Chatbots: are they worth it?

You therefore need ways for your clients and potential clients to contact you easily. Any message that isn’t noticed is a missed opportunity; you also risk potential clients approaching your competitors because they weren’t able to get hold of you.   

Our top tips help you make it easy for people to contact you. We’ll also detail how to use chatbots to their full potential. 

• Great way to start a conversation

You can set up an automated chatbot on your Facebook page that prompts visitors to message you if they need help or if they have any questions. This helps you to strike up a conversation with them.

• Make your user flow simple

You may not even need to physically interact with people looking to message you on social platforms Facebook and Instagram, for example. You can set up automated responses that acknowledge visitors’ messages, such as ‘Someone will be in contact soon’. On Facebook you can even set up a FAQ chat, which automatically answers common queries. People on your page can simply click on a question and receive their answer straightaway, without having to wait around for a human to say the same thing. 

• Don’t expect a chatbot to do everything

Some of your clients may find the answer to their enquiry via a FAQ chatbot; however, it’s important to remember that chatbots cannot do everything… yet. Humans are still better at gauging a sender's feelings and judging the appropriate response. We can also continue a conversation, as we’re not limited to predetermined responses. Whilst chatbots are a great way to identify potential leads and promote a product, make sure that you continually check your messages to ensure every lead and enquiry has been ‘caught’/acknowledged and dealt with in the correct manner. Also make clear on your page(s) that there’s always the option to speak to a human.

• Set up a dedicated place to interact with people

Many businesses have just one social media platform where they can be contacted, which is typically Twitter. Whilst this makes life easier for you, as business owner, to only have one social media platform to check for enquiries and activity, it may not be the platform through which your customer wishes to get in touch. You can, through your social media marketing efforts, direct people to use your preferred method of contact. Make it clear what you want them to do. 

• Merge your social channels into one

There are tools and apps available that allow you to integrate all of your social channels, which allows you to manage and respond to any interactions from one place. If this is of interest, search Google for ‘social media management tools’. Find the tool that will work best for your business and its needs. 

As mentioned, chatbots are hugely useful - they can acknowledge enquiries when you’re not available to do so, and start conversations with clients. However, they shouldn’t be expected to replace all interactions with your customers.