Dmytro Kot

Industries

<p><strong>The challenge:</strong> A clothing brand from Cleveland wanted to acquire new customers</p>
<p><strong>The outcome:</strong> They increased the conversion rate by 22% in one campaign and generated $1,075 in another one in 15 hours</p>
<h2>ILTHY Brand</h2>
<p>Cleveland natives Kumar Arora and Glen Infante teamed up in 2011 to create <a href="https://www.ilthy.com">ILTHY</a> (I love the hype). In the last ten years the duo launched distinctive products and joined forces with a wide range of collaborators including Lebron James, Nike, Machine Gun Kelly, Cleveland Cavaliers, and more.</p>
<p>The company sells various apparel including shirts, bottoms, hats and accessories.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/6112675e61d24b4e26494896_02.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="ILTHY Chatbot example" height="2336" width="4160" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGPYunGrkpwCGwPb25cfGU4dO6KtqcnLJfT/z38AiUkLQwRxVqgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>ILTHY was looking to expand their reach and promote their creative venture, ultimately getting more customers. Kumar set a goal of driving sales to see how much time he can actually save with Instagram automation. They decided to try to engage new customers by giving them a 10% off gift card.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The idea was, if we could get 50-100 people to use the discount code on Instagram, it would clearly demonstrate that there is a demand. The next thing for us then would be to spend more time experimenting with the possibilities that chatbot automation provides.”, says Kumar.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The company had no previous experience with the no-code approach, but was open enough to embrace it.</p>
<p>The ILTHY team settled down on launching two campaigns. A one month campaign to see how much client engagement and sales they could generate long term. The second, Memorial Day campaign aimed to show just what they could do with a chatbot solution in under 24 hours.</p>
<p>After going through several ideas, Kumar decided to keep it simple. One word. DMs. Well, two words. Direct messages are one of the top ways customers contact stores and business owners. Add a no-code bot to your Instagram store and you’ve got yourself instant replies to customers 24/7.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I was initially concerned that I’d be too confused with chatbot building. JSON, integrations and other technical stuff kind of scared me for a second. I quickly went through the basics like collecting user emails or phones and right off the bat was able to build my first chatbot.”, says Kumar.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>A customer DMs the company’s Instagram page after seeing a promocode in their bio. Then they send a direct message with a specific keyword to the company’s Instagram. For their first campaign ILTHY used a promocode 'TRYME'. A customer then enters their name, email and phone number and instantly gets a unique 10% off gift card.</p>
<p>On ILTHY’s side, they had to make sure they could set up a system to check if a person sending their data is not already in their Shopify customer list. Here’s how it happens. The bot receives the customer name, email and number then “asks” Shopify using API if such customer is already in its database. Only if the answer is no, the customer gets a unique 10% gift card.</p>
<h2>Results</h2>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/61126775e9d2e754aeaf0276_01.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Results with a chatbot" height="816" width="4160" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAABCAIAAAB2XpiaAAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAFUlEQVR4nGNoa+2Njk6prKyfP38JACVDBgbMT/9kAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>For their first monthly campaign ILTHY was able to <strong>increase the conversion rate by 22%,</strong> generating <strong>$2,303 in total sales</strong>. 197 customers engaged with their bot resulting in <strong>43 completed orders</strong> with an average order value of $53.</p>
<p>Their second Memorial Day campaign was even more impressive. In just <strong>15 hours</strong>, they were able to generate <strong>$1,075 in sales</strong> after 60 people engaged with the bot.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Launching an Instagram campaign might look like a daunting task, but with the clear plan and the right tools it has never been easier. Staying ahead of competition is a top priority in a modern business environment. ILTHY saw value in utilizing chatbots which in turn increased their sales and expanded their customer base.</p>
<p>If you liked this, read about how a customer service automation <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/hellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot">slashed HelloFresh response time</a> by 76%. Or see how you can increase sales by improving customer journey with a bot.</p>
<p>Looking for even more advice and inspiration? Join our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/chatfuel">Facebook community</a>.</p>

The art and apparel company ILTHY increases revenue by using Instagram Automation.

