Why do businesses need a chatbot, and how to get one

Whatever your online presence or business, you have probably noticed that rivals are already adding a chatbot to their pages. These friendly chatterboxes are the latest trend for web design, marketers and social media managers to increase engagement. They can help coax a customer toward a buying decision, link them to appropriate information which saves them from needing full customer support, and they are available 24 hours a day. 

As the website and social media landscapes continue to evolve, a chatbot is becoming a popular feature when it comes to driving engagement. It can become a valuable asset to your digital marketing strategy and online presence, and they are easy to build with no coding skills required. 

Apple's recent first effort for their music service is a Facebook Messenger chatbot that offers listening choices based on either an emoji or simple chat. And, if that’s good enough for Apple, it should be a sign that all businesses need to pay attention. 

When it comes to communicating online or any sort of interaction, people are normally nervous about talking to someone. Chatbots are not as impersonal as filling in a form and instead help to create a strong bond from the outset. 

The most popular reasons people use a chatbot is that it is a flexible, quick and easy way to obtain information. Instead of making the leap and calling to discuss an issue, where some people fear they may be pressured into making a booking or sale there and then, talking to a chatbot helps them take the first steps to build up confidence in your site, service or product.

There are two types of chatbot, rules-based examples that follow a script to guide the visitor to an answer or advice, and AI-based bots that can be smarter, but require more development. 

You can create and deploy a rules-based chatbot like Snatchbot which provides a free design tool, analytics and can publish to most online resources, on your website via a dash of HTML code, add it to your Facebook Messenger feed, Viber, Skype or other feed. Others that may be worth trying include Botsociety.