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The rise of the bot: your ultimate chatbot best practices guide

2 mins read

By 2020, over 80% of businesses are expected to have implemented some sort of chatbot automation. For the majority of customers, email responses are too slow and phone trees are too limited. Enter chatbots. 

To give your tech the best chance of success, make sure to stick to these chatbot best practices.

 

Forget about Will Smith and embrace bots

__5951fb30b1992-mediumRobots and AI doesn’t always mean world domination, an agenda to destroy all humans and Will Smith. This technology can also help bridge the gap in our customer service and enable a better experience all around.

Every time you’re on a website with a bot, interact with it and see how it performs. Look at your competition to see how they’re using bots (or how they aren’t) and take to the internet to find information from leading experts to see what the latest industry thinking is.

Introduce your chatbot to users

Visitors will be more likely to interact with your chatbot if they know exactly what its purpose is. Make the first message an introductory one that invites a response. 

“Hello from Digital 22! I’m a friendly bot that’s here to answer any questions you might have about our services and ensure you find exactly what you’re looking for. 

We most commonly help customers with Inbound Marketing but our team are on hand to assist with anything you might need help with. Click one of our services below to get started!”

Chatbot example

Give your bot a personality, a wife and a mortgage

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Users are more likely to stay engaged with a bot if it has a friendly and inviting personality. Think about how you’d want your team to speak to a new customer and write the bot in the same way. 

It doesn’t have to based off Steven from the sales team but a tone that resonates with your business keeps your bot on brand. Different customer types will appreciate different bot personalities, so think about what would be relatable and interesting to your target audience. 

Use buttons to guide customers and speed up interactions

Giving the user predetermined answers via buttons will help you to guide the conversation in the right way. It helps the user to communicate exactly what they want so there’s no confusion and they understand the limitations from the get-go.

Plus, buttons are a faster way of progressing the conversation so customers are helped as quickly as possible. They provide an instant response and can have an issue resolved in a matter of seconds.

Cannot compute: be ready for misunderstandings

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Even if you do provide buttons, that isn’t going to stop some users from typing questions or issues they’re having. You need to be ready for these ambiguities and moments where there’s no scripted response available. 

Prompting the user to email you or call can be a considerate safety net should computer say no. Ensure there’s a response that outlines exactly what the bot’s limitations are so the user isn’t left wondering why their questions aren’t getting the correct response. 

You may find after a couple of interactions that your bot needs adjusting. The beauty is that tweaking is easy enough and adjusting your bot can happen regularly.

There’s a lot to get your head around when it comes to chatbots and their place within conversational marketing, especially if you’re new to the idea. 

Become a chatbot convert with our Conversational Marketing Playbook

For more information on chatbots and how they slot nicely into conversational marketing, download our free guide now. There’s never been a better time to get involved with bots, even if it’s just the basics.

The playbook is the only resource you’ll need to create a helpful and functioning chatbot for your business. Get your free copy of the guide now using the link below.