Fashion Brand Boosts Conversion by 22% with Instagram Chatbot

Mary Rybakova

<h2>The Brand</h2>
<p>Yash Bhansali and Vikram Kanodia met in high school. Now, they’ve founded a chatbot agency together called <a href="https://talkative.ai">Talkative.AI.</a> Their chat agency’s mission is “to use conversational AI to power ecommerce, create unique customer experiences, and empower brands.” And when the coronavirus pandemic hit in early 2020, they saw opportunities to help their clients weather the storm using AI chat bots. This is the story of one such consumer marketing client, a Mumbai bakery called Essange that specializes in stunning cakes and cupcakes.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb0a55deacf1_AI chatbot for bakery.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1194" width="1618" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AE0mHHJgWNvf4Pv7+wAkAABkPUHPzdHV3eMAPjA0LwAAqpme////YFUS/ITogA0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Essange is known for their beautiful desserts.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>The Problem</h2>
<p>When the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, lockdowns went into effect all around the world. Since gatherings and parties were prohibited, Essange experienced a sudden, major drop in business. “Regular orders slowed down,” explains Yash, “and many people started baking at home for themselves instead by following online video tutorials on YouTube, <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/instagram-messenger-boost-business">Instagram</a>, and Facebook.” To stay in business, the bakery’s owner knew she needed to pivot—and fast.</p>
<h2>The Solution</h2>
<p>Yash and Vikram knew that a robust AI chatbot would be the perfect solution to help this client keep her business afloat. Their Facebook chatbot agency had already built her a bot for <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-for-customer-service">FAQ automation</a>, but they knew that now was the time to turn that into something even more powerful and engaging. “We decided to use this opportunity to create a unique, memorable experience for all her customers while generating a new source of income at the same time,” Vikram and Yash tell us.</p>
<p>Here’s how the <a href="https://m.me/essangedessertbar?ref=BakeAtHome">Bake at Home bot</a> works:</p>
<ol>
<li>Customers buy a DIY “bake at home” kit from the bakery, which includes everything they need to make their dessert of choice except for milk and eggs. 📦</li>
<li>The customer uses their phone to scan the QR code on the kit, and they’re directed to the Facebook chatbot that Yash and Vikram built. 🤖</li>
<li>The AI bot acts as a virtual baking assistant, guiding the customer through each step of the baking process with instructions and GIFs. 🗺️</li>
</ol>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb8182deacf2_Agency builds AI chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AKSkpKKjpGtra6qwsgBRS0YkHheTlJTa4OUA4uLir6+vvsLHztXaiTsWL9C/jV8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The AI chatbot for the bakery guides customers through instructions for baking their dessert.</figcaption></figure>
<p>“Not only does the chatbot make the baking experience super easy and fun,” Vikram explains, “but it also retargets the customer a few hours later to upsell other DIY baking kits.” The Messenger bot also invites users to tag the bakery in a photo of their completed creation on social media, which helps the business generate social proof.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbd847deacf3_Customer experience chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAL0lEQVR4nGP4//9/SnJyakbG////Gf7//29tbCTOzAHi/PjxY9XqdUsXL//x4wcA0xwY2GyHGk4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The bakery chatbot invites customers to share a photo of their creation on social media once they've finished it.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Yash and Vikram explain that they wanted to use a chatbot for something more than a marketing channel or a <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-for-customer-service">customer service experience</a>. “The client said, <em>Can we make the bot part of the business?</em> And that’s when we figured out that there’s a tandem opportunity to actually make the bot part of the product she’s selling,” they share.</p>
<h2>The Recipe</h2>
<p>“We’ve found that good chatbots don’t need to be complex chatbots,” says Yash. “Some of the most effective bots are those that use only simple or basic features, but are designed to focus on business goals and providing the best customer service experience through smooth interactions.”</p>
