Simply put, a chatbot is a computer program design to simulate conversation with  human users, especially over the internet.

Chatbots are now a part of an evolution in artificial intelligence and a small part of a huge wave of progress, recently. Today, a growing number of users of messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, Skype, and their technology is going through the roof.

Facebook Messenger, alone, has more than 1.2 billion monthly users. With the spread of messengers and virtual chatbots that imitate human conversations for solving tasks are becoming increasingly in demand. Certain bots can already set medical appointments, call a taxi, send money to friends, perform flight check-in and many other functions.

Chatbots as virtual assistants that communicate with us through text messages; a virtual companion that integrates into websites, applications, or instant messengers, and helps entrepreneurs to get closer to customers.

What can chatbots do?

“I think chatbots are the future of engagement between a fan and a brand or celebrity.” ~ Christina Milian

Both startups and savvy companies are now incorporating interactive agents (chatbots) into their daily operations, including demonstrations, communication with customers, and sales processes.

Chatbots can help to:

Improve customer service. It is the best option for those who don’t want their customers to:

• Wait for an operator’s answer — “Stay on the line, your call is very important to us” is always annoying. Isn’t it?
• Search for an answer in the FAQ — as a rule, users don’t have time for scrolling dozens of pages with instructions.

Streamline the shopping process. Even at shopping cart checkout, the chatbox can encourage a customer to buy a product when the customer may be on the verge of leaving; often called "buyer's remorse." At the moment the customer is just about to leave, the bot can offer the customer additional discounts, or sweeten the deal by including upgrade  offers.

Personalize communication. A chatbot answers the specific questions or redirects visitors to the correct location, instead of displaying a long list of information. The more attention a customer gets, the greater his desire to buy something.

Improve a response rate. About 90% of questions sent from Facebook business pages remain unanswered. Chatbot responds to 100% of messages and converts more visitors into buyers.

Automate repetitive tasks. Most customers want to get answers on the same questions — "When do you work? What is your location? What are your hours? Do you make deliveries?" In order not to write the same answers every time, incorporate a chatbot. It reduces your employees’ workload.

How to build a chatbot

If we managed to inspire you to create your own chatbot, here are some tips to help you get started. There are four (4) main stages:

1. Define the goals. What should your chatbot do? Clearly indicate the list of functions your chatbot needs to perform, what pages the chatbots  should be on, and their dialogues with the customer. Creating a YES/NO graphical tree is very helpful in creating dialogues.

2. Choose a channel to interact with your customers. Be where your clients prefer to communicate — your website pages, mobile app, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or other messaging platform.

3. Choose the way of creation. There are two of them; 1) using ready-made chatbot software, or 2) building a custom bot from scratch.

4. Create, customize, and launch. Describe the algorithm of the chatbot's actions, develop a database of answers, and test the work of the chatbot. Double check everything before showing your creation to potential customers.

Now let’s look closer at the two (2) approaches to building chatbots:

Creating from scratch. If you are not a programmer, you will need to hire a software development company, as this method requires work with code, manual integration with messengers, and customization. Among the advantages of this approach are:

• full compliance with your needs,
• control over data the bot receives,
• the possibility to make corrections easily,
• best for a customer-facing chatbots.

This method may require significant time and financial investments.

Using chatbot builder platforms, such as MyWebChatbots. You can create a chatbot with the help of services providing all the necessary features and integrations. It can be a good choice for an in-house chatbot serving your team and customers. This option is associated with some advantages, including less time, lower cost, and one-on-one technical support. It also has some disadvantages, including some amount of  limited configuration and the dependence on the provider service.

The challenge of creating chatbots

The main challenge is in teaching a chatbot to understand the language of your customers. In every business, customers express themselves differently and each group of a target audience speaks its own way. The language is influenced by advertising campaigns on the market, the political situation in the country, and releases of new services and products from Google, Apple, and Pepsi, among others.

The way people speak depends on their city, mood, weather, and moon phase. An important role in the communication of the business with customers may have to do with the release of the film Star Wars, for example. That’s why training a chatbot to understand everything correctly according to the user types requires a lot of effort.

Remember:

• There are simple and advanced bots.
• An advanced chatbot is an artificial intelligence that communicates with a human.
• Conversational bots are useful both for business and customers.
• It is necessary to understand the language of a target audience.

Conclusion. What to do?

Many business owners are just beginning to understand what benefits chatbots can bring to them. This technology is still in an early stage, its capabilities continue increasing, and the best chatbots have yet to be created.

Invest in building a chatbot for your business and be at the forefront of innovation!