Chatbots: A Cheap Successful Tool To Use for Lead Generation

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the last few years has led to their increasing ubiquity and applications in all aspects of business. Of the positively affected areas, lead generation has a unique position near the top because chatbots make the process so much more efficient.

Here is what you can do to incorporate this technology into your lead generation plans, including:

• Defining AI chatbots
• Five ways they help with lead generation
• How to pick the best chatbot for business

There’s a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

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What are Chatbots?

Chatbots are AI applications that employ smart algorithms to communicate with users, in the same vein as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. They, of course, take on a humbler form when they appear on websites. In these cases, they base their responses on prompts related to your business.

When applied to lead generation strategies, AI chatbots act as the first line of interaction for any visitor to your website. Chatbots typically present prompts and take in responses that they use to formulate their suggestions. In this way, AI chatbots are similar in function to search engines.

You can also input pre-formulated choices to help customers. Regardless of your approach, chatbots effectively gather user data through responses. You can use them to correctly identify, address, or improve major and minor problem areas of your lead generation strategy.

5 Ways Chatbots Help With Lead Generation

You can easily integrate chatbots into your website and set them up to assist all visitors who enter, providing upgrades to the user experience (UX) and increasing the likelihood of someone converting. Below are five ways AI chatbots change lead-generation strategies.

     1. Provide Additional User Engagement

Positive engagement is fundamental to lead generation strategies because most people do not become prospects for your business out of the blue. In other words, you first need to spark their interest in exploring your brand. Leveraging technology can expedite that process for you.

AI chatbots provide an opportunity for engagement by responding to a person’s queries with smart and personalized answers. Generic responses are no longer worth much because today’s consumers want to make better and more informed decisions about their purchases.

     2. Automate Collecting Rich User Data

You can log chatbot interactions to better understand how and what your target market wants to know about your business, products, or services. This rich collection of user data highlights the many vital points that drive conversion actions for your business and what matters to your customers.

All of this happens without the need for human intervention because the chatbot does all the necessary work from start to finish. The only responsibility on your end is analyzing the data and using it to improve your business. In a way, chatbots are a method of covertly surveying customers’ needs.

     3. Make Quality Support Available 24/7

One of the oft-cited upsides of AI in lead generation is that it makes quality support available 24/7 without much additional manpower required to maintain the service. Human customer service agents, unlike AI chatbots, are only able to do as much as their time and resources allow them.

Adding a chatbot to your website relieves a large amount of pressure from your human workers while still responding to users’ simple problems faster. It benefits everyone in the end because complex issues now have the full and undivided attention of your customer service agents as a bonus.

     4. Personalize Responses to User Needs

The ongoing fascination (and terror) at the endless possibilities and applications tied to machine learning (ML) is one of the top reasons AI chatbots work so well in lead generation. Offering personalized services is among the best of lead-generation strategies that SEO experts recommend.

The information you gather through AI and ML makes it easier for the chatbot and your customer service agents to give personalized responses and services. Both of these contribute to a successful lead-generation strategy. As any successful business owner knows, good customer service can make or break leads.

     5. Move Users Along Your Sales Funnel

Your sales funnel is another excellent reason why chatbots fit perfectly into lead generation. The customer’s journey begins with gaining awareness and forming an interest before converting to a paying customer. The process is not instantaneous and can collapse due to missteps on your end.

Although bad experiences with chatbots can potentially contribute to that, too, for most of your target market who are not ready to convert, they are helpful. Instant and smart answers to queries encourage visitors to explore and learn more about the options you provide.

How To Choose the Best Chatbot for Business

Chatbots are everywhere these days, especially on websites for businesses that take their lead-generation strategy seriously. However, this also means that the paradox of choices kicks into high gear for those looking for options. More choices mean more confusion and fewer decisions.

A good example of an easy and obvious solution to this problem is Ometrics. A free version is available that business owners can play around with to learn the ins and outs of AI chatbots. When researching chatbots, apart from cost, scrutinizing available features should be part of your decision-making process.

AI chatbots provide instant support, so customization is another critical factor in deciding which chatbot works best for your business. Quick and easy access to the data they collect is also an invaluable feature because it allows you to personalize your services to suit your target market.

Summing Up

Chatbots are reliable, low-cost tools for lead generation, especially ones that offer critical features, even on free accounts. With the ability to customize your chatbot with custom prompts and responses, you can get the most out of your lead generation strategy.

Need help assembling or customizing an AI chatbot for your business website? Contact Digital Authority Partners to learn how we can help.