5 Ways Companies Use Chatbots to Attract Better Leads and Drive More Sales … and Why Chatbots Need You
By Andrew Murray

Companies are getting excited about chatbots, very excited. They’re a new way of doing business, a disruptor.

Right now, a savvy marketing department might be using email marketing. Despite the rise of social media, email marketing is still top of the pack when it comes to sales.

Consider this. A marketing team will be dancing in the aisles if they get email open rates of 25% and 3% click-through rates. These are solid numbers. However …

Chatbots are a marketing channel with around 80% open rates and 25% click-through rates.

Can you see why companies are jumping on board the chatbot train?

It’s a step-change for customer engagement. Marketing teams want in now, and that’s good news for you!

Before we look at five ways companies can use chatbots to attract better leads and drive more sales, we’ll answer the two questions you’re no doubt asking …

What are chatbots, and why do they matter to you?

A Natural Text Stream

A chatbot is simply a piece of software. It automates a conversation between a company and a user.

It’s not AI (artificial intelligence) like Alexa and it’s not a live chat with a human.

A chatbot is an automated conversation … a text conversation on your phone … an SMS or Facebook Messenger conversation between you and a bot … a natural text flow between user and company.

Done properly, the automated conversation will feel natural. You’ll feel like you’re messaging a friend.

Typically, chatbots will give you choices with clickable buttons. The choices you make determine what text the chatbot shows next.

Here's an example of a chatbot conversation stream. This one's in Facebook Messenger.

The opportunity for you?

Someone has to write those automated conversations. That could be you … a chatbot copywriter!

But is there really an opportunity here for you in this new specialty of “nano-writing”?

Well, let’s look at chatbots from a company’s perspective. Let’s see why companies are so excited about their potential.

Then you’ll see why chatbot copywriting is on the verge of an explosion and why you need to be on board now.

Chatbot Superpower #1: Gives the User a Positive Experience

A chatbot is an incredibly smooth user experience. Here’s the process:

• A prospect initiates a chat on a company website or within Facebook, for example.
• The chatbot opens Facebook Messenger and starts the two-way conversation.
• It asks a series of questions in a conversational way and within a text messaging service … an environment most users are entirely comfortable with.
• The chatbot can schedule an appointment, send a free report, open a shopping cart, and so on. The best part is, this all happens within the text stream. It’s all done there and then, in one place.

Read that last point again.

Do you see how powerful this is?

A chatbot pretty much eliminates the usual multistep sales process, compressing it into one text stream … a casual, conversational text stream at that!

Compare this to a normal sales funnel. Users drop off at every new step, at each new barrier.

But with a chatbot, there really are no barriers. It’s no more confrontational than a text exchange between friends.

The benefits to a company? More leads, more sales, and an amazing user experience.

Chatbot Superpower #2: Chatbots Never Sleep

Chatbots don’t sleep. They turn up for work 24/7/365.

What does this mean for the prospect? No more messages like this, “Hi, thanks for contacting us. Our office is currently closed. We’ll be in touch soon.”

By the time the company gets back to the prospect, they might have changed their mind or bought from a competitor. They’ve lost the sale.

On the other hand, a chatbot is ready and waiting … “What can I help you with?”

You grab prospects when they’re ready to take an action, every time. No need to wait. They want to buy now, schedule an appointment now, find out more about a company’s products and services now.

You’re giving prospects what they want, right now.

Chatbot Superpower #3: Saves Companies Money

Chatbots are ideal for collecting user data. You see, prospects make choices during chats. Look at the example from earlier … “I’m clueless,” “I’m learning bots,” “I’m a bot expert.”

The chatbot can tag users based on the choices they make.

By the end of the chat, a company will know quite a bit about where the prospect is in the sales process … what they need more information on, whether they’re ready to buy, and so on.

And the chatbot might send them a free report in exchange for their email address.

Even better, the free report will be targeted to the prospect’s needs because the chatbot now knows what the prospect is interested in.

The result? Another new lead!

Based on the tags collected during the chat, a company can then send out targeted email campaigns. Thanks to the chatbot, the company now has detailed knowledge of each lead and can spend their marketing budget more effectively.

Quite simply, chatbots save companies money.

Chatbot Superpower #4: Makes Sales and Schedules Appointments

You can generate sales within the chatbot. Imagine a company sells pet food.

The chatbot asks if you have a cat or a dog, the age of your pet, and the other questions it needs to learn more about your pet.

If you want to buy dry food for your “small adult dog,” the chatbot will send you to the shopping cart for that specific product.

You can make your purchase right there, within the message stream.

No long, complex sales funnels. Just a simple text stream, which delivers exactly what the buyer wants instantly.

The chatbot can also schedule appointments.

In this instance, the chatbot will ask the prospect a series of questions. It’s figuring out whether the prospect is ready to discuss your services in more detail.

If so, the prospect is sent directly to an appointment calendar where they can schedule an appointment instantly.

Again, no complex sales funnels … just a single two-way conversation, all within a familiar and comfortable text messaging environment.

Chatbot Superpower #5: Makes Loyalty Programs Affordable

Even the simplest loyalty programs can be complex and expensive to administer.

We’ve all seen the physical cards at your favorite coffee shop. You know the ones. They check off the card each time you buy, then give you a free coffee once the card is filled out.

This is the most basic form of loyalty program.

But even these simple loyalty programs cost money to set up and keep track of. Imagine the cost and complexity of a loyalty program for a chain store or an airline. Whole departments are dedicated to administering loyalty programs.

A chatbot can handle loyalty programs with ease, no matter how complex the loyalty program is.

And now more than ever, brick-and-mortar stores need an incentive for customers to walk into their locations. They need foot traffic. They need loyal customers. They need to give customers a reason to walk in their door.

Chatbots make loyalty programs an affordable option for even the smallest store.

Cheap to set up, virtually zero administration costs … why wouldn’t a company want a chatbot-driven loyalty program?

Your Chatbot Copywriting Opportunity

Chatbots need scripts … short-form copy written by trained copywriters. Short, fun, and conversational scripts.

Companies need you. Why?

Because chatbots are spreading like wildfire. Companies all around the world are jumping on board the chatbot train, eager to reap the benefits.

The problem is, only a handful of chatbot copywriters exist worldwide right now. “Nano-writing,” as it’s been dubbed by Business Insider, is a brand-new field. If you’ve ever wanted a ground-floor opportunity, this is it.

Learn the skills you need to write chatbot scripts. Get in early while the demand is booming. Companies are going to reap the rewards … you can too.

Do you have any questions about the new chatbot copywriting opportunity? Share with us in the comments.