Dmytro Kot

Use cases

Customer support

<p>Persistent Menu is a powerful tool to engage users and help them navigate through your chatbot. Users always see this button in a chatbot so that you can benefit from this feature. This article will explain what Persistent Menu is, how it can help your business, and how to set it up in a couple of minutes.</p>
<h2>What is Persistent Menu</h2>
<p>Persistent Menu is a button in the bottom right-hand corner of the Messenger menu that users see as a burger or three horizontal lines. Persistent Menu helps users find what they are looking for with ease. It works as a restaurant menu — you give users a set of meals, and they choose what they want.</p>
<p>Adding a Persistent Menu can be challenging. You are to know codes and how to program, as you’ll have to put a special code in the right place and launch the program. For lots of businesses, it’s not an option.</p>
<p>It’s much easier with Chatfuel, a no-code visual chatbot builder. Just use the templates and customize them for your case. No programming and special knowledge are needed.</p>
<figure><img alt="How to set a navigational menu " src="/cms/static/blog/6253d53581a540be6c335312_b57cd6f2964277b9739824670c4aa62bb4752d16a5e71a402d33374db055c3265898c1b825e0c3325aae569fec4e91c8eed43f9af70ee2833533ffacd95c819a78f2e2ee35db8ee5b516c8c9a7499fe361e861071f7dbd75b5ddd12bf3f11cc18a36ed6f.png" height="887" width="1487" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AAEIFv///+Dg4O3s7QABCRj////c29zt7OzGORD6c0ZTjgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Where to find a Persistent Menu in a chatbot Flow</figcaption></figure>
<p>The main use of Persistent Menu — is a core navigational menu. So, let’s set it up.</p>
<h2>3 must-have buttons in your Messenger Main Menu</h2>
<p>You can add up to 3 buttons in a Persistent Menu, so narrow down what’re the most important actions for your user. You can set up what works for you, but, based on our clients’ use cases, the most useful buttons are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Restart the bot — so users can repeat their actions or choose other options they need. For example, they booked a table at a restaurant in a bot a month before, and now they want to order delivery from the same restaurant. So they can restart a bot and choose other buttons this time.</li>
<li>Unsubscribe — give users the ability to finish the conversation. <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/why-consumers-subscribe-to-email">Hubspot proved</a> that 9% of email subscribers cancel their subscriptions because the content is no longer valuable. And as to chatbots — users start communication when they have a specific request. Of course, when the request is fulfilled, many users want to stop communication.</li>
<li>Any button useful for you and your clients. For example, a ‘Take Quiz’ button, if you want to offer clients to take a product recommendation quiz. A quiz helps to increase sales with the help of gamification. Users answer questions like ‘What’s your favorite animal? ’, ‘Which film you’d rather watch with your friend? ’. And the bot gives a recommendation, which T-shirt to order, depending on user preference. Users feel special, and you engage the customers to your shop more.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img alt="3 must-have buttons in your Messenger Main Menu" src="/cms/static/blog/6253d5354a18756e33459a00_658d724b3c07038c1ac682d196d6dc4298377857161affc2173de43fa6ced850792ee263fe2f1b10877815396ae90b09ab0d77ff7dee5a326a11076a753318b617dc627213e550edd50d12293417134f4c76e0c0153035b4a497052aa136fedeada7a567.png" height="577" width="830" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAALUlEQVR4nGOQl5cXERG9fuPm////GdavW7d+3br37969f/eO4ffv3/fv3YNwALjDGu6fNIA8AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A ready-made Persistent Menu in a Chatfuel builder</figcaption></figure>
<p>The menu title is limited to 30 characters. You can add emojis or leave the buttons with text only. Instead of text, you can add a link to any block or URL. Learn more about formats in our <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/925465-media-assets">Help Center</a>.</p>
<h2>How to set a navigational menu</h2>
<p>Now you know, which buttons to add. Open <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Chatfuel dashboard</a> to set up your navigational menu.</p>
<ol>
<li>Open the Flow tab and create a new Flow. Double click the canvas space, then Entry Points → Persistent Menu. Now it’s on your canvas.</li>
<li>Add 3 buttons. For example, restart the bot, unsubscribe, and any other button you want. Drag your button to the top — it’s the most important action for your business.</li>
<li>To enable your Persistent Menu, tap a toggle on the right top angle.</li>
</ol>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DWovaAjFOOk" title="How to Use the Persistent Menu Entry Point in Chatfuel"></iframe></figure>
<p>Note that you can only have one Persistent Menu enabled in a chatbot.</p>
<h2>Localize the menu</h2>
<p>If your audience is multilingual, localize the navigational menu by clicking on the Localization button in Persistent Menu. After that choose a language, and set the names of the buttons in a chosen language.</p>
<p>Note that it won’t localize the whole chatbot, only three buttons in the Persistent Menu.</p>
<p>Read more about setting multiple languