If you want to take your marketing and customer service to the next level, there's a popular new tool that can help you do it: chatbots.
"Chatbots are services that mimic conversations with people in order to interact with your customers," explains Entrepreneur.com contributor Murray Newlands. "All competitive companies must maintain a strong online presence, and chatbots are changing the way your audience interacts with you. They help you build an emotional bond with your customer, and because they are still new, building a chatbot now means a strategic advantage over the competition."
One of the best places to utilize chatbots is on social networks like Facebook, where you can use them to interact with customers via Facebook Messenger.
"Messaging application usage has surpassed that of social media, so chatbots offer a more practical way to reach your audience," Newlands explains. "They were created to provide a seamless experience, allowing customers to get answers through the applications they already use the most."
To quickly and easily create a Facebook Messenger chatbot, use a chatbot building platform like Chattypeople, MEOKAY, Smooch, or Botsify.
"There are lots of free chatbot building tools … that offer the ability to set up a bot and connect it to Facebook," Newlands says. "You won't require any coding knowledge, and you can sign up using your Facebook account."
When you're setting up your chatbot, make sure it speaks conversationally and uses simple terminology.
Finally, don't forget to name it. "Your chatbot should have a distinct name that helps it stand out," Newlands concludes. "That way, consumers will only need to run a quick search in order to connect with your bot."