November 7, 2022
With the constantly changing technologies and advancements in development, our world has improved a lot, right? Many of the things that were once difficult to deal with have now become easy to do. We could literally say that the world is at our fingertips.
In such a world in which a person could search and find anything he needed to know and wanted to get in a matter of seconds, the marketing strategies and schemes we prepare for them also need to be fast, spontaneous, easily accessible, and responsive. The real-time messaging platforms were created with this sole concept in mind.
A real-time messaging platform is an instantaneous communication service setup that can be established between two or more participants. The communication that occurs within this framework can either be organic, like the one that occurs between a customer and a customer service agent, or it can be an automated one in which one participant will be a human while the other will be a Chatbot or any other programmed conversational assistant.
In a business situation where you have to maintain and take care of a large number of customers or recipients, it is not possible to arrange that amount of real human service personal for the customers, and that’s why automated conversational services are being implied under these conditions.
One of the most commonly used automated real-time messaging platforms is WhatsApp, and we convey this service via WhatsApp Chatbots.
What is a WhatsApp Chatbot?
A WhatsApp Chatbot can be defined as an automated conversation or interaction partner that is powered by artificial intelligence and simulates the conversation with a human being.
A chatbot can be programmed to carry out certain predefined functions, operations, and services such as marketing, customer service, conducting surveys, paying bills, etc.
These bots can also be programmed to provide different responses to different messages and automate certain tasks, such as sending push notifications or collecting leads from chats.
Why use WhatsApp Chatbots?
For several reasons, we can say with certainty that WhatsApp chatbots can be considered as one of the most suitable platforms for business communication, service, and promotions. These include,
- WhatsApp is one of the biggest messaging apps in the world, with over 2 billion users around the globe. It is available in more than 180 countries and 60 different languages.
- Chatbots can communicate with users in a more natural way by using voice, text, and video.
- With WhatsApp Chatbots, one can program and send real-time, tailored messages to customers in a single click with minimum effort, so that a marketer doesn’t have to spend their effort on it.
- Since the WhatsApp Chat bot is an automated service, it can engage with your customers 24×7 without the need for human interaction or intervention.
- WhatsApp Chatbots can save you effort, time, and money that you are going to spend on customer service.
- One of the biggest advantages of a WhatsApp Chat bot is its instantaneity, which means that the bot can deliver the required response without any lapse or loss in time, which can help boost your sales and obtain more leads.
How does a WhatsApp chatbot work?
A WhatsApp chatbot runs with the help of rules or protocols that are defined by a marketer to meet a specific objective, and it uses the application of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) for its running.
The goal of a chatbot is to match the natural language of a human being through artificial intelligence. The best chatbots are designed to respond like humans would, so they can engage in casual conversations and answer questions. For this, you need to design the chatbot conversation in the proper way. This process is called “conversation design.”
Conversation design is the process where you will build and instruct your chatbot with all the possible questions and communication that a customer could raise towards it. You have to program your chatbot in such a way that it delivers a solution to the quest that a customer seeks. It is the core of your WhatsApp automation.
After that, you have to get access to the WhatsApp Business API. The WhatsApp Business API is a service provided by WhatsApp to businesses which would like to use the facility of automated conversations to interact with their customers.
Apart from these, in order to setup a chatbot, your brand or organization also has to be verified under the norms and regulations provided by the authorities in your region.
How to design an efficient WhatsApp chat bot conversation.
One of the main factors which we need to keep in mind while designing a WhatsApp chatbot conversation is that the entire system is automated. The way in which you prepare a conversational protocol can affect your business in a great way.
While preparing a WhatsApp chatbot, keep in mind the following things:
- Sound like a being and not like a bot: The first thing you have to consider is that you have to mend the feel and spirit of your conversation in such a way that it should not feel like talking to a robot but to a real human.
- Add in the element of personalization: Try to add elements of personalization into the conversation to make it look special, organic, and real to the customer.
- Create Multiple Chatbot Flows: This means predicting how a user will interact with the bot and then creating a conversational flow chart that covers all possible interactions.
- Support and not sell: Even though your prime aim is to promote a product or a service of your brand, don’t do that in an obvious way, which means that the chatbot should sound like an assistant and not like a salesperson. Don’t brag too much about your products, but only show helpful things to your customers when asked.
- Keep it simple. The conversations and chats associated with your chat bots need to be done in a simple way. The language you use in it needs to be simple, and the length of the texts needs to be kept as short as possible.
- Add in a Call to action: Even though we have said that it’s not good practice to brag about the marketing calls and contents in the chatbot conversation, you can add in a call to action with it to promote the brand in a subtle and salient way.
An abundant array of marketing possibilities is unfolding before our very own eyes with the introduction of WhatsApp Chatbots into the field. It is very much expected that these bots will make it easier for companies to reach out to customers in a more convenient and comfortable manner.
