What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read: chatbot service?
For me it means: an AI-bot incorporated into websites for customer support and answering user questions during odd hours.
But what if I tell you that chatbots aid in lead generation?
Unbelievable, right!
Well, even I was taken aback as to how chatbot lead generation is even a possibility.
But on thinking about it, I realized such Chatbot service does make sense.
Since chatbots service users that land on your website, providing them with the necessary information and navigation routes., some of these users can be clients, which constitutes a business inquiry as a lead, and viola.
I solved the maze.
You might think, ‘Oh wow, now I can use my chatbot for lead generation.
But wait before you get so excited and amazed with it.
Like there is a perfect way of making your cup of coffee or tea (whichever you prefer)., there is a strategy that wires behind employing chatbots for lead generation.
And you’re in luck because we’re about to unveil its stupendous advantages, how to use chatbots to generate surplus leads, and how to close those leads into profitable clients.
So, let’s dive right into it!
Generating leads through chatbots., you’ve got to be kidding me!
It turns out we aren’t. Employing chatbots for effective lead generation strategies is as real as the lockdown and pandemic!
Jokes apart, chatbots for lead generation are a significant savings-investment to connect and engage with prospective clients 24*6*365 when or if the sales team is not available. These proficient AI-bots automate sales and lead generation processes as well.
As per a recent report, the United States, India, and Germany have ranked top in the list of countries obsessed with chatbots.
More so, over 40% of millennials interact with chatbots, revamping their image as an excellent marketing tool.
Talking strictly about lead generation, Juniper Research claims businesses and consumers can save up to 2.5 billion hours only through chatbots by 2023.
It also predicts a cost-saving of over $8 billion through chatbot conversions by 2022.
All in all, chatbots are here to stay!
And with time, businesses will try and invest more into it mainly because of its cost-effectiveness, added advantages, and one-stop marketing and lead generation prospects.
How do we define a chatbot for lead generation?
Also called a lead bot., its only task is to generate leads, collect information from the prospects, and qualify leads based on the details received. They might add dynamic lead forms to their execution plan, tailor questions depending on the IP addresses and cookies, and interact with different site visitors in varied conversational ways.
Such chatbot services:
Guide visitors through the conversion funnel, ultimately bridging the gap between a product liked and a purchase made.
Remove any friction from the lead conversion process and extend better customer services.
Generate worthier and more meaningful leads.
Establish a loyal customer base.
Qualify leads automatically as per the said parameters.
Address customer concerns and proactively solve them.
Converse with visitors in real-time
Connect prospective leads with human agents after filtering their conversion probability
In short words, this is what a lead bot does and what it’s supposed to do.
Instead of investing in human agents for lead generation and qualifying processes, these AI-bots accomplish the mundane prerequisites. The human agents can take over once the lead has passed through the screening process and found to be of significant profit.
And that’s your answer as to why companies invest today in chatbots for lead generation.
Not only is it a practical solution, but it allows attending visitors 24*7. Subsequently, companies can focus on every lead and not lose them due to time zone and geographical constraints.
Why use chatbots for lead generation?
Although we’ve discussed a part of this section above., let’s talk about the other intrinsic details of why chatbots are a noteworthy addition to your lead generation strategy.
Did you know, over 80% of marketers swear to use chatbots in one way or the other by 2021!
Why do you think businesses are going crazy about chatbots, despite their several years of market existence?
Unlike before, when the significance of chatbots was limited to only customer service., most organizations are using these efficient agents for other processes too.
In the lead generation arenas, the following are the advantages of chatbot deployment.
Automate sales conversions:
Sometimes, automation can work wonders for your business. Chatbots can automate and boost the sales funnel to prequalify leads.
How do they do it?
Simple, by asking questions and judging the responses received.
These leads go to the concerned department, where the team nurtures them further.
It also allows the sales team to only indulge with leads that will drive conversion rates.
Also, chatbots can segment them based on the data received. Suppose a customer needs web hosting services. Then he would be sent to that team. Conversely, a marketing lead would go to somebody belonging to the marketing department.
Since the leads received are no longer blind entries, it allows businesses to provide a fitting solution.
Improve ROI rates:
As informed before, chatbots result in $8 billion and over cost savings. They create sufficient chat experience for visitors, and since they qualify leads before being assigned to a human agent., it save time that otherwise would be spend on wrong information. Apart from the initial investment in chatbot development, there is no other significant spending required. In time, they enrich, segment, and improve lead quality and overall service.
Forever active:
Unlike human agents prey to boredom, stress, and tiredness., chatbots maintain a constant vigor at all times. They are always bang-on with the customers, offer immediate answers, complete a sale, and still assist another visitor with the same enthusiasm.
They study a visitor’s intent and employ such analysis to close a deal. Chatbots serve as a secret ingredient for any future business opportunity.
Forge relationships:
Trust is the foundation of any relationship, even the business-customers ones. A chatbot engages a visitor through its instant support, ready answers, and pertinent questions. They don’t poke around a visitor unless they have a specific concern that needs attention.
Such manners inspire trust and loyalty in a user. More so, the non-pushy nature of a chatbot takes care of their preferences, facilitating positive lead generation.
So, if you want to build a long-lasting relationship with your customers, chatbots for lead generation is one way you can do it.
Replace forms with visitor experience:
Although form-filling is a necessary part of the lead generation process, it is still dull and tedious. Neither do customers like filling these forms and nor do they like being forced to do so.