<p>That’s why Chatfuel was the right fit for their project. “We feel that the Chatfuel team keeps the end-user in mind while designing the platform,” shares Vikram. “The end-user experience is our relentless focus with every chatbot, so using Chatfuel helps us create more value for our clients.”</p>
<p>Here are a few of the Chatfuel tools and features the Talkative team used to build this baking bot:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Artificial intelligence (AI)</strong>. “We leveraged Google’s NLP to understand user input and respond intelligently. This ensures a seamless, unrestricted, and natural user experience,” says Yash. To apply AI in the simplest way, you can <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/828883-keywords">set up AI rules</a>, which are pre-set messages your bot will send  in response to certain text inputs from users. Or, you can learn how to set up Dialogflow for a more robust user experience with AI. Either way, an AI chatbot can significantly improve the user experience, as it did for the Bake at Home Bot.</li>
<li><strong>Customer Chat Entry Point.</strong> Yash and Vikram used this plugin so that the chatbot would pop up and offer help to anyone who visits the bakery’s website. <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/add-a-messenger-chatbot-to-your-website">Adding a chatbot to a website</a> is an easy way for any brand to get new users.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb4e80deacf4_Chatbot for website.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1390" width="2588" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGP4//dnXW6Op6XFhXMXGK6eOqrAwNBWVtA+ZQkAuvMNJIfb5pwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The chatbot is ready to engage anyone who visits the bakery's website.</figcaption></figure>
<ul>
<li><strong>Facebook Ads Entry Points.</strong> This feature lets you easily set up <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/sponsored-messages-guide-to-reengaging-chatbot-subscribers">sponsored messages</a> and <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/create-click-to-messenger-ads-to-drive-traffic-to-your-bot">click-to-Messenger ads</a> for your bot, and Yash and Vikram took advantage. “Sponsored messages and click-to-Messenger ads on Facebook <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/use-instagram-ads-to-bring-users-to-your-dms-or-your-messenger-bot">and Instagram</a> were ‘baked’ into the branding and marketing strategy,” they tell us.</li>
</ul>
<p>Vikram and Yash shared that they also made use of <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/925465-media-assets">gallery cards</a>, images, GIFs, and sequences in the recipe tutorials. User attributes and <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/a-marketing-automation-love-story-chatfuel-zapier">Zapier CRM integrations</a> helped them with personalization and retargeting. All these features combined helped improve the customer experience for the bakery bot’s users.</p>
<h2>The Results</h2>
<p>The Bake at Home Bot performed extremely well, according to Yash and Vikram. “The chatbot achieved its design goals beyond expectation in terms of lead conversion, increased sales, brand building, and customer engagement,” they tell us.</p>
<p>“Our experience-oriented design <strong>acquired 250% more users in a month</strong> than the automated FAQs version was able to acquire in over a year,” shares Vikram. “User activity spiked to <strong>50x Active Users</strong> and 13x Reengaged Users. Plus, online-to-offline sales conversions also increased significantly, which helped our client jump-start her business amidst the COVID slowdown!”</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb4692deacf5_AI chatbot metrics.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="707" width="1600" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAI0lEQVR4nGN4/frN959/ymtbJ0yZwzB33qL4pAxtQ8vo+FQA1xANoh6FLuYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The virtual assistant version of the bakery's chatbot acquired 250% more users in a month than the FAQ version did in over a year.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>A chatbot can get your business sweet results 🍰</h2>
<p>The digital customer experience the Bake at Home Bot offers was a game changer for Essange Bakery, as it helped them expand their customer base, increase sales, and stand out from the competition. If you’re ready to take your business to the next level with a free AI chatbot, get started with Chatfuel today. <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Start with a free account</a> to get familiar with <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">the basics of building a Chatfuel bot</a>, then <a href="https://chatfuel.com/pricing">upgrade to Pro</a> when you’re ready for unlimited users, priority support, and other perks.</p>

