The number of companies jumping on the chatbot marketing bandwagon is exploding. From the State Department to Pizza Hut, everyone wants a piece of this new advertising medium, which has been declared “the future of digital interactions.”
Here’s a look at Twelve amazing brands that have already adopted chatbots into their marketing strategies. Study what they’ve done, and consider how it could be applied to your own company’s goals.
H&R Block: Enabling Tax Filing Via a Bot
H&R Block recently unveiled a Facebook Messenger bot that enables people to file their taxes with the service from within Facebook itself. The idea is simple: most Americans hate doing their taxes, so why not make interaction with an online service as seamless and painless as possible? The IRS estimates that nearly 15 million Americans use tax-filing software like TurboTax, which means there’s a huge market for people who’d prefer to file their taxes without ever having to step into an office.
SnatchBot: Simplifying Social Media Management
SnatchBot is a platform designed specifically for creating chatbots that engage with social media users. It allows business owners to customize their bots in order to promote deals, answer questions about products, test new services, link up with other bots on the network, and much more. With this system, you don’t have to hire humans or buy third-party tools—all of the work can be done right inside Facebook Messenger.
KLM: Enabling In-Flight Chat
In November 2016, Dutch airline KLM launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot that enables people to check-in for flights, request seat changes, receive updates about their flights, and more right from within the chat interface itself. The company is also developing an Alexa skill that will let users know when boarding begins without having to even open the website or Facebook Messenger app. If you’re already paying hundreds of dollars for your flight, why not pay an extra couple bucks in order to make it easier? This idea could revolutionize the way airlines handle customer service (and how much they charge for it).
Domino’s: Ordering Pizza through Messenger
Getting Pizza Hut pizza delivered to your house is a time-honored American tradition. But as brands like GrubHub and Seamless have capitalized on the growing online food delivery industry, it’s become apparent that customers want their foods brought to them as quickly as possible—and if there’s one thing Facebook has done for businesses, it’s create an incredibly fast way of connecting with an audience. That’s why Domino’s decided to use chatbot in order to streamline their customer service processes—so now instead of calling up your local pizza shop or grabbing takeout, you can order food straight from within the Facebook Messenger app itself.
The Washington Post: Sharing Local News with Younger Readers
The Washington Post is leveraging chatbots in order to connect with younger readers who are less likely to subscribe to their paper edition. As people grow tired of traditional news sources like newspapers, many publications are looking for new ways to engage their audiences—and it obviously helps if you can offer both mobile and web-based options. The Washington Post is now creating Facebook Messenger chatbots that feature curated local news stories, sports reporting, weather updates, event information, and more.
State Department: Connecting With Foreign Citizens
The United States Department of State has recently begun using chatbots. In order to reach out to foreign citizens on social media platforms like WeChat and Viber. By doing so, the department is able to connect with these countries’ citizens in a much more personalized manner. Something that’s become increasingly critical in the age of social media. Instead of blasting out generic brochures and press releases. This tactic enables State Department employees to provide customers with hyper-targeted information based on their specific interests, which could result in faster (and cheaper) responses.
Walmart: Promoting Black Friday Deals Straight To Your Phone
After creating one of the world’s most popular shopping apps (which gives users access to store maps, price comparisons, loyalty cards, and more). Walmart has decided to double down on customer service through Facebook Messenger chatbots. Launched during 2016’s Black Friday sales week. These bots were created in order to inform customers when Walmart was running low on certain items. Enabling them to buy what they need much faster than before. Chatbots are also helping the brand retain more customers by providing targeted information about exclusive offers. Such as free shipping if you spend over a set amount.
Trivago: Understanding Your Hotel Preferences
For travelers who don’t want to book rooms at expensive hotels. Trivago is an app that finds cheaper alternatives based on where you’re looking to stay. How many people will be sharing the room with you. It’s no surprise that Trivago has decided to use Facebook Messenger chatbots in order to help their customers get access to better deals. After all, this approach enables the company to provide personalized information much more quickly than before.
1-800-FLOWERS: Sending Flowers To Loved Ones
Perhaps the best chatbot that Facebook currently has to offer is 1-800-FLOWERS’. Which allows customers to order up bouquets in less than 60 seconds. One of the main reasons why this bot works so well is because it enables users to send messages via Facebook Messenger. Rather than having to actually enter in their credit card or shipping details by hand. While some other chatbots don’t necessarily require users’ personal info, they’re not nearly as convenient to use. 1-800 Flowers isn’t just using this tactic for its own business, either. The company is making its Facebook Messenger chatbot available to other brands in order to help them get more customers.
Wheel: Communicating With Your Car
If you’re worried about your car breaking down on the highway. Wheel can offer some peace of mind by communicating with your vehicle’s onboard computer and triggering alerts if anything seems off. Available through both iOS and Android devices. This app also enables users to remotely lock their doors. As well as start their cars as soon as they’re within range and now it even includes a Facebook Messenger chatbot. That notifies people when they need to change the oil or rotate their tires next. These features may seem like unnecessary luxuries at first. But they can save drivers a lot of time and money in the long run.
IFTTT: Saving You Time on Your Favorite Apps
IFTTT is a free web-based service that helps customers automate many of their everyday tasks using customizable commands. For instance, you can use IFTTT to send yourself an email whenever there’s a new article about your favorite celebrity on The New York Times website. Or you could set it up so that every time Beyonce posts something on Instagram, her photo also appears on your Facebook feed automatically. Now the company has decided to launch one of the world’s first chatbots built directly into Facebook Messenger and we’re interested to see how other companies will take advantage of this approach in the future.
EBay: Scouring The Web For Deals
22 years after its initial launch. EBay is still one of the web’s leading online marketplaces for buying and selling everything from cars to clothing. By routing users through Facebook Messenger. EBay has essentially made it possible for millions of people to get notifications about new items. That are just right for them and whenever they’re ready to buy. All they have to do is send a message back with the word “buy” already included. With around 14 million active buyers on site at any given point in time. This bot could easily introduce more people than ever before to the power of using Facebook as an ecommerce platform.
Conclusion: How To Get Started With Chatbots
In the future, Facebook Messenger bots seem likely to become an important part of our everyday lives. By using chatbot development platforms like ManyChat and Chatfuel. You can easily create your own automated messaging services without needing any coding experience. Whatsoever and thanks to a few new integrations. You can even build a bot directly into Facebook itself. If this technology continues to gain momentum among consumers as well as businesses. This means that chatbots should be able to provide us with more personalized help than ever before. From ordering up food or flowers online to getting real-time updates about weather patterns near your home or office. We’re looking forward to seeing what other creative uses developers come up with over. In the next few years but in the meantime. If you’d like to try out some of these bots for yourself. please feel free to visit their corresponding websites.
