As technology continually changes, businesses seek emerging technology to promote and market their products and services. This demonstrates that companies must stay adaptable to compete with other companies.

With each progression in our digital evolution, we move closer to a world where endless marketing opportunities exist, thereby opening a gateway to a platform to lure more and more customers to their business. One such breakthrough in the emerging trends of the domain of marketing is Chatbots, and they are everywhere! Do you know why chatbots are used? If not, here is the answer to all your queries.

Why are Chatbots the future of Market Research?

Brands are utilizing chatbots for pretty much every possible task in customer service, doing proper chatbot market research, efficient team communication, better sales and marketing, etc. The results have been quite fruitful, and it’s safe to say that the bots are digging in the long haul. Various financial specialists from different industries have faith in the potential of chatbots, and subsequently, they greatly contribute to our bot mates' growth and development. With technological advancements fueling the growth, bot technology has come a long way. From a basic menu/button-based chatbot to logical AI chatbots, the number of options we get is a luxury!

Chatbots are computer-generated programs that benefit from Artificial Intelligence to communicate and generate conversational interactions with the end-users or customers. Simply put, a bot is simply a computer program that automates certain tasks, and in the case of a chatbot, the task being automated is a one-to-one conversation with a person.

chatbot is generally narrated as one of the most promising and technologically advanced expressions of communication between humans and machines. Yet, from a technical perspective, a chatbot represents the natural development of a Question-Answering system leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). Drawing up responses to questions in natural language is one of the most typical instances of Natural Language Processing applied in various businesses’ and end-user applications. It facilitates online consumers to select the most appropriate services and products per their needs, answers frequently asked questions from online customers, notifies them, and gives support after a purchase.

A chatbot gives a response depending on the input from the user. This process may appear simple, but things are quite complex in practice. The ability to recognize the user’s intent and retrieve data and relevant information present in the user’s request is the foremost condition and the most pertinent step in the fundamentals of a chatbot: If you are unable to comprehend the user’s request precisely, you won’t be able to provide the correct answer.  Reverting the response once the user’s intent has been identified, the chatbot should provide the most relevant response to the user’s request. The answer may be any of the following:

• A text extracted from a knowledge base that contains diverse answers
• A generic/predefined text
• A logical piece of information based on data the user has provided
• A non-ambiguous question that aids the chatbot in correctly comprehending the user’s request
• Data stored in a company's database systems
• The result of  a task that a chatbot performs by communicating with one or more backend application

Depending on how a particular bot was programmed, we can divide them into two groups: A Simple Chatbot (which works according to pre-prepared commands) and a Smart chatbot (trained or advanced).

Simple Chatbots work based on predefined keywords that they understand. The developer writes all these commands individually using regular expressions or various forms of string analysis. Suppose a user asks a question that does not include any of the pre-stated keywords. In that case, the robot cannot understand it and, per a predefined command, responds with messages like “Sorry, I could not understand your request” or whatever it is designed to answer.

Smart chatbots depend on Artificial Intelligence when they communicate with users. Instead of pre-written answers, the bot responds with adequate suggestions on the topic. In addition, all the words the user says are recorded for later processing.  

Now the question arises of why a business would need a chatbot. The answer is very simple: To get rid of the routine tasks and simultaneously processing of several requests from users. Other than that, an enormous speed of processing users’ requests with the help of chatbots is greatly adding to the customer's loyalty towards the business. Customers benefit equally from chatbots as they increasingly become interested in this technology. Moreover, the reason why people prefer to interact with chatbots over dull and sludgy emails are:

Productivity: Chatbots provide assistance or access to information quickly and efficiently.

Entertainment: Chatbots are a great source of enjoyment and entertainment as they amuse people by giving them funny tips and also help kill time when users have nothing else to do.

Social and Relational factors: Chatbots fuel conversion rates and enhance social experiences. Chatting with bots also helps to avoid loneliness, gives a chance to talk without the fear of being judged, and improves conversational skills.

Curiosity: The newness of chatbots sparks curiosity; people want to explore their abilities and try something new.

AI Chatbots can be used in industries like telecommunication, training, travel, food & nourishment, well-being, and more. Indeed, even a great deal of media organizations, web-based business organizations, banks, hotel chains, airlines, insurance agencies, medicinal services suppliers, retailers, café chains, and government elements are proficiently utilizing chatbots to handle straightforward customer interactions as it builds client meeting for promoting and acquaints various ways with speak with them.

Modern chatbots are often used where simple interaction with a limited range of responses is needed. This may include marketing applications and customer service, where the chatbots can answer queries on topics such as services, products, and company policies. If a customer's questions surpass the chatbot's abilities, that customer is usually transferred to a human operator. Chatbots greatly help the marketing team upgrade the brand or product or increase sales, further increasing the chatbot's future scope of the company’s welfare.

Communicating with the end-uses through chatting rather than sending emails or texts has attracts audiences. Large businesses usually design references for smart chatbots to unlock and share experiences in the company more effectively and help in fluently decreasing the flaws of expert desks. Many a time, chatbots are used online and in messaging apps. Still, they are also included in many OSs as smart virtual assistants, like Siri for Apple, Google Assistant for Google/Android Devices, and Cortana for Windows. Dedicated chatbot appliances are also becoming increasingly common such as Amazon's Alexa. These chatbots can perform various functions based on the user's commands.

