How to enhance lead generation via chatbots

Business is all about generating new leads. The moment you fall short on the lead generation; your business will begin to show the signs of cracks. Now, here is something to cheer. Lead generation is no more an overwhelming process, thanks to chatbots. Today, chatbots have become so advanced that they can generate as many leads as a lead generating specialist would do in the past. However, you have to execute the right methods for it.

In case you think all the fuss about chatbots is unreal, 4 out of 5 businesses – that’s 80 percent of businesses – will be using chatbots by 2020. As far leads, here is how you can maximize them using chatbots:

1. Design of chatbots

About 50 percent of visitors end up sharing their contact details with bots by the time conversation finishes. The numbers suggest that getting a lead is pretty much all about starting a conversation with chatbots. The reason for their high success rate is two-way communication which is not the case with forms. So if you can somehow engage with the browsing party, half of the job is already done.

That’s where the design of chatbots has a huge role to play. Let’s face it, humans are judgemental by default. What’s more, we often tend to judge the worth of something by its first impression. Nothing contributes to harbor the first impression more than your chatbot design.

You need to keep this reality in mind while designing a chatbot. Evaluate the type of visitors come to your webpages. Their behavior will give you solid grounds about what kind of chatbot is more likely to work for you.

Pay equal attention to “start chat” button. Make it as visible as possible. By adding a real picture somewhere around this button, you can give the whole conversation a touch of reality. That’s one of the leading ways to personalize the communication. Also, you can get the attention by asking an open-ended question with a welcome note from every new visitor.

The above chart shows chatbots are not limited to lead generation. They can perform multiple tasks with utmost authority

2. Don’t overuse chatbots

There is no doubt lead generation chatbots are doing a wonderful job. But overusing them can have some serious drawbacks. Many website owners get over-excited and put a chatbot on every page of their website. Visitors could find this very annoying.

Understand, all pages are not the same. For example, some pages are prioritized to help customers with their purchasing decision, some tend to provide information and so on. Yes, you can begin by placing lead generation chatbots everywhere but with the passage of time filter them out of the pages where they don’t fit in and reserve them only where their performance is making a mark.

3. Stay focused on the real question

Talking to a chatbot does not mean one would expect all kind of irrelevant answers from them. In fact, chatbots have become so advanced that 2 out 5 millennials prefer talking to them instead of humans. Before chatbots, marketing to millennials was never this easy. When the expectations are this high, you can’t expect your chatbot to be idiotic and yet generate leads for you.

The questions like “what is the price?” or “How much off can I get on this?” should be given the apt answers. More often than not, it is conversations like this which foster leads. The crux being, installing chatbots is important but programming them in the right manner is even more crucial. Chatbots which provide off-topic answers and sound like promotional tools are a big turn-off.

4. Inform visitors through chatbots

Informing people about what exactly they are looking for can bring you tons of leads. Make it a point to feed your chatbots with regular updates and keep dropping the information until the visitor starts the conversation.

For example, your website is all about real estate business and when someone steps into your website he/she would not mind getting some information about current interest rates. Chatbots can perform this task with perfection. That way, a new visitor can really be lured to start a conversation with your chatbot. Hence, a high possibility to fetch a lead.          

5. Timing is important

Though many people might not be wary of this fact but timing matters with chatbots. Sometimes chatbots are programmed in such a way that they reappear over and over again even when you shut them. It will convey your desperation to the visitors and they will leave your site sooner than later.

If you don’t want to annoy visitors with such practices, be mindful of the following points:

• Allow the viewer to settle in. People can be overwhelmed with the sight of too many features, products and chatbots appearing at the same time which may force them to run away or close chatbot. Besides, isn’t it mindless of a chatbot asking “how can I help you?” when the visitor has barely seen anything on the website?
• The best time for a chatbot to make its presence is when someone abandons a shopping cart. It could be because the purchaser has doubts in his minds. Therefore, an ideal time for a chatbot to chip in, address customer queries and get contact details out of him    

6. Introduce chatbots on your social media channels

There are 2.77 billion social media users worldwide. So if you are not active on social media, especially Facebook, you are seriously missing out on a lot of potential leads. Facebook chatbots are doing wonders that’s why there are over 300,000 active bots on Facebook.

Social media is full of millennials and, as we know, this audience is a happening one. You can’t engage with them in a plain boring way. You got to personalize the conversation at an extreme level. That’s precisely what these bots are up to. So much so, they even carry an element of humor.   

The above conversation is an example that bots are capable to provide detailed answers and know how to take hold of a conversation

7. A/B testing

It is also known as a split test. In this process, you are supposed to divide your bots into two categories and find out which works the best best for you. To get the best out of lead generating bots, keep experimenting with the following features:

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Image and sex of agent
• Chat colors
• Timing of lead generation

Make it habit to go through these tests. Eventually, you will find the bot with the best combination.     

Guest article written by: Sohail Rupani is a senior SEO strategist at PNC Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Orlando. He specializes in SEO and SEM techniques. He is passionate about technology and loves to analyze the tech industry in his spare time and stay in touch with the latest happenings. He also writes technical articles about SEO and digital marketing. Follow @sohailrupani for more updates.