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. We've taken our experience building Chatbots for events, chamber of commerce, wineries, eCommerce, realtors, restaurants, and applied everything we know to CHURCHES. See our Demo to learn more about how these ChurchBots work! They are truly revolutionary!
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. We've taken our experience building Chatbots for events, chamber of commerce, wineries, eCommerce, realtors, restaurants, and applied everything we know to CHURCHES. See our Demo to learn more about how these ChurchBots work! They are truly revolutionary!