The Latest Digital Technology Trend
ChatBot Marketing
By Rose Salas
短短数年，人工智能的浪潮已经全方位地席卷了我们生活的方方面面，无论是家用电器如扫地机器人，还是陪伴孩子学习与对话的教辅机，抑或是我们日常生活中离不开的智能手表、手机等等，都为我们提供了越来越便利的服务。在众多产品和我们的日常在线交流中，有一项技术出现的频率越来越高，那就是聊天机器人。在国内，该项技术最早主要应用于微信的聊天工具。聊天机器人拥有设定好的海量问题的答案和互动模式程序，当用户输入问题后，聊天机器人可以在自身的数据库中迅速完成搜索，以极高的效率解决客户的疑问。
如果你说，你还是不太了解聊天机器人究竟是什么，那么说起苹果手机的Siri你一定不陌生。你可以直接向Siri询问附近的饭店、查询天气、搜寻你想要的新闻、预约会议、订票等等。它则可以根据你的指令精准地进行回复或进行搜索。
为了提升客服效率，国内电商巨头淘宝、京东等客服平台中，也有很多聊天机器人程序，除此外，国内也有很多专门做此类业务的公司，如出门问问等。在国际市场上，Facebook等跨国企业也在高度利用这一平台趋势，帮助社交媒体拓展运营规模，实现收益最大化。
那么聊天机器人的优势有哪些呢？它可以不分昼夜地24小时进行工作，无论你在什么时间需要帮助，它都可以及时地为你提供解决方案。此外，聊天机器人还汇总了海量大数据信息，相比人工作业，它提供的信息相对精确，极少出错，完胜人脑可以容纳的知识量。作为企业主，使用聊天机器人还可以改善客户的互动体验和参与感，在维护客户、维护公司品牌形象的同时，还节省了大量的人力消耗与资金浪费。
未来的聊天机器人还有很大的改进空间，在不断学习升级后，聊天机器人会更具个性化，让客户在使用过程中感到更浓重的人情味儿。
Have you recently used an app in your mobile with a chat function? You then think you were chatting with a human but actually it’s not. That is a chatbot. Basically, you interact with software to get started with your inquiry and get resolution with your request in a speedy way. This initiative became so widespread that it has become the latest trend in the digital world.
There are 3 types of ChatBots that are commonly used in the business world according to IBM:
Support - This kind of chatbot can answer most of your FAQs’ about the business. The auto responder is an example and is widely used in customer service.
Skill - This chatbot can follow some commands when you interact with them. They usually have speech functionality so it is easier for people to follow commands or multitask while engaged with this intelligent bot.
Assistant – Remember Siri in your Iphone? It is the best example of this bot and is a combination of Support and Skill bots. It is considered a highly intelligent bot because it can handle conversations like a true human.
It is very interesting to know that chatbots actually started in China through WeChat. Yes, the platform started since 2013. Due to the rising number of online shoppers, and the need to have their questions answered in a quick way, WeChat took up this initiative. At the moment, chatbots in other social media platforms are very popular like in Facebook. WeChat uses Support Chatbots because it made a good impact on the customer service aspect of one’s business.
A former Google employee built a company named Chumen Wenwen and created bots on WeChat using the combination of voice, AI and the overall WeChat platform and the result was amazing! The bot can answer questions about restaurants, movies and different services around your area. Because of this technology trend, many businesses don’t even have to create their own websites and just operate fully on Wechat platform. Although not all information and customer requests can be catered in one chat session, important things like FAQs and basic customer concerns are addressed. They can also be informed about the latest promotions or product events that the customers are interested in.
Nowadays, Chatbots enjoy widespread popularity. One social media platform that makes good use of this trend is Facebook. Business owners are now maximizing the benefit of bots in their ecommerce shops because it has greatly improved their Customer Service interaction. They also save a lot of money, so adopting this technology is unchallenging and uncomplicated. In fact, instead of hiring staff, Chatbots can replace them and multitask any kind of work with just one time investment! A full functioning chatbot is cheaper than hiring an employee for each task.
What other advantages can be accrued from Chatbots?
It Is Available 24/7
Who will not be satisfied with a “helper” and “assistant” that can work all day and night, everyday! Your operation goes on even while you sleep. If you have a wide audience from different time zones that needs assistance, these chatbots are dependable workers and are ready to be of service to your customers.
No More Incorrect Information
Unlike some human errors, Chatbots can provide all information that the customer is looking for. Answers are consistent. They can provide assistance concerning navigation issues of your website, payment, delivery, product usage, and much more!
Increased Brand Engagement
Because Chatbots can interact with your customers, engagament to your brand is guaranteed. In addition to social media indulging in all the marketing strategies to promote the brand, Chatbots help in enhancing and making the experience more fun - usually, with a funny sense of humour!
What’s In It For The Future?
A lot of analysts are claiming that chatbots will be the future’s primary interaction channel for businesses. Intelligence of these bots is incomparable and these are truly cost-effective tools that can bring success and innovative features to one’s business. Repetitive marketing tasks will be replaced by these efficient and clever bots. The challenge of these bot makers is to ensure that the conversation will create personalities that will convert more sales and bring happy customers all the time. Are you ready to quit talking with humans?!