Whether big or small, almost every business incorporates these interactive agents into their daily functions, operations, customer communication, and sales processes. Chatbots can assist to:

1. Improve customer service

It is the finest alternative for those who do not want their customers to: 

• Keep waiting for the operator’s answer — “Please stay on the line; your call is important to us”. 
• Dig for an answer in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) —users do not have time to scroll through dozens of pages with instructions.

2. Receive responses faster

Once a company sends out a survey, they want to analyze the results immediately. With emails, the least could be a week. With messaging apps, one could start receiving responses in a few minutes. As a matter of fact, the average response time for messages is just 90 seconds. With the help of chatbots, one can watch data come in real-time with every question the respondent answer. There’s no need to wait for respondents to finish the survey or worry about losing data if the respondent drops off before the end. 

3. Streamline the shopping process

It only requires conveying the need to the chatbot, which will forward the information to the concerned department. Besides, the chatbot memorizes your preferences and uses this information when you return (Machine Learning).

4. Personalized communication

A chatbot answers specific questions from visitors instead of displaying a long list of irrelevant information. The more attention a customer gets, the greater their desire to buy something. 

5. Leverage engaged audience

Market research is not a one-and-done job. To ensure the research is always up-to-date, one must constantly communicate with the target market. With chatbots, it is very easy to re-engage anyone who has previously responded to any of your surveys. You can send follow-up surveys based on the respondent’s previous answers and send them new surveys that may be relevant to them. Respondents who have already engaged with you will be more likely to complete future chatbot surveys, resulting in greater survey completion rates and better data regarding the target market.

6. Improve a response rate

Approximately 90% of queries sent from Social Media handles like Facebook and Instagram pages remain unanswered.  The chatbot responds to each one of those messages and converts more visitors into buyers.

7. Automate repetitive tasks

Most customers need  answers to similar questions like, “When do you work?”, “What’s your location?”, “Home deliveries?”, etc.  In order to not have to repeat the same routine every time, make a chatbot.  

8. Get better quality results

To get the most relevant results, you need to ensure that you are only asking people questions that are relevant to them. This is impossible with conventional market research methods, as all respondents answer the same survey questions. When respondents see irrelevant questions, they may either select a random answer or stop filling out the survey altogether. Chatbots can tailor your survey questions depending on respondents’ answers to past questions and even provide encouraging messages to ensure respondents complete the survey.  This will boost respondents to provide accurate information and stay connected until the end. 

Challenges of Chatbots

Along with many benefits of chatbots, there are certain challenges, as mentioned below:

• Loss of human touch: as we are conversing with software powered by artificial intelligence, there is definitely a realization of the lack of human touch. Due to this, the customer experience can turn bad. Moreover, leaving the conversation in between will increase your website's bounce rate. No one wants that! Prove that you can keep the conversations light and include a positive tone in your bots. 
• Costly affair: chatbots are costly and require experts to code the entire software. Down the line, you need active maintenance that will require more investment. So, you must remember it’s heavy on the pockets.
• Regular testing: It is essential to update chatbots due to the ever-evolving technology regularly. For that, you must conduct testing every now and then to check the working and accuracy of your software. It can be a hassle for those who are running on a limited budget. 
• Doubtful data security: when you add chatbots to your website, it’s doubtful whether the API is secure or not. It further enhances the threat of cyber attacks. 
• Message interpreting: message interpretation by chatbots can be challenging. There are incidents where the software does not understand the user's intention and fails to provide appropriate replies. 

Chatbot example in marketing

Arsenal Football Club: The very popular Arsenal football club uses a chatbot to promote its brand and engage with the audience. The software provides fans with updates, news, upcoming games, and related information. 

Babylon Health: This company uses chatbots to provide patients with health care and telemedicine services. It also provides a feature of Symptom Checker (available on the app) wherein the user can instantly get a diagnosis.

Mountain Dew: the chatbot of Mountain Dew connects with the audience to increase its engagement. They collaborated with Twitch, a live streaming platform, and enrolled users to play games with impressive winning prizes. Mountain Dew observed stunning growth metrics due to this marketing campaign. 

Final Words

Essentially, market research is a conversation with customers regarding how they feel about a particular service, product, business, or brand Using the Social Platforms that already exist (like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, Text Messages, etc.) coupled with Artificial Intelligence; Chatbots can initiate the conversations that businesses need to have with their customers. So, are chatbots really the future of market research? The answer is “Yes!” The future of chatbots is bright, and they can make businesses effective in terms of services and sales. Like every new data collection technology, chatbots will drive industries to adopt and adapt, ultimately providing consultants and researchers with one more tool for the toolbox.

Squareboat is a leading Chatbot company that offers various chatbot services with very reasonable pricing. We offer a variety of Chatbots like Voice-based Chatbots, Customer Support Chatbots, NLP/ AI Chatbots, Virtual Assistant Chatbots, and many more as per your requirement. Squareboat can be your go-to for all your Chatbot requirements.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is chatbot marketing?

Chatbot marketing is a marketing strategy wherein companies use chatbots to gain leads, engagement, support, etc. It’s a great tactic that grabs the attention of users. You must try it! 

2. How do you use chatbots in digital marketing?

Chatbots in digital marketing ensure instant responses to the users. Such prompt replies earn the trust and reliability of your customer. Hence, you can expect more engagement rate with chatbots. 

3. Where are chatbots mostly used?

Chatbots are mostly used by customer service providers. It is easier and more convenient for them as the requirement can arise anytime. 

4. Which language is best for chatbots?

Java is one of the best languages for building chatbots.