at the bar, you give the code to the bartender, he gives you your free drink, and when he gives you your free drink you get a notification inside of the thread that offers you a Lyft ride back home." -- VentureBeat.com
Imagine, arriving at your favorite restaurant, and they have your special gin and tonic drinks delivered within 1 minute of your arrival:
Imagine, arriving at your favorite restaurant, and they have your special gin and tonic drinks delivered within 1 minute of your arrival:
7.
Do you think your customer service satisfaction score would be higher if these gin and tonic beauties were awaiting you, especially considering you wouldn't even have to interact in detail with a bartender or beverage server to place that order? It's examples like this that can drive the creativity of your Chatbot app higher - and user experiences through the roof.
Example of a Chatbot in a vertical market.
Below are examples of templates for various types of Chatbots available for different vertical industries, usch as health/beauty, events, insurance, healthcare, auto dealer, and real estate:
Below are examples of templates for various types of Chatbots available for different vertical industries, usch as health/beauty, events, insurance, healthcare, auto dealer, and real estate:
7. (continued)
Yes, ChatBots are increasingly becoming popular in local vertical markets are people are exposed to bots being utilized by major brands, such as Virgin Airlines, Home Depot, and Lowes. A perfect example might be a local auto dealership. The auto dealer (or their ad agency) could configure a Facebook AD campaign for "USED CAR TRADE-IN CALCULATOR" and someone clicks to determine the value of their car, and based upon the geo-targeting used in the Facebook AD, the dealer knows if someone clicked on that ad then they are a target for a new car purchase, as the user is likely seeking to trade-in their car, right now. Here's where it gets interesting: the Facebook Ad DOESN'T send the user to a static page on the auto dealer's website, but instead sends them INTO A CHATBOT CONVERSATION. What does that mean? After the value of the car is calculated, all within the ChatBot, the bot then asks the user "would you like to see other vehicles we have for sale?" thus leading the user into a new or newer car buying bot process. That process could lead to them picking out a new Honda Accord you have in stock in your dealership. The bot shows the customer the available car, then asks if they would like to schedule a test drive. Now, isn't that customer prospect much further down the funnel of possibly buying a car than they might have been off a static ad before?
Yes, ChatBots are increasingly becoming popular in local vertical markets are people are exposed to bots being utilized by major brands, such as Virgin Airlines, Home Depot, and Lowes. A perfect example might be a local auto dealership. The auto dealer (or their ad agency) could configure a Facebook AD campaign for "USED CAR TRADE-IN CALCULATOR" and someone clicks to determine the value of their car, and based upon the geo-targeting used in the Facebook AD, the dealer knows if someone clicked on that ad then they are a target for a new car purchase, as the user is likely seeking to trade-in their car, right now. Here's where it gets interesting: the Facebook Ad DOESN'T send the user to a static page on the auto dealer's website, but instead sends them INTO A CHATBOT CONVERSATION. What does that mean? After the value of the car is calculated, all within the ChatBot, the bot then asks the user "would you like to see other vehicles we have for sale?" thus leading the user into a new or newer car buying bot process. That process could lead to them picking out a new Honda Accord you have in stock in your dealership. The bot shows the customer the available car, then asks if they would like to schedule a test drive. Now, isn't that customer prospect much further down the funnel of possibly buying a car than they might have been off a static ad before?
8. How do I set up a chat bot?
A: While you can set up a chat bot yourself with one of many tools available online today, including manychat, chatfuel, or others, we don't recommend you go it alone unless you have marketing staff on board who understand "CONVERSATIONAL SEQUENCING" thoroughly. If you do not have such a person on board, you ought to outsource the creation of your bot to someone who understands conversational sequences in order to maximize your results. (Hint, hint.) The extra cost, from our analysis, is simply worth the time of investment learning curve. Also, setting your Chatbot up quickly to work propertly out of the box will save you in frustrated customers, which is also worth the cost of implementation. Can you afford to lose that one customer while your bot is learning on the job? Probably not. Why take the chance? Contact our team at Conversionate to schedule your first bot, now. (send to bot sequence)
2.
A: While you can set up a chat bot yourself with one of many tools available online today, including manychat, chatfuel, or others, we don't recommend you go it alone unless you have marketing staff on board who understand "CONVERSATIONAL SEQUENCING" thoroughly. If you do not have such a person on board, you ought to outsource the creation of your bot to someone who understands conversational sequences in order to maximize your results. (Hint, hint.) The extra cost, from our analysis, is simply worth the time of investment learning curve. Also, setting your Chatbot up quickly to work propertly out of the box will save you in frustrated customers, which is also worth the cost of implementation. Can you afford to lose that one customer while your bot is learning on the job? Probably not. Why take the chance? Contact our team at Conversionate to schedule your first bot, now. (send to bot sequence)
2.