How Chatbots Are Empowering the B2Me Movement

You can’t spell customer without the word “me,” and nowadays, savvy businesses are prioritizing the “me” in customer more than ever before. That’s because we’re entering into a new wave of marketing—one defined as the B2Me movement. B2Me is all about personalization, with the priority on creating individualized, timely, unique and intimate experiences. This emerging trend is proving adept at strengthening a business’ relationships with their customers…albeit one customer at a time. And while that sort of slow-burn commitment might seem counterintuitive to some, one loquacious tool is rising up to push this movement forward: chatbots.

Why are chatbots so effective for brands looking to establish a B2Me customer experience? For starters, they’re being increasingly used as a way to convert website visitors into actual paying customers. One company found that its chatbot delivered twice the conversion rate of its website and cut its transaction time in half. On top of that, the usability score for the chatbot was the highest the company has ever seen for its customer service operations. The business case for chatbots continues to grow as many companies successfully leverage these customer engagement tools. Here’s just a short list of benefits chatbots can deliver beyond generating sales leads and revenue:

• Time and cost savings – by automating conversations, chatbots save an organization time and money that can be allocated to more creative work.

• Better customer journey – by asking a series of targeted, qualified questions, chatbots can route users to the best place on your website to find the information/products they want.

• After hours support – by offering on-demand, always-on customer support, chatbots can significantly decrease your average time to respond and ensure customers can interact with you 24/7.

• Engaging customer experience – by incorporating machine learning algorithms to more accurately facilitate human conversation, chatbots offer a new, fun, interactive way to engage with brands that feels less like traditional marketing and more like a desirable interaction.

Still, to reap all of these benefits, an organization needs a well-built chatbot that delivers a consistent brand experience complete with interactions that add actual value. Only then can chatbots truly change the face of customer experience and usher us into the B2Me movement. A chatbot that isn’t born out of a deep understanding of your customers’ needs will become a nuisance. Similarly, if it neglects to bring your brand strategy and promise to life, it will fail to sway prospects to interact with your brand. To establish this imperative one-on-one connection with customers and uphold your brand’s mission, here’s a handy guide for building a chatbot that powers a personalized B2Me experience. 

1. Build Trust – Don’t attempt to trick customers into thinking they’re talking to a human customer support agent. Successful chatbot case studies have shown those that outright state their robotic origins facilitated more positive, upfront conversations. This forthrightness is key to establishing a close link of trust with customers.

2. Prioritize Personality Over Looks – Your chatbot doesn’t need fancy bells and whistles to be successful—all it really needs is a shining personality. Play around with the language your chatbot uses to make customer interactions more like an actual conversation rather than stilted dialogue. Be sure that the way your chatbot speaks matches the tone and image of your brand for maximum effect.

3. Introduce New Functionality Gradually – Don’t overwhelm your chatbot by trying to get it to do a million things at once. Slowly introduce new use cases and functionalities as you start to measure the success or failure of a few initial operations. Overwhelming a chatbot too soon will create a wonky, disconnected customer experience that drives away potential sales leads.

By following these three simple steps, any brand can develop a successful chatbot that generates high sales conversions, bolsters your brand’s reputation and offers a top-notch, personalized B2Me customer experience. Soon enough, chatbots will become a customer’s best friend.

Related Links:

• “Human or Bot? Three Reasons AI-powered Chatbots Are Changing the Face of CX”

• “5 Ways Bots Solve Business Problems”

• “Chatbots for Business Impact: What You Need to Know”