AI chatbots continue to rise in popularity – they create efficient service for customers while increasing companies’ bottom line.
One of the most popular types of AI chatbots is used for chatbot marketing.
What is chatbot marketing?
Chatbot marketing is the use of AI chatbots to promote products, engage audiences, and drive sales across platforms like websites, social media, and messaging apps.
It focuses on automating conversations to support marketing goals and customer engagement at every stage of the funnel – capturing leads at the top, nurturing prospects in the middle, and closing sales at the bottom.
A chatbot marketing strategy is easy to create with clear goals, the right platform, and a thoughtful approach to engagement.
How to create a chatbot marketing strategy
Deploying AI often feels intimidating for our clients when they first reach out.
1. Define objectives
Start by asking: What do you want your chatbot to achieve?
Are you looking to generate leads, boost sales, or provide customer support? Clear objectives act as your north star, guiding every decision in your strategy.
Be specific. For example, instead of “increase engagement,” aim for “capture 50 new leads per month” or “reduce response time by 30%.” The more precise your goals, the easier it is to measure success.
2. Pick an audience + funnel stage
Who is your chatbot speaking to? A good marketing strategy starts with knowing your audience. Define their demographics, interests, and pain points to tailor conversations effectively.
Consider their stage in the funnel. Are they learning about your product (top), considering a purchase (middle), or ready to buy (bottom)? This will determine your chatbot’s tone and focus – educational, persuasive, or action-oriented.
3. Pick a platform
Your chatbot needs to meet your audience where they are.
If you pick a chatbot platform with integrations (or flexibility), the choice is yours: your website, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or SMS, the right platform depends on where your target audience spends their time.
Each platform has strengths. For example, a website chatbot is great for guiding visitors through your site, while WhatsApp excels in delivering real-time updates. Choose one that aligns with your objectives and audience behavior.
4. Build your chatbot
Building your chatbot is the most time-consuming step. We won't dive into too much here, but you can read our guides for building an AI chatbot or building an AI agent.
Try to seek out tools or chatbot platforms that match your technical needs. Most of our top chatbot platforms offer a free tier, so you can tets out a softwrae before having to make a purchase.
Benefits of chatbot marketing
Multilingual support
Chatbots provide responses in multiple languages, adapting to the user’s preferred communication style. They automatically detect and switch to the correct language based on user input.
Chatbots powered by LLMs (also known as LLM agents) have every language the LLM uses at their disposal. In the case of ChatGPT, that’s over 85 languages.
Cost-effective scaling
Chatbots manage multiple conversations simultaneously, handling high volumes without additional staff.
They reduce the burden on human teams by addressing routine inquiries – so grow your operations for a fraction of the price it would have taken years ago.
24/7 service
Unlike humans, chatbots operate continuously. They can provide immediate assistance regardless of time zones.
Their availability also means an elimination of waiting times – every user query is responded to instantly.
Streamlined customer journey
Chatbots make it easy for customers to get what they need without endless clicking or confusion.
Unlike the bad chatbots of yesteryear, AI chatbots can guide users to the right info or action in seconds, keeping the process smooth and frustration-free.
Data collection and insights
Chatbot analytics are one of the oft-overlooked benefits of deploying conversational AI.
Chatbots quietly gather details like what customers want, what they’re asking, and how they interact. Then, they turn that into organized, actionable data, so you can make smarter decisions without the guesswork.
10 ways to use chatbots in marketing
You might have a straightforward idea of what a marketing chatbot looks like – it sits on a website and engages with visitors, trying to pitch your offering.
That’s one type of marketing chatbot, but there are plenty of other options!
If you use an extensible AI chatbot platform and have a creative team, there’s no shortage of ways you can apply conversational AI to your marketing efforts.
1. Lead generation
This should be on any marketing chatbot’s plate. Capturing leads is an easy bonus from deploying an AI chatbot – especially if you integrate it to your organization’s CRM.
Chatbots can turn casual website visitors into solid leads without a single awkward sales pitch. They ask the right questions (at the right time), collecting info like names, emails, and preferences while keeping the conversation friendly and seamless. It’s like having your best salesperson working 24/7.
2. Product recommendation
Most of us want less “Are you still browsing?” and more “Here’s exactly what you’re looking for.”