A marketing agency built an AI chatbot for this bakery to help them stay afloat and even grow during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bakery Uses AI Chatbot to Create New Revenue Stream During COVID-19 Shutdown

Angela Skowronek

Use cases

<p>“It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one,” in the words of Vince Lombardi. And what’s the quickest way to lose a customer? Through a poor customer service experience. The modern consumer expects 24/7 service that’s fast, helpful, and friendly. But most businesses can’t afford a huge team to provide this kind of support consistently, around the clock. Even if they could, it certainly wouldn’t be an easy-to-manage or cost-effective solution. So what’s a brand to do?</p>
<p>This is where a <strong>Messenger chatbot</strong> comes in. <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/top-9-reasons-your-business-needs-a-chatbot">Businesses can use chatbots for many reasons</a>, to help with everything from lead generation to sales. But one of the most popular use cases for a bot is providing excellent, on-demand customer service. The best part: You don’t need a big budget, a team of engineers, or even any coding knowledge to set up automated customer service via bot yourself.</p>
<h2>Why your business should use a chatbot for customer service</h2>
<p>Because Messenger chatbots:</p>
<h3><strong>#1. Can save you time, money, and resources</strong> 💸</h3>
<p>Let’s get one thing straight first: Chatbots aren’t here to take the place of your human customer support team. However, bots are fantastic tools for automating routine and repetitive inquiries to save your human agents time. A well-built chatbot can automate <a href="https://www.invespcro.com/blog/chatbots-customer-service">up to 80% of routine inquiries</a>, and can be available to as many customers as necessary, 24/7.</p>
<h3><strong>#2. Can provide consistently high-quality service</strong> 🌟</h3>
<p>A chatbot for customer service can handle thousands of customers at once. Day or night, no matter the topic, you can set up your chatbot to instantly provide a consistent, friendly, and <a href="https://www.cloudtalk.io/blog/contact-center-vs-call-center-the-ultimate-comparison">helpful customer experience</a> every time. It’ll never forget anything, or get frustrated at a <a href="https://www.hillwebcreations.com/people-also-ask-related-questions">user asking the same question</a> for the fifth time. Every customer who interacts with it will enjoy the same positive, on-brand experience.</p>
<h3><strong>#3. Can help your business in other ways</strong> 💬</h3>
<p>After your bot has resolved the customer’s concerns, it can offer to assist them in other areas, too. It can <a href="https://youtu.be/dfmQvqtJN9Q">recommend products</a>, share news, <a href="https://youtu.be/mNBeoGF90PY">qualify them as a lead</a>, and handle other tasks that will help or delight the customer and boost your business. Plus, after a user responds once, they become “reachable.” That means your bot can reengage them again in the future <a href="https://youtu.be/vTwdLHar6pI">for announcements</a> or <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/sponsored-messages-guide-to-reengaging-chatbot-subscribers">for promotions</a>.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gJuUOcwdGzA"></iframe></figure>
<h3><strong>#4. Are accessible to businesses of all sizes 👔</strong></h3>
<p>You don’t have to be or hire a developer to build a powerful customer support chat bot. Chatfuel is a no-code platform, which means anyone can use <a href="https://youtu.be/HX-zA-DkPaU">our visual, drag-and-drop builder</a> to create a basic help bot on their own in an afternoon—no coding required. 💡That’s why bot-building platforms have become such popular customer service tools.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D4n6VLQHE5U"></iframe></figure>
<h2><strong>How to build a customer service chatbot</strong></h2>
<p>The core of most customer service bots is FAQs. If you can set up a Facebook bot to handle the most routine, repetitive inquiries, your human support staff will be free for lots more complex, value-adding tasks.</p>
<p>An FAQ bot can be as simple or as complex as you like; it depends on your brand, your industry, and your unique audience. The simplest FAQ bots display a few common questions in the form of quick replies. When a user clicks one, they receive the answer (or a link to a webpage that has more information). Or, if the brand has a bigger list of FAQs, they might display categories in the form of a gallery, and then have quick reply options for the individual questions linked to each one.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb99fddeac6a_iPhone_11.png" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMElEQVR4nGNgUKjjr1gj1ribQbmRgUGkaOnZ19f+/2eQLGdgUKhzXnjffM5tBoU6AAzoDrxbId1rAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The simplest customer service chatbots offer FAQs for users to choose from, in the form of quick replies and/or a gallery.</figcaption></figure>
