CHATBOTS true potential, and how facebook plays a big role in it 

Introduction to chatbots

Chatbots have been with us for decades, but not until recently have we begun to exploit their true potential. Chatbots provide customers satisfaction 24/7 and have proven a positive effect on the conversion rate (Toth, 2022). The latest success of chatbots is much thanks to facebook which have integrated chatbots in their services since 2016 and  made it possible for companies to build their own bots and use them inside of messenger (Toth, 2022). Chatbots can serve a lot of purposes. A few examples of what the bots might be used for, qualify leads, answer customer questions, make reservations, collect contact information, and provide shipping status (Kim, 2021). 

Benefits of chatbots

Facebook had almost 1 billion monthly active users as of January 2022 (S.Dixon, 2022). By implementing the chatbots into their social network, companies get access to a great variety of potential customers in a very effective way. The additional service provided by a bot is unlimited, since the limits are only determined by the software itself. Chatbots use artificial intelligence, which means they are able to interact with a customer in a complex way. But maybe most importantly, it can learn and become even more sophisticated. A study made by (Uberall, 2022) shows that 80% of people who had interacted with a chatbot left with a positive experience. The (Drift, 2022) further acknowledges the importance of chatbots by highlighting the most common issues customers have with companies. The study shows the 3 most common issues are the following, websites being hard to navigate, getting answers quick and gathering basic details about a company such as opening hours, address etc. 

Potential problems with chatbots

On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of a chatbot. (Drift, 2022) explains that some people prefer human interactions, while some don’t trust the technology enough and others are afraid of being locked into only talking to a robot. When taking these arguments in consideration, a mixture of both human and bot interaction would be to prefer. Further on, a bot can nowadays be implemented directly on the webpage and doesn’t have to be bound to a messenger chat. 

Conclusion

On a final note (Research, 2018) says that retail spend via chatbots will be 142 billion in 2024, compared to 2.8 billion in 2019. This change is due to the decrease in operating costs for companies (Yuen, 2022). The future of chatbots is indeed very exciting and there is much to improve but one thing we know for sure is that the majority of companies will need one as customers become more accustomed to them.

References

Research, J., 2018. CHATBOT TO DELIVER $11BN IN ANNUAL COST SAVINGS FOR RETAIL, BANKING & HEALTHCARE SECTORS BY 2023 , Hampshire, UK: Juniper Research.

S.Dixon, 2022. Most popular global mobile messaging apps 2022, Worldwide: Statista.

Uberall, 2022. STUDY: 80% of Consumers Report Chatbot Experiences as Positive Yet nearly 60% still lack strong enthusiasm for the technology, according to new Uberall study, Detroit, MI 48226, USA: Uberall.