Made popular since 2016 thanks to Facebook Messenger, chatbots currently have more than three billion monthly users. These conversational tools are genuinely everywhere and are playing a significant role in the revolution in customer relations. In its application, the chatbot really needs no introduction. But in theory, what is the real benefit of this type of software?
With chatbots, businesses can now collect data from their prospects and customers. This crucial information can help boost the performance of a website. We will see in the following lines how to use data from a chatbot to considerably and sustainably improve the visibility of a web platform.
What Is A Chatbot?
The chatbot is software that, in reality, no longer really needs to be presented. A few years ago, chatbots were still considered technological tools of the future. But today, a large number of websites use it to stay in touch with their visitors. Despite this apparent popularity, these tools still seem to have a bright future.
Indeed, with the current development of Artificial Intelligence, chatbots are becoming more and more intelligent. To better understand the importance of the chatbot in web marketing, it can be helpful to do a structural study of the word. Chatbot is actually the concatenation of” to cha,” which means “” to converse,” and” bo,” which means the word robot in English. In other words, the chatbot is a conversational robot.
More concretely, it is a computer program configured with the aim of accomplishing a particular operation or task. Technically, chatbots are responsible for delivering a prerecorded response at a specific time. The robot can interact with humans in natural language and in real-time. It can, therefore, answer Internet users questions and offer services and solutions adapted to the needs of users based on their requests.
How A Chatbot Works
There are mainly two types of chatbots: basic or simple bots and intelligent bots. Let’s take a detailed look at how each of these bots works.
Basic Or Simple Bots
With a basic chatbot, the discussion is always guided by a conversational agent. The latter draws from a database containing preformatted or prerecorded questions and answers. The conversational agent, therefore, returns the answers based on the queries and according to a pre-established scenario called”WorkFlo.” However, basic chatbots seem to have some limitations. A user can ask questions that are not necessarily found in the questions and answers library.
Intelligent Or Advanced Bots
These types of conversational bots typically incorporate natural language processing (NLP) functionality. This technology allows them to deliver answers that are both relevant and precise. Advanced bots give users the feeling that they are chatting live with a human agent via a platform.
The intelligent chatbot is, therefore, configured to offer better service to customers or users. It collects an impressive amount of data that comes from customer interactions. Advanced bots are able to analyze this information, assimilate it, and exploit it in order to improve and boost websites.
The Subtlety Of Exchanges With A Chatbot
Some Internet users using conversational robots ask themselves the following question: do they give me relevant answers? Like them, you may have already asked yourself this question. Chatbots on websites are not only responsible for holding conversations with users. They also aim to gather ad hoc information that can be used for various purposes.
Thus, a chatbot cannot intentionally mislead users. It is a technology that has made enormous progress in recent years, especially since the emergence of artificial intelligence. Thanks to AI, some chatbots can perfectly imitate employee responses, even being able to analyze user satisfaction levels.
On the market, there are also powerful conversational agents capable of analyzing a user’s speech or argument and assessing it. Thus, a powerful chatbot is able to detect a customer’s frustration. Knowing if a customer is frustrated will likely allow a business to improve customer service on its website. On specific web platforms, chatbots maintain more than 15,000 discussions per day with a credibility rate of more than 80%.
Apart From Chatting, What Is A Chatbot Used For?
With the precision of the responses of several chatbots today, we tend to think that these robots will replace humans in the long term. In reality, this is not the case. The chatbot helps humans with tasks that are of little importance and can be handled by robot-type software. On a website, a bot has several missions. Aside from chatting with Internet users, it can help companies focus on operations that have high added value. To do this, the chatbot carries out repetitive missions such as:
- Help Internet users in the prospecting and pre-purchase phase;
- Execute orders;
- Notify a customer or potential customer in the event of unavailability of a product;
- Automatically track customer orders.
In the e-commerce sector and, more generally, web marketing, chatbots offer several advantages, combining business with pleasure.
Data: An Essential Resource For Any Website
Digital technology is today an effective way to collect multiple data. Thanks to all the interactions between conversational robots and users, companies can unearth great gems. Here, in a few more or less simple steps, is how to use the data collected to boost a web platform.
Enrichment Of Site Content
Being a point of contact with the users of your website, the chatbot can identify, thanks to WorkFlows, their real expectations, and areas for improvement. With data from a chatbot, we can:
Optimize Existing Content
By chatting with visitors, the chatbot collects information. It is advisable to integrate a comments area into the chatbot of a website. In this space, the Internet user will be able to give, if they wish, their opinion on the services and products offered by the platform. For example, an Internet user can request your chatbot if he cannot find the information he is looking for on your product sheet.
