In just a few years, the messaging market has changed dramatically. We've gone from a dominant SMS channel to a vast number of messaging apps offering complex conversations managed by chatbots, which can interact naturally with people. Today, understanding conversational interactive marketing is a priority.
As a result, communication methods for both individuals and businesses have changed significantly. Offering greater functionality is simple interfaces , messaging applications have managed to capture a large part of the mobile messaging market between individuals.
With a 394% increase in time spent on messaging apps Between 2016 and 2017, apps took the spotlight back on the messaging market. Here are three services that stand out:
- RCS, or Rich Communication Services. Presented as an evolution of the SMS channel and jointly driven by Google and telecom operators, RCS has a strong chance of being the messaging service of the future.
- Facebook Messenger, which opened its API in 2016 and is now a pioneering, stable and efficient channel
- WhatsApp, whose API is gradually opening up to brands, will allow the first interconnections to be launched in 2019
However, it is not a “stable” market and many players coexist in this sector:
- Business Chat, Apple's answer to these messaging apps, but currently complex to implement
- WeChat, a very big player but mainly for the Chinese market
With this rapid growth, a new way of managing customer relationships has emerged: chatbot and conversation interfaces But if the emergence of these conversational agents has been so rapid, it is also thanks to a more than favorable economic situation .
New mobile uses
Over the years, the smartphone has established itself as the primary viewing screen (ahead of the computer and tablet). This profound shift began in 2007 when smartphones saw their battery life increase and their screens change. Larger and more tactile, their uses are evolving. The number of daily sessions is exploding. about 150 , but attention spans are declining. With an average of 70 seconds per session, it's now essential capture the attention of users from the first moment.
And in this context, one format stands out from all the others: the chatbot.
Having existed almost since the beginning of the IT era, they have distinguished themselves and become a key channel for marketing with messaging applications. Fast and available 24 hours a day , allow you to create engaging and personalized conversations An average conversation lasts approximately 120 seconds, during which an average of 20 messages are exchanged No other format can boast such a level of engagement.
Users also say they are socially ready to converse with a chatbot if the quality of service improves. The figures show this with a completion rate of 86% for initiated conversations And technologies are developing… Now you can connect these conversation tools to your system of corporate information (IS) to automate recurring and easily processed requests.
Understanding of human language is improving
A machine can talk to another machine; that's a record. But with a human, it's immediately much more complicated. There are an infinite number of standards that make the humanization of conversational agents very complex : tone, language used, spelling errors, familiarity/manner of address, context of the last discussion, digressions and so on.
However, in recent years, artificial intelligence has made significant progress NLU, NLP, ASR, whatever their name, these technologies aim to reduce this gap. But today, these technologies, with their immense potential, are still in their infancy. They represent a real differentiator in the face of the competition as well as exorbitant investments to deliver a satisfying experience .
The right time, the right technologies, everything seems to be in place to revolutionize customer relationships.
But you still have to look at the solution from the right end!
Don't try to move too fast too soon
When you launch a chatbot, you start a project that can last years First, because the scope of application is unclear and it is difficult to definitively assign it to a single company department. The chatbot is the third distribution channel after points of sale and websites and, like their predecessors, they affect all of the company's services, from CRM to e-commerce and, of course, essential business information (IS) services.
So why the use cases are numerous and this seems logical given the scope they have. Chatbots can help after-sales service and help highlight a high point , so it's difficult for business leaders to know where to start.
Of course, all of this has a cost, sometimes phenomenal , and with an uncertain expectation of return on investment Because while theory suggests that chatbots will be the new El Dorado, the reality on the ground can sometimes be very different. Like any new tool, conversational interaction still has to prove its worth. For this reason, It is essential to select the correct use case .
It will also be a matter of finding a use case that can be deployed quickly. The ideal first step is to avoid relying on IT input, thus controlling the project's time and therefore budget as much as possible. It will then be a matter of choosing relevant KPIs to promote this channel internally and justify future investments.
The autonomous chatbot is, therefore, the perfect solution , it is based only on decision trees, a lot less complex and expensive than semantic recognition technologies (NLP / NLU) and can operate without any connection to IS systems. Its goal is to promote a brand highlight during a specific period, such as during sales. Budget and project times are reduced is better controlled and it becomes easier demonstrate the effectiveness of the channel .
But for an autonomous chatbot to be successful, it is still essential to ensure adequate media coverage.
Ensuring strong media coverage generates traffic
If you've followed the previous tips, you might now be wondering how to drive traffic back to your chatbot. Here, we'll primarily address the following scenario: Messenger ; At the moment RCS is Whatsapp They offer limited functionality in terms of media coverage.
With Messenger, the possibilities are numerous: first of all, you can forward your chatbot to your customer base. SMS gets the best results with an average of 10% conversion, where dedicated email is 1.5%.
You can also add two plugins on your website ; the first will allow the user to interact with your chatbot through a pop-up placed on your site The second is designed for send a message to the user after an action on the site (an order for example).
In the end, the Facebook ecosystem remains an excellent tool for generating traffic in addition to organic posts on your Facebook page and ai native ads , inserted into the news feed; you can also use Instagram , the his stories and sponsored posts to ensure the success of your chatbot.
The success of your chatbot therefore does not depend only on the use case set, the its media coverage is equally essential Without this, the best chatbot in the world will have little chance of proving its worth.
At this point, you have everything you need to launch your first chatbot, and it will be interesting to run several iterations to learn more about your users' behavior on these new messaging services. Future steps will involve: the progressive integration of company information systems into your chatbot (CRM, product flow, payment, booking management, etc.) To offer an increasingly higher quality of service provided. NLP / NLU technologies , which are complex and expensive today, remain technologies of the future and without forgetting the human being who, when the context requires it, adds inestimable value in customer relations .
