In April 2016, something happened at Facebook that would quickly result in a revolutionary paradigm shift on the horizon of online communication — from mobile to desktop, marketing to services, personal to corporate — everything, really.
\nMessenger opened its doors to developers with an invitation to create chatbots — something of which roughly 78% of online adults were unaware.
\nWithin six months, developers had created about 30,000 active Messenger bots. Today, less than a year later, that number is up 233%, with 100,000 active bots on the platform.
\nBut it\u2019s not just a popular, funky thing to do. Businesses using chatbots are seeing results, like Sephora, which reportedly earns \u201can average spend of over $50 from clients who have booked an in-store service via its Messenger assistant,\u201d according to VentureBeat.
\nIn case you\u2019re wondering what the heck a chatbot actually is, though, here\u2019s the condensed definition: A bot is nothing more than a computer program that automates certain tasks, typically by chatting with a user through a conversational interface.
\nThere\u2019s a vast range of chatbots. They can be rule-based, or powered by artificial intelligence (AI), both of which will drastically change the process of developing one. And if you\u2019re looking to formulate your own chatbot strategy — from building the bot from scratch to promoting it and getting customers to use it — we\u2019ve developed a basic framework for just that.
\nRead on, and let\u2019s start building.
\nHow to Build a Chatbot from Pitch to Promotion<\/p>\n
1) Decide your bot’s purpose.<\/strong> 2) Decide what messaging app your bot will live on.<\/strong> 3) Create your bot\u2019s personality.<\/strong>
\nUltimately, the purpose of a bot is to provide a service people actually want to use — time and time again. No bot is meant to do everything, so when you set out to create your own, think of an existing problem that it can fix in a more efficient way.
\nWhile there are many types of chatbots, if you\u2019re building one for the first time, you\u2019ll likely want to choose from the following two options:<\/p>\n\n
\nAs the name suggests, these bots provide users with a new format of information consumption. For example, breaking news bots send developing stories as the information becomes available. TechCrunch has a bot of that nature<\/li>\n
\nThese bots are automated to complete tasks and answer questions. In other words, they solve a user\u2019s problem or inquiry via a chat transaction. Customer service bots might immediately come to mind here, but a growing number of utility bots are being built for purposes like booking appointments or shopping online. One of our personal favorites is TacoBot: Taco Bell\u2019s still-in-development bot that allows people to order food via Slack.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nEarlier, we provided examples of bots that live on Messenger and Slack, respectively. And while those are two very popular options, there are many more available — for example, Kik and Viber.
\nYour chatbot\u2019s \u201chome\u201d will largely depend on who\u2019s using what. You\u2019ll want to aim for the apps with an audience that matches the one you\u2019re trying to reach. Slack, for example, tends to be more business-focused, so productivity bots are particularly helpful there.
\nSephora is a great example. While the brand has bots on both Messenger and Kik, each one functions differently. The Messenger version is used for customer service, feedback, and booking makeovers.<\/p>\n
\nRemember when we mentioned the importance of matching your bot\u2019s home with the audience you\u2019re trying to reach? Well, we have a similar guiding principle for your bot’s personality: It should match your brand.
\nOne of our favorite examples here is Pegg, a financial assistant designed for startups and small businesses — but speaking as someone who recently returned from vacation, it\u2019s helpful for anyone trying to track their spending. And while finance isn\u2019t something that\u2019s usually associated with a fun, playful voice, Pegg\u2019s bot, HelloPegg, flips that connotation on its head with a cute logo and friendly voice.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In April 2016, something happened at Facebook that would quickly result in a revolutionary paradigm shift on the horizon of online communication — from mobile to desktop, marketing to services, personal to corporate — everything, really. Messenger opened its doors to developers with an invitation to create chatbots — something of which roughly 78% of online adults were unaware. Within six months, developers had created about 30,000 active Messenger bots. Today, less than a year later, that number is up 233%, with 100,000 active bots on the platform. But it\u2019s not just a popular, funky thing to do. Businesses using chatbots are seeing results, like Sephora, which reportedly earns \u201can average spend of over $50 from clients who have booked an in-store service via its Messenger assistant,\u201d according to VentureBeat. In case you\u2019re wondering what the heck a chatbot actually is, though, here\u2019s the condensed definition: A bot is nothing more than a computer program that automates certain tasks, typically by chatting with a user through a conversational interface. There\u2019s a vast range of chatbots. They can be rule-based, or powered by artificial intelligence (AI), both of which will drastically change the process of developing one. And if you\u2019re looking to formulate your own chatbot strategy — from building the bot from scratch to promoting it and getting customers to use it — we\u2019ve developed a basic framework for just that. Read on, and let\u2019s start building. How to Build a Chatbot from Pitch to Promotion 1) Decide your bot’s purpose. Ultimately, the purpose of a bot is to provide a service people actually want to use — time and time again. No bot is meant to do everything, so when you set out to create your own, think of an existing problem that it can fix in a more efficient way. While there are many types of chatbots, if you\u2019re building one for the first time, you\u2019ll likely want to choose from the following two options: Informational bots As the name suggests, these bots provide users with a new format of information consumption. For example, breaking news bots send developing stories as the information becomes available. TechCrunch has a bot of that nature Utility bots These bots are automated to complete tasks and answer questions. In other words, they solve a user\u2019s problem or inquiry via a chat transaction. Customer service bots might immediately come to mind here, but a growing number of utility bots are being built for purposes like booking appointments or shopping online. One of our personal favorites is TacoBot: Taco Bell\u2019s still-in-development bot that allows people to order food via Slack. 2) Decide what messaging app your bot will live on. Earlier, we provided examples of bots that live on Messenger and Slack, respectively. And while those are two very popular options, there are many more available — for example, Kik and Viber. Your chatbot\u2019s \u201chome\u201d will largely depend on who\u2019s using what. You\u2019ll want to aim for the apps with an audience that matches the one you\u2019re trying to reach. Slack, for example, tends to be more business-focused, so productivity bots are particularly helpful there. Sephora is a great example. While the brand has bots on both Messenger and Kik, each one functions differently. The Messenger version is used for customer service, feedback, and booking makeovers. 3) Create your bot\u2019s personality. Remember when we mentioned the importance of matching your bot\u2019s home with the audience you\u2019re trying to reach? Well, we have a similar guiding principle for your bot’s personality: It should match your brand. One of our favorite examples here is Pegg, a financial assistant designed for startups and small businesses — but speaking as someone who recently returned from vacation, it\u2019s helpful for anyone trying to track their spending. And while finance isn\u2019t something that\u2019s usually associated with a fun, playful voice, Pegg\u2019s bot, HelloPegg, flips that connotation on its head with a cute logo and friendly voice.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,25],"tags":[28,31,34,43,45],"views":234,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davloservices.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}