Several Ways Businesses Can Use Chatbots for Marketing

By Danni White - Last Updated on April 14, 2018

Guest Post by Josh W.

Alan Turing wrote his famous seminal paper titled “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” in 1950. In it was the Turing test, which is used to show a machine’s ability to perform tasks that would normally characterize a human being. It was the starting point of computer programs which use written or audio texts to get into a conversation.

The name chatbot was coined in 1994 by Michael Mauldin, who is the creator of the first Verbot called Julia. The ancestors of recent chatbots A.L.I.C.E., Jabberwacky, and D.U.D.E are ELIZA and PARRY, with the former created in 1966 and the latter in 1972. They were only able to simulate a typed conversation unlike the modern ones who have tons of uses with scheduling meetings and bookings flights, to name a few.

How do chatbots even work? When a certain keyword and phrase has been inputted by the customer, they perform an action that has been programmed into them. Let’s take the Nordstrom chatbot for instance, which had a successful campaign back in 2016. If you type “I need to buy a gift,” it replies “Thanks for asking, we’d be happy to help.” After that, it sends a link with a huge number of items proposed. It boosted Nordstrom’s revenue and helped with the reputation of the famous retailing company.

In this article, you are going to read about several of the ways in which businesses can use their chatbots for marketing and sales.

One way to use chatbots is to start communicating with the online customers. There are many questions that potential customers have and in order to be satisfied, they need to find answers. That’s where chatbots come into play. The customers are going to create a positive “picture” whilst the company is going to reduce costs.

Chatbots can be programmed to send notifications to the customers. We all know how boring it is to receive mails and messages all the time, but a brief personalized message on a social network can be quite important as it makes the customer feel special.

Since we’ve started the part about social networks, we might as well continue. These networks have become the largest marketing platform there is, and having a nice and tidy social media presence is really important for any company. Chatbots can be “employed” here, thus saving a lot of money and time, and keeping the page or profile active.

As mentioned earlier in the Nordstrom example, chatbots can be pretty useful in selling the company’s product or service. The bot can help customers find the product that matches their search, let them know about outlets, and help them with things such as size.

In this world full of technology, chatbots are starting to find their place in almost every sector. We can be sure that with the help of evolving artificial intelligence, they are going to become more and more sophisticated. The famous inventor Ray Kurzweil gives a prediction that in the next ten years, chatbots are going to become indistinguishable from humans.

Please check the infographic below to find out more facts about chatbots.

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Danni White | Danni White is the CEO of DW Creative Consulting Agency, a digital marketing firm specializing in elevating the visibility of small-to-midsize businesses and nonprofits. She is the author of 17 books and hosts the #Hashtags and Habits Podcast, which merges digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and personal growth.

Danni White |Danni White is the CEO of DW Creative Consulting Agency, a digital marketing firm specializing in elevating the visibility of small-to-midsize businesses and nonprofits. She is the author of 17 books and hosts the #Hashtags and Habits Podcast, which merges digital marketing, entrepreneurship, and personal growth.

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