Chatbots replace these forms while effectively generating leads. It employs the details obtained from a user while conversing with them and tabulates the document itself. It reduces customer frustration that results from such actions while ensuring streamlined and effortless results.
A chatbot can autofill details like name, addresses, emails, phone, etc. It fastens the process too.
Educate the target audience:
Generating awareness about new services or products is also an integral part of the lead generation process. Without knowing much about a product, customers are hesitant with their investment. And chatbot pass on this knowledge to the customers.
Organizations also use chatbots to help users navigate the right pages, teach them, and turn them into regular visitors. They even suggest course materials to read from the site and interest them in information furtherance.
Chatbots help finds content on a website quickly. It tailors experience, increases engagement, and adds convenience to their time.
The top ways to use chatbots for lead generation
Before we get into the HOW part of this blog, let’s clarify one thing:
Chatbots do not take up the entire lead generation process; they somewhat simplify it. Ultimately, you would need a human agent for one-on-one conversations with the clients. However, chatbots can speed up and ease the process, qualifying and closing leads into clients faster than ever before.
The following are top ways to employ chatbots in the lead generation process:
Construct a Buyer’s Persona:
A Buyer’s persona is anything that resembles a target user’s persona and replicates its buying behavior. It helps you analyze if a buyer will feel attracted to a lead and likely complete a purchase. Every buyer has a distinct profile that you need to monitor and use to create your buyer’s persona.
Through it, you’ll feed the chatbot details about customer sentiments and their purchasing manners. Once chatbots know how to screen a buyer and use its mannerism to decipher its buying nature., they can enforce adequate interaction.
To build a buyer’s persona, you need to narrow down your target customers based on age, gender, country, profession, income range, query type, etc.
With a buyer’s persona in action, you can generate a 360-degree lead profile. Subsequently, you can use it to create appealing messages, smoothen user experience, tailor product features based on their requirements, and create a lead-closing solution. More so, you can profile and segment your leads, target multiple channels for lead generation, employ customer insights to better chatbot algorithms, understand customer trends, and automate the entire process.
Script a solid welcome message:
An appealing welcome message keeps a user engaged.
Let’s understand it with an example.
The image is a conversation between a user and a business chatbot.
Noticed the conversational manner of the chatbot?
The playful manner feels like a human-like personality to any user.
A lead bot has to send out a welcome message when a user lands on a website in a nutshell. But it doesn’t have too superficial or dull. To build long-term relationships, you need to make an interesting conversation. And you can only do so with quirky messages, questions, or even GIFs.
Proactive chat widgets aka chatbots:
Wouldn’t it be great if a chatbot could monitor website visitors and initiate chats in real-time?
Lucky for you, chatbots can do so.
All you have to do is integrate a live chat widget with a lead bot.
The result:
Streamlined communication and rapid lead generation!
Since the modern customers are very impatient, chatbots are the right tool to speed up the process.
However, you need to identify the types of chat widgets that’ll work for you. The following pointer might clarify things for you:
General chat widget: It uses the Facebook Messenger icon owing to its massive familiarity.
Onboarding chat widget: It directs a user to the brand logo and name where the chatbot greets them.
Support chat widget: Only for ‘Need Help’ questions. It connects you with a support representative.
Feedback chat widget: It is a floating bubble with a custom icon and a text that either says feedback or its synonym.
Embedded live chat widget: Generally, websites name their live chat widget. It offers hosts of services and addresses customer queries and concerns.
A live chat widget is your golden geese in the sales/marketing plan. It is all-time active, adept in providing basic or complicated details, send navigation routes, and address issues.
Go for a multilingual chatbot:
You never know what user and from which country might land on your website and inquire about services and products from the embedded chatbot.
In today’s digital world, where users conduct purchases from halfway across the ocean., it is no brainer that a portion of your visitors might belong to a foreign land. And if you assume otherwise, you’re not clear about your digital marketing concepts.
Multilingual chatbots come in really handy for all websites.
And, they come loaded with benefits.
It facilitates interactions in several languages, hence, widening your target customer base.
A steep increase in leads generated, in turn, improving engagement and conversion rates.
It grabs the front seat in the competitive race. Since not all websites offer multilingual chatbot interactions, it increases the chance of those leads turning into your loyal customers.
A cost-effective feature that is ordinary but does the extraordinary.
Engage a user in a personalized conversation.
In a nutshell, multilingual chatbots generate massive leads and facilitate customer loyalty.
Chatbot-CRM integration:
Want to nurture leads?
Integrate your chatbot with CRM and witness a customer’s journey. More so, streamline your chatbot lead generation strategies.
Chatbot-CRM integration stores data about every user in the CRM and identify their next steps. If a new customer moves up the lead closing ladder., it will alert the CRM.
In time, it results in the lead organization, adding fluency and efficiency to your lead generation process.
Once it has reached the last stage, the sales team can take it from there.
Conclusion
Since 96% of businesses believe that chatbot is a futuristic technology., the question is not anymore: to add or not to add a lead bot.
It is: how to use it for lead generation.
Organizations are still new to the massive benefits of chatbot lead generation; however, they haven’t turned a blind eye to it.
Integrating it with live chat widgets or your CRMs topple its characteristics and makes it super profitable for your business.
Why limit the chatbot’s potential to customer service when it can boost sales funnel, generate meaningful leads, attend to customer issues, and proactively manage each visitor!