<p>On the other end of the spectrum, a business with complex customer support needs might incorporate a specific, <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/ai-benefits-for-business">trained AI</a> for their niche. A help bot like this could accept free-form text input from users and offer useful responses.</p>
<p>There are two easy ways to get started building your own customer service bot for Facebook Messenger:</p>
<p><strong>#1. If you’re building in the <em>Automation → Blocks</em> tab</strong>, use a pre-built flow for FAQs. A pre-built flow is like a ready-made set of blocks you can insert into your bot for a specific purpose (like answering FAQs). A pre-built flow takes care of the structure—you just have to add the content. So first, add the pre-built flow for FAQs to your bot. Then, fill in the question blocks with actual FAQs and answers that relate to your business, and you’re ready to go! (P.S. Start using a pre-built flow now with <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">your free Chatfuel account</a>!)</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbde19deac6b_Untitled.png" alt="" height="622" width="834" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AH5+f7u7vcrKyuvr6wDf3t7c3Nzu7ezv7u4ABRgh7+7u3Nzc397eE+Ibx9mTQWkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A pre-built flow makes building a basic customer support chatbot fast and easy.</figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>#2. If you’re building in the <em>Automation → Flows</em> tab</strong>, use the <a href="https://youtu.be/PF_uI1_HCvE"><strong>Facebook Page Entry Point</strong></a> to set up basic FAQs and answers in your chatbot, called Icebreakers. Here’s how Icebreakers work: When a new user arrives at the bot, they normally have to click or tap the <strong>Get Started</strong> button to initiate a conversation with it. But when you set up this Entry Point, you can have a handful of FAQ options appear on that first screen too, as other options for starting the chat.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbbc9adeac6c_Untitled.png" alt="" height="896" width="646" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/ADxARoeGheDh4gD19PRpaWmSkpIA+/z8JycnHR0dAMfHxzIyMp+foJY4E07NZmxKAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>You can type in your own FAQs to display there as Icebreakers, and connect them to blocks that contain the answers.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb6b39deac6d_Screen_Shot_2020-10-05_at_10.28.13_AM.png" alt="" height="746" width="1478" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGPQ0NBISU6uqqqaP38+w/z58xsbGmbMmLF9+3YAhzYMOflxYeYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Fill in the FAQs and answers you'd like your chatbot to offer users.</figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>#3. If you’re building in the <em>Automation</em>→<em>Flows</em> tab</strong>, you can also use <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=QUFFLUhqa1FHaUFkcmY5SjI0VnRmR0xjRWpBaFRndnI4Z3xBQ3Jtc0tudmx0Nkt0WE5LSHdUVFJNQjhsaFZueUItSmtjRXRxZ1VNYWZTdGpxSDdWcVowQ1pmWkgzdUdKa2VIam1HbzJXZXd1OUVuaTgycGNOekpQaDdzQnd0N1UxWWJ0ZDI4RkdZa29yZXU5aVlzdi1ScGJkRQ%3D%3D&event=video_description&v=A499Eeq9Lq8&q=https%3A%2F%2Fchatfuel.com%2Fshare%3FflowGroup%3D5f7df73a5853af7acd0fabf9%26flow%3D5f5151cd6198d15b64ef0a95%2F%3Fvideo_ref%3Dautomate-customer-service">our free flow template for FAQs</a>. Here’s a video that explains how to install and customize it.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A499Eeq9Lq8"></iframe></figure>
<h2>Tips for improving your customer support chatbot</h2>
<p>No matter how simple or complex your chatbot is, great conversational design and a clear sense of your <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/craft-a-brand-voice-that-converts">brand voice</a> are crucial. Beyond those, how much detail you add to your Facebook bot depends on the needs of your business. If you’re looking for a more robust solution for providing the best customer service, consider incorporating some of these helpful add-ons to a basic bot:</p>
<h3>A menu option for support access any time   🔗</h3>
<p>The persistent menu is a navigation menu that users can access at any point during the conversation with your bot. You can link to your FAQ or customer support flow here. That way, users can get support from your chatbot at any time, no matter what they’re currently doing in the bot.</p>
