When we think about how social media dictates who we vote for in the national elections, how Siri decides what we could have for dinner or how wearables keep track of our to-do lists, we have to acknowledge that we’ve given technology enough power to guide us, influence us and most importantly help us.
In fact, it’s not new for us bloggers and influencers to leverage emerging tools and technologies to stay on top of the game– whether it’s making the most of a new promotion platform or using scheduling and monitoring tools.
Off late, one such emerging tool has been generating a lot of buzz- chatbots!
In this article, I’m going to cover what chatbots are and how bloggers and influencers can make the most of a chatbot tool to grow and engage a large online following and ultimately build a unique blogger authority.
What are Chatbots?
To put it simply, a chatbot is an amazing piece of computer software designed to simulate conversations with a human user, usually via text. Thanks to the advances in AI, we can now train chatbots to be digital versions of ourselves and perform mundane and repetitive tasks on our behalf.
How do bloggers and influencers stand to benefit the most from chatbots?
In a sea full of high-ranking bloggers, influencers, and evangelists, today becoming a top blogger demands a list of tasks: engage readers, interact with them on different channels, network with fellow bloggers, guest post, have an email campaign in place, make ebooks, host AMAs and the list goes on.
As a blogger myself, I know how difficult it is to manage it all and how I’m always looking for hacks and tools and if I’m being honest, there have been overwhelming times when I’ve wished for a mini me to complete my tasks!
In this scenario, chatbots emerge as game-changers as they engage readers in conversation. They bring everything about you in one place, package our content in an appealing format and interact with the world as you, 24/7 on all channels.
As social media guru, Gary Vaynerchuck puts it perfectly, “Blogging is not dead. It’s as alive as ever. Blogging has simply morphed and changed into a much broader category where blog creation, and the question to where you should be starting a blog, is very different.”
Chatbots: The new blogging and storytelling channel
Especially built for bloggers, creators, influencers and evangelists, Bottr.me is the world’s simplest platform to build a personal chatbot without any coding in just a few clicks.
Brands like H&M, Starbucks and Sephora and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, 50 Cent and Maroon 5 are all using bots on Facebook to interact with fans, not to mention Cover Girl’s Influencer Chatbot that received overwhelmingly positive responses, one can’t help but wonder: What can a chatbot creation platform like Bottr do for bloggers?
1. Chatbots provide personalized and visually pleasing content
When there’s no dearth of well-crafted blogs online, you might want to reconsider working for hours on theme templates and layouts and weigh your options. Besides, the rise of microblogging sites like Tumblr, Pinterest, etc suggests that instant, on-demand content is a popular favorite.
Chatbots on Bottr for instance by default support rich content cards which are both easier to read and write. As a blogger trying to get your voice heard, chatbots are by far the most effective way of presenting content in conversation.
Chatbot usage content cards to provide user specific responses and content
More specifically your bot will package your content in micro cards which you can edit to display text, rich images, videos, documents, target URLs, you name it.
And the best part? Chatbots can start smooth flowing conversations, ask your readers what they are looking for and respond with high-value content relevant to their pain points. Inevitably makes them feel valued and stick around for longer.
2. Chatbots can get more of your audience to convert into subscribers/customers
It’s quite common for bloggers trying to convert readers to customers or subscribers to build a network on social channels and then market the same.
Meeting audiences where they are is a smart strategy, but the noise online is not getting you enough money, subscriptions or ebook downloads?
Bots interact with readers first, find what a potential customer is looking for, before showcasing merchandise or services in rich cards laid down like a carousel. They sell to everyone in a 1-on-1 fashion without being salesy.
They give product or reading suggestions specifically based on a potential customer’s wants by taking them down a conversational path, redirecting them to “buy now” pages and resolving queries any customer might have before making a purchase. Simply put, a bot understands your customer like a dedicated salesman or relationship manager would and offers products accordingly.
3. Chatbots automagically engage readers, reduce bounce and increase average sessions
A typical visitor spends 15 seconds or less on a blog post, which means as a blog owner you have exactly that much time to captivate them and make them stick around.
Chatbots, in this case, drive engagement goals by doing what they do best– chat!
Paul O’Brien’s personal bot embedded on the SEOBrien website: drives engagement
A simple yet powerful chat widget embedded on your landing pages does that and more. They drive engagement beyond mere views and impressions thus increasing average session durations and decreasing bounce rates.
They’re unique, fresh and most importantly save you the time and trouble of interacting with each and every one of your readers.
4. Chatbots promote and market like a pro
Start a chat with Maroon 5’s Facebook bot, and it will promptly ask “Want to be the first to know when we release new music?”. Normally, they would promote their songs on social media, but with a bot, they can directly reach each and every one of their fans.
When it comes to bulk promotions, bots win over event pages, status updates, and social media campaigns hands down. You want to promote your new blog posts, a line of clothing, podcast, you name it– a chatbot puts a friendly conversational touch to it all.
5. Chatbots save time and energy like no other
If you’ve got a decent following online, it’s safe to say that you’ve also got yourself overflowing inboxes and comment threads– most of which are the same requests and questions you see daily. Even with our love for social media, it’s impossible to stay active and responsive all the time, right? Plus where’s the time?
Needless to say, bots do with for us with ease.
A personal chatbot will make sure your messages don’t go unanswered based on how you train it. They’re there for your readers at all times even when you are not, thus saving you hours of effort.
Final Thoughts:
Fast movers are already reaping the benefits of increased engagement and retention after diving into the chatbot space. In fact, we’ve received overwhelmingly positive reviews from thousands of bloggers and evangelists on our platform itself who are loving the ease of use.
On a more statistical note, bloggers have experienced up to 65% increase in avg time spent on page and 30% month-over-month increase in subscriber counts after embedding their bots on their blogs and sharing it on social media.
Chatbots present a world of possibilities and with the sharp minds across the globe working to make artificial intelligence smarter, there’s really no saying where they’ll be in the next two years.
So go ahead, try creating a bot and stay ahead of the curve!
Author bio: Nidhriti Bhowmik is an AI evangelist with a passion for creating thought-provoking content around the past, present, and future of bots is trying to simplify the digital world with Bottr.me.
Source
Host blogger’s comments:
Readers, the future is now.
Opinion.ng observes chatbots are as widely used as apps. According to the blog, 1.4 billion people interacted with a chatbot in 2015. You can imagine how many people have chatted with bots since then since the number keeps growing.
The blog goes on to explain that bots use messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Wrapping Up
What are your thoughts on automation? Is it inspired or offensive to have the bot greets your visitors?
On the upside, it would save you precious time to create while ensuring they’d get a greeting. However, many people prefer the personal connection to an automated one.
According to the Opinion.ng blog, website visitors prefer to be greeted by a bot:
The customer engagement with the chatbot is very high because the user gets a quick response to their inquiries. Also, it makes customers feel like they are chatting or working with someone to find a solution to their problems. Sometimes, you may not need the intervention of a human to complete the task or inquiry.
Please share this post on your social media so other bloggers and marketers know about the potential for chatbots to help save them time when blogging and selling.
I look forward to your views about whether your visitors should be greeted by a chatbot or a human in the comments section.
