Chatbots as a CRO Tool: How Conversational AI Helps Convert More Leads

Chatbots are a hot topic these days. For all the talk, you need to remember one thing. The only way you can use a chatbot effectively is if it fits into your larger strategy. Make sure it has the same voice you ask your sales representatives to uphold and follows selling scripts that your sales reps do. Add the option to redirect a user to a sales rep, and you have a great CRO tool, says, Connie Benton, freelancer writer.

In 2020, ads are so prevalent that it’s hard for new brands to break through the noiseOpens a new window . No wonder consumers prefer to see more personalizationOpens a new window  in how brands approach marketing.

The problem is most brands can’t employ enough people to grant every customer a personalized experience. One of the solutions to this problem is creating a chatbot that would represent your company online.

A chatbot isn’t just a personalization tool, though. It can be an amazing tool for conversion rate optimization. Here are 6 reasons you need a chatbot for CRO.

Automate

Optimization is all about automation. It allows your sales department to decrease wait times, eliminate human error, and do the work of dozens of people for the fraction of a price.

Sales automation is on the rise in 2020. For the entirety of the previous year, tools like CRM systems, email automation, and marketing management software were extremely popular. Chatbots are now becoming an essential part of that toolkit.

What chatbots do, essentially, is sales process automation. A bot that may cost you little to no money relative to the sales department budget can handle entry-level lead interactions completely on autopilot.

Answer fast

If there’s one thing that people who have the luxury of modern connectivity hate, it’s waiting. A website that’s loading more than 6 seconds on mobile will make many people leave and look for another option. Since there are literally thousands of other websites in Google search results, it won’t be that hard to find that option.

This concept applies to sales conversations as well. Consumers want to get instant responses to their questions or they’ll leave.

Source: Drift

A chatbot can respond within less than a second. This makes sure leads don’t leave the website while your sales representative is busy talking with a dozen of other leads.

You don’t even need to get an AI-driven chatbot to answer all customer questions. All chatbot services out there let you create pre-written answers that appear in the chat in the form of buttons. This helps let leads a way of interacting with the bot without having to pay for natural language recognition software.

Some chatbots, like the one NordVPNOpens a new window  is using, also provide suggestions when a user is typing their question.

Streamline conversions

While not all chatbots can recognize language input, most don’t need that to be effective. Placing buttons that contain pre-written questions or commands is a great way to let users interact with the bot.

Here’s how Cupid Bot handles a new lead.

This scripted message appeals to leads’ curiosity to start a conversation, and potentially get their contact information. But a bot can be more direct with the conversation it has with a lead.

This NordVPN bot offers users who land on the site to explore the company’s services, talk to support, or install the app.

Don’t believe a bot can make a sale on its own? According to this Ubisend case-studyOpens a new window , a van leasing company created 30,000 new leads and closed 500 sales all on autopilot.

Give sales reps a heads up

A well-set-up bot can close a lot of deals for you. But it’s not a magic wand you can use to create sales out of thin air. An average sale takes up to 8 touchpoints to close, so your sales team will have to put in work as well.

However, talking to a lead that has already contacted the bot is much easier than talking to a completely cold one. For starters, your sales representatives won’t have to deal with the standard questions that your FAQ section already answers. A chatbot can handle that.

What’s more important, though, your sales representatives will get all the information about the lead that the bot was able to gather. Starting out with their name, email address, and the previous history of interaction with the brand is a huge advantage.

Conquer social media

While email marketing is still a valid communication channel, more and more people prefer to use social media to contact brands. Chatbots offer everything you need to make your social media page a conversion generator.

The bot will respond within seconds, start conversations with leads, and get their contact information for your sales team to process. It can even direct leads to your website’s pages or to Facebook’s shop.

But there’s another important thing a chatbot on social media can do for your brand.

Deliver content

Chatbots on social media can replace or complement newsletter to deliver content to the audience.

This may not impact the conversion rate directly, but it helps keep leads engaged and interested in your brand.

A key takeaway

Chatbots are a hot topic these days. For all the talk, you need to remember one thing. The only way you can use a chatbot effectively is if it fits into your larger strategy.

Make sure it has the same voice you ask your sales representatives to uphold and follows selling scripts that your sales reps do. Add the option to redirect a user to a sales rep, and you have a great CRO tool.