How chatbots will change the future of consumer engagement

1 1 confidential © 2016

28/01/16 HOW CHATBOTS WILL CHANGE THE FUTURE OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT A POV on Chatbots – December 2016

confidential © 2016


• What Are Chatbots? • Why They Matter To Brands? • How Do People Actually Use Chatbots? • 6 Brands Using Chatbots • Dos and Don’ts • Next Steps For Your Brand

CONTENTS


“AT KLM WE BELIEVE WE SHOULD BE WHERE OUR CUSTOMERS ARE. THIS MEANS WE WANT TO OFFER OUR

CUSTOMERS MEANINGFUL INTERACTIONS ON THE PLATFORMS THEY ALREADY USE AND LOVE, SUCH AS

WECHAT AND MESSENGER,”

MARTINE VAN DER LEE MANAGER SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT & TECHNOLOGY AT KLM


Another touchpoint to engage people. A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate human-like conversation through chat interfaces, to give users information or help them get things done. For utility and for entertainment. Chatbots offer the ability to automate certain tasks for your brand, including customer support, e-commerce guidance, content and interactive experiences.

Commonly seen on Facebook. Facebook Messenger is currently the big winner, attracting companies with a platform that is easy to build on and reaches 900 million people. Twitter are now also offering brands customer service chatbots to use in their direct messages. Brands such as Pizza Hut and Airbnb are among the first on board. Google launched the chat app Allo in September, which uses artificial intelligence to assist user conversations.

WHAT ARE CHATBOTS?

US consumers are able to ask the Mastercard KAI bot questions about their accounts, review purchase history, monitor spending levels and learn more about Mastercard.


Chatbots will become the new websites Messaging apps have already surpassed social networks in terms of active users. Scalable engagement A chatbot minimizes human interaction in customer support and e-commerce guidance, saving many man hours . Cost efficient solutions Developing and maintaining a chatbot costs less than creating a mobile app, and avoids the barrier of requiring people to download yet another app.

WHY THEY MATTER TO BRANDS?

Shop Spring‘s chatbot is a personal shopping assistant that provides e-commerce guidance.


People can discover your chatbot in multiple ways You can use plugins, codes and links, to guide people towards your chatbot. When users click the "Send to Messenger" plugin on your contact page, they can immediately start a conversation with your brand. You can approach people through smart use of data Messenger allows you to reach people if you have their contact details and permission. This offers a great opportunity for after-sales service.

HOW DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY USE CHATBOTS?

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6 BRANDS USING CHATBOTS


After booking a flight, people can choose to receive their booking information, boarding pass and flight status updates via Messenger from Dutch airline KLM. The service makes travel information easy to find and means customers don’t have to leave the place they’re already active. If people have questions, they can ask them directly through Messenger to a member of customer services.

KLM GET ON BOARD (UTILITY)


HealthTap is the world’s first global health practice and provides access to doctors and a network of experts via Messenger.

HealthTap lets anyone type a question into Messenger and receive free and trusted answers from health professionals. People can immediately see answers to frequently asked questions and submit their own queries to receive a new answer from one of the doctors.

HEALTHTAP DOCTORS ADVICE (UTILITY)


People can chat directly with CNN to receive breaking news and personalised content by messaging CNN with a keyword.

For example, if someone is interested in learning more about Donald Trump, they can just message CNN “Trump,” and the CNN bot will respond with the latest news or most relevant stories.

CNN SHARE THE NEWS (UTILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT)


Trolli, a candy brand, has tweaked its marketing towards millennials by using memes and GIFs, the type of content teens/millennials already regularly share. Users can take a quiz, and the bot will match them with one of three personality types inspired by different flavours of candy. The first gives users a virtual pet, the second provides daily GIFs, and the third offers unexpected advice.

TROLLI PERSONALITY TYPES (ENTERTAINMENT)


The gourmet supermarket’s bot acts as a virtual chef, providing recipe suggestions according to the ingredients you have. Users may also search a database of recipes using food emojis or keywords. If you send an emoji of a chicken, it will recommend Prosciutto and Fontina stuffed Chicken Breasts. Send a watermelon emoji, and it will suggest a baked watermelon jerky dish.

WHOLEFOODS A VIRTUAL CHEF (UTILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT)


Starbucks have launched a chatbot on Messenger, as a campaign extension, called “The Real PSL” to get people excited for the return of the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. This bot is designed purely for entertainment, allowing fans to have a fun conversation with the product.

STARBUCKS THE REAL PSL (ENTERTAINMENT)


Make sure your bot has a clear purpose.

Use a bot as an extension of a campaign.

Focus on a specific audience.

Create a landing page that explains your bot.

Create instructions how people can use your bot.

Make it consistent with your brand’s personality.

Make optimization part of your plan.

Skip defining your strategy.

Try to please too broad a group.

Provide vague or uninformative descriptions.

Claim your bot is a human being.

Skip testing with different audiences.

Spam your users.

Forget about leveraging existing users.

DOs DON’Ts


Find out your purpose. Figure out what problem your chatbot will be solving for your brand. Will it reply to frequently asked questions, inform people about new products or guide them through the ordering process? If it’s not about utility, how can it be used for entertainment? Could it extend an upcoming campaign? Consider using a chatbot in a campaign for your brand to deliver personalized interactive experiences.

NEXT STEPS FOR YOU Socks by Sarah allows people to receive their order updates in Messenger by using the customer matching feature.


THINKING ABOUT A CHATBOT? LET’S TALK! Ronald Kraan, Social Media Manager [email protected]

Amy Brown, Head of Planning [email protected]

Technology

How chatbots will change the future of consumer engagement