Thanks to the conversational robot, he will be able to have all the additional information he needs. You have the possibility of combining Internet users’ requests in chatbots with business data from your site to produce optimized content. For example, if one of the pages on your website has few conversions, feel free to check if some of the information collected by your chatbot could be helpful.
Also, consider launching a survey with your visitors after they have used your chatbot. You will obtain results that will help you improve the editorial content of your site. Ultimately, analyzing data from a chatbot makes it possible to provide users with more relevant responses tailored to their needs.
Also, Offer Additional Content
By studying the interactions with your site’s yoursite’schatbot, you will identify the page on which the Internet user contacted the robot and when they did so. This information is valuable for businesses because, thanks to it, we can target and resolve specific recurring customer problems. Take, for example, the case of an online clothing sales site.
Many customers ask questions related to the material of manufacture or the size of a product. As an entrepreneur, you can take advantage of Internet users ‘questions to create content for your blog. If a lot of people are asking about the sizes of a particular item of clothing, then it is necessary to produce blog content on this topic.
In addition, with the data collected in the bot, you can even offer products corresponding to usual queries directly in the chatbot. With the help of your conversational robot, you will produce targeted and qualitative content. As a result, your natural referencing will systematically improve.
Identify Blocking Points Using The Chatbot
The chatbot also helps determine problems reported to customer service and their frequencies. These are types of data that will allow you to optimize the processes and functionality of your website. After identifying the problematic steps and services on your website using the chatbot, you can then put in place measures to remedy them.
For example, many chatbots have allowed e-commerce owners to realize that the payment gateways they offer are faulty. They were subsequently able to provide a better payment solution to their customers.
Automation Of Repetitive Work
Repetitive tasks tend to reduce the performance of a website. Web admins are often forced to keep a technological watch. This monitoring most often consists of carrying out the same operations. This can quickly become boring. A chatbot can make repetitive tasks automatic. It is software designed to answer Internet users’ questions automatically.
When a question is asked regularly, it means that it urgently needs to be answered. The algorithm of a conversational robot can then automate the responses to the latter. In addition, the chatbot also allows you to make appointments. Making appointments is one of the repetitive tasks in some companies. By automating this type of operation, the chatbot installed on your site will allow employees to devote more time to more critical tasks.
Automated Qualification Of Your Leads
The data collected by a chatbot can also be used to generate qualified leads. It is, in fact, possible to configure a chatbot so that it asks questions to incoming leads and automatically qualifies them based on the answers. This is a technique that will help you assign a lead to a suitable sales department.
This technique also makes it possible to offer products and services that may interest the prospect based on the answers they gave to the chatbot’s questions. This not only saves time but also makes customer service more efficient. Indeed, sales teams can now focus exclusively on the most qualified prospects.
On the other hand, the conversational bot can become the continuity of your CRM. Each question the lead asks is automatically integrated into their information sheet in your CRM. You will then be able to understand your customers and their expectations better. Increase conversions on your website using a chatbot.
Chatbots help people easily navigate the websites they visit. Visitors find the information they are looking for more efficiently, which increases the chances of conversion. By configuring a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions automatically, you increase user satisfaction. A satisfied visitor will more easily head to your conversion pages.
Can A Chatbot Use Users’ Data?
Installed on websites, chat robots cannot use Internet users’ data without their consent. Moreover, data can only be stored by a chabot with the user having given their prior consent. Within the European Union, the GDPR is a legislative tool that governs the processing of personal data. This regulation requires companies to have the explicit consent of Internet users who use their chatbots before storing their personal information.
Have you ever noticed a modal window opening when you first arrive on a website? The latter asks you to accept or refuse the conditions for processing your data. If you do not want the chatbot to record and store your data, you must explicitly indicate this by clicking on the appropriate button.
If you do not do so, the chatbot may, without running any risk, record your personal information and use it. It may be that after a few months, you no longer want the chatbot to store your data. In this case, the law allows you to request their deletion without any reason. So, companies can no longer use them to boost their websites.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the chatbot is a widely used tool on today’s websites. It is intended to simulate a more or less realistic discussion with users. Well-configured chatbots increase the efficiency of sales teams, improve conversions on a website, and increase ROI (return on investment). And you, how do you use chatbots to boost your websites?