<p>If you’re building in the <em>Automation → Flows</em> tab, use <a href="https://youtu.be/DWovaAjFOOk">the Persistent Menu Entry Point</a> to set this up. If you’re building in the <em>Automation→Blocks</em> tab, you can edit the persistent menu in the <em>Configure</em> tab.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb7e11deac6e_Untitled.png" alt="" height="415" width="726" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAI0lEQVR4nGOwsrKSkZUTEhGvrKpmOHTo0PLlK65dv/H06VMAa+YMIaOnVNwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Add a link to your customer service flow in the persistent menu, so bot users can get support at any time.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Artificial intelligence (AI) for smarter replies 🤖</h3>
<p>AI can enhance a user’s experience with your customer support chatbot. It helps the bot understand the user’s intent so it can give accurate, helpful responses to free-form text input. You can <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/828883-keywords">create basic AI rules</a> in the <em>Set Up AI</em> tab (under the <em>Automation</em> tab). Here’s how AI rules work: If a user’s typed, custom message includes one of the keywords in your rule, the bot will respond with the answer you’ve set.</p>
<h3>The option to chat with a human instead 👨🏼‍💻</h3>
<p>The debate is not technology vs. human interaction. Instead, the best support experiences combine the two. Chatbots for customer service should as the first line of defense for support teams. Then, if a user has a more complex question, <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">set up Live Chat</a> so the bot can pass them along to a human agent. That agent can pause the bot flow to jump in and resolve the user’s query personally. When they’re finished, they can resume the flow so the user can continue their conversation with the bot.</p>
<p>And if you’d like to track these support-team interactions via tickets in your CRM, you can make use of <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/2912153-conversation-handover">Chatfuel’s conversation handover</a>. It lets you integrate your <a href="https://meetfox.com/blog/4-crm-tools-to-manage-your-clients">third-party CRM</a> so the agents on your team can continue to work through that software, even when taking over conversations from the bot.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbcab8deac6f_live-chat-phone.png" alt="" height="393" width="372" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAAECAIAAAAmkwkpAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAPUlEQVR4nGMoqm/28fXNKaoQ0bRl2Ldvf15ujoWVg7qRC8PmLZvFxURTU5L////HkFFY1dre39zaWVbTAgAFfxV1kTrIlgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>This is how the initiation of a Live Chat session would appear to your bot's users.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Tags for different types of users 🏷</h3>
<p>User attributes, or tags for users who chat with your bot, are a great way to track the effectiveness of your customer service bot. Just set your bot to assign attributes to users based on their interactions: what source they come from, whether they use live chat or not, etc. Then, you can measure how their support experiences may relate to more purchases, a higher LTV, etc. over time.</p>
<h3>A way to monitor and optimize 🧪</h3>
<p>There’s room for improvement in every bot, no matter how simple or complex it may be. It’s important to monitor your chatbot’s performance often and optimize as needed. Here are a few ways to do that:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Inline stats.</strong> These at-a-glance statistics will show you how many users have viewed and clicked on each block in your Messenger chatbot’s flow. It’s an easy way to pinpoint any bottlenecks or drop-off points in the customer support experience.</li>
<li><strong>A/B testing.</strong> The A/B Test plugin lets you show multiple versions of the same blocks to different groups of users. If one version performs significantly better than the other, you can make that change final in your Facebook chatbot for an improved user experience.</li>
<li><strong>Ask your users</strong>. One of the simplest ways to see if users find your customer support chat bot helpful is to ask them! At the end of the conversation, your bot can request that they rate their experience via quick replies. (You can even use the Save User Input plugin if you’d also like to gather text comments from them.) Then, adjust your bot as needed based on the feedback you receive.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb6748deac70_starz.png" alt="" height="204" width="586" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAABCAIAAAB2XpiaAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAFUlEQVR4nGPw8/eXkZEuLy//+OkTABlrBXqUUivPAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A simple way to find out if customers are finding your bot useful: Ask them!</figcaption></figure>
<h2>How to bring customers to your support chatbot</h2>