AI chatbots can provide similar advice as personal shoppers – they analyze behavior, preferences, and previous purchases to suggest products your customers didn’t even know they needed.
3. Contests and giveaways
Take an example from Absolut Vodka way back in 2013 – to promote a limited edition vodka, the company set up Sven, an AI bouncer.
Absolut set up an exclusive launch party that anyone could attend – if they could convince Sven to let them in. Users engaged with Sven over WhatsApp to try and get access.
Even the Queen of Holland sent a voice message to their chatbot!
4. Review and feedback
Chatbots streamline the process of gathering customer opinions by prompting users for reviews or surveys after specific interactions, like completing a purchase. They can also analyze feedback trends to highlight areas for improvement.
5. Digital BDRs
As digital business development representatives, chatbots qualify leads by asking key questions, segmenting users, and passing warm prospects to the sales team. They can even schedule meetings directly within the conversation.
6. Social media management
Chatbots integrate with platforms like Facebook Messenger or Instagram to manage customer inquiries, provide automated responses, and ensure timely engagement. They help brands maintain consistent communication without manual intervention.
7. Email marketing campaigns
Chatbots assist in growing and segmenting email lists by gathering user preferences during conversations. They can also deliver tailored messages, ensuring higher open and engagement rates by making emails more relevant.
8. Event promotion
Chatbots simplify event promotion by answering FAQs, sharing registration links, and sending reminders. They ensure attendees have the information they need and increase participation through timely follow-ups.
9. Customer onboarding
By guiding new customers through key steps, chatbots reduce friction in the onboarding process. They can offer tailored recommendations, provide tutorials, and address common concerns, ensuring a smooth start for users.
10. Localized marketing
Chatbots can tailor marketing messages to specific regions or demographics by recognizing user location or language preferences. This allows businesses to deliver content, promotions, or recommendations that resonate with local audiences, enhancing relevance and engagement.
Trends in chatbot marketing
Chatbot marketing is ever-evolving. If your team does it right, your organization can be the next stage of evolution in chatbot marketing strategies.
But for the time being, here are a few trends seen in modern chatbot marketing:
Personalization
Hyper-personalization is one of the top AI trends for the upcoming year.
Chatbots typically use customer data like browsing history and preferences to craft tailored messages – as long as customers can opt out, you should use it to make your interactions feel one-on-one rather than automated.
Integration with social media platforms
Social media dominates communication – so why wouldn’t your chatbot live there?
Chatbots drive marketing by capturing leads, qualifying prospects, promoting events, delivering personalized content, and engaging users on social media and websites.
Voice assistants
As voice assistants become more widely adopted in our day-to-day, businesses are starting to use it for their conversational AI offerings.
Voice-enabled chatbots make interacting with brands easier and more natural for customers. They offer conversational, hands-free options for accessing information, asking questions, or completing simple tasks.
Integrating your AI chatbot
If you want the most from your chatbot, you’ll need to hook it up to the right systems. Here are a few of the most common:
CRM systems
Connecting your chatbot to a CRM enables seamless lead tracking and customer management.
It can automatically log interactions, update contact details, and notify sales teams when leads are ready to move down the funnel.
Social media platforms
Integration with platforms like Facebook Messenger or Instagram allows your chatbot to engage with users directly where they spend the most time.
It can respond to messages, comments, and even assist with purchases, creating a unified social media presence.
E-commerce platforms
They don’t just market – they can sell. By linking to tools like Shopify or WooCommerce, chatbots can handle tasks like checking inventory, processing orders, and providing shipping updates, all in real-time.
Email marketing tools
Integrated chatbots can collect email addresses and segment users based on their interactions. This ensures email campaigns are more targeted and relevant to the audience.
Analytics platforms
Pairing your chatbot with analytics tools helps track engagement metrics, conversation success rates, and conversion paths.
This data provides actionable insights to refine both the chatbot and your broader marketing strategies.
Deploy your chatbot next month
Building best-in-class chatbots is what we do best.
The future of marketing is AI, and a well-integrated, customized chatbot has the power to 10x your bottom line.
The best chatbot is one that saves you time and money while enhancing your end-user experience.
Whether you want to improve customer engagement or make more sales, we’re here to help you build, deploy, and monitor a custom AI chatbot.
Start building today. It’s free.
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