BRIEF NOTES ABOUT BOTS

As many people do I keep a page open for scribbling notes and thoughts down at all times. The following notes will form the basis of more detailed blogs later on but I thought the note style summary might be valuable to some :)

• We all share content regularly inside chat apps. Prominent share buttons throughout your app can help your bot reach more people in a very natural way. Nothing is more powerful in the world of marketing than personal recommendations.
• You can create two types of loyalty for your business. The type that exists as a habit of convenience > “this app is easiest to book a taxi so I will always use this.” Or the type that exists in passionate fans > “I cannot believe how helpful they were, I will recommend them to my friends for sure!”
• Chatbots are not for every situation. Speed is so important in completing repetitive tasks.
• Have you noticed how much less traditional phone services are used. Younger people especially want instant results, no social awkwardness.
• A marketing reason for bots > how many businesses emails do you recieve daily? How many are you subscribed too? Probably too many. Email inboxes suffer with spam! Now lets see how many Messenger bots are you subscribed too? Even as a maker I’m only subscribed to four for regular updates! (Guardian news, Poncho weather, Techcrunch & ESPN). Messenger is a fresh channel where you can reach your customers far easier than email.
• Open rates on email are 20% for the marketing world. Messenger reports are over 90% > you can be heard on Messenger.

• Context is a difficult thing for a chatbot. But it can do it better than a website. It can provide a whole different conversation flow if you have come from Facebook or the company help page or an advert.
• The modern customer needs to be courted like a real person. In real life you wouldnt just walk up to someone, announce your name and start talking. You would have to be introduced or somehow get their attention. Play the long game with your marketing bots. You need to keep earning the right to have your messages appear in their inbox alongside friends and family.
• QR codes are massive in Asia. Even pop stars wear them around their neck during concerts. Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Snapchat and now Pinterest all have their own customised versions. Offline to online works really well with bots.
• Flyers and shop posters can maybe take on a new lease of life with these scannable codes. No searching on a website or an app. One simple scan to start a chat with a bot.
• This O2O — offline to online phenomenon could be termed “instant apps”. Apps that don’t need downloaded or accounts to be created. Complete the interaction quickly and easily in the real world on your mobile. Book tickets, tables or other services at speed.
• What is convo UX? A quality conversation experience is hard to design. It’s worth it though because….
• Conversation is so powerful….. When did a form or an advert change a customers mind or decision. Only conversation can turn an angry customer into an understanding and hopefully returning customer.
• Conversation can create sales. It takes the skills of enquiry and empathy to be a good salesman.
• A salesman needs to understand their customer (personalise the sales pitch), answer questions about what they don’t like and perhaps finalise the sale with extra help about common questions. What does a successful sale look like in your business?
• Waiting for an answer sucks. Even a well designed auto-responder can limit a customers frustrations. You can do so much more with a bot :)

Originally published at .