<p>You want your customer support chat bot to be available wherever prospects and customers are when they have questions. That’s where Chatfuel’s Entry Points come in. If you think of your chatbot like a freeway, Entry Points are like on ramps. They direct new users to your bot from outside sources. Here are a few Entry Points that are especially useful for customer service chatbots:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/yb2yCJshWV8"><strong>Customer Chat</strong></a> (when your chatbot appears in a small window on your website). There are two support scenarios where this Entry Point is especially helpful. First, a potential customer might be browsing your website and have a question about a product or service. Your bot can pop up and offer help, answering their questions and moving them toward a purchase or lead capture. Second, an existing customer might visit your site specifically looking for a way to contact support. The bot can appear and offer help as your support team’s first line of defense.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb4831deac71_Untitled.png" alt="" height="1680" width="2960" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAIklEQVR4nGMozyoWZNB2NAm8d/chQ2FivjyTZmFG5/v//wF2fArNFyvdrAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The Customer Chat Entry Point lets you set your bot to appear on your website.</figcaption></figure>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/PF_uI1_HCvE"><strong>Facebook Page</strong></a> (when visitors are led to a chat with your bot after clicking the button on your Facebook page). If your Facebook Messenger inbox is constantly flooded with questions from prospects or customers, this Entry Point is a great option. It’ll send those who try to contact your page right to your chatbot, so it can assist them immediately. And, as mentioned above (in the <em>How to set up a customer service chatbot</em> section), you can use this Entry Point to automatically set up your first few basic FAQs for you, as Icebreakers.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb811ddeac72_03.png" alt="" height="2191" width="4033" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAACE4AAAhOAFFljFgAAAAI0lEQVR4nGNgkM9j0ChkEApjUMhk6Nj75vn//6fe/1918TcAaF0MXM7MwIUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The Facebook Page Entry Point will send users right to your chatbot when they click the button on your Facebook page.</figcaption></figure>
<p>And of course, we recommend making use of the Persistent Menu Entry Point too, as mentioned in the previous section. There are also two other Entry Points you might find useful for your support bot in certain cases: REF Links, and Send to Messenger. Learn about them all in this video tutorial. 👇</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qMG7tI41jNY"></iframe></figure>
<h2>Excellent customer service chatbot examples</h2>
<p>Here at Chatfuel, we’ve seen plenty of major clients build incredibly effective Facebook chatbots for support. First, one of the best customer service chatbot examples is 3D Mats, an online store for car accessories. They built a chatbot that answers FAQs, and uses a product quiz to help customers find the right accessory for their car’s make and model. The result: a 70% reduction in repetitive inquiries!</p>
<p>Another top example of <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/hellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot">customer support chat bot case studies</a> comes from the meal-kit delivery service HelloFresh. Before they built a Messenger bot, their average customer response time was five hours. Once they launched the bot, that time dropped to an hour and eleven minutes—a 76% decrease, despite a 47% increase in total message volume! It’s all thanks to the fact that their bot now handles a large portion of inquiries, which frees up their support team to help customers with more detailed questions.</p>
<h2>Build your own customer support chatbot for free</h2>
<p>What is customer service? It’s more than just a problem-solving conversation. It’s an opportunity to impress your customers, and to build loyalty and LTV. With customer service bots, you can ensure your customers receive this kind of high-quality support every time. Chatbots in customer service is a trend that’s here to stay, because no brand can afford to lose out on business because of long response times or inconsistent support.</p>
<p>👉Ready to get started with customer service software for your business? <a href="https://chatfuel.com">Sign up for a free Chatfuel account</a> to build your first chatbot for support. When you’re ready to scale your support bot to unlimited users (and access lots of other perks), upgrade to Pro. Happy botting!</p>

Find out how a customer support chat bot can help your brand provide a better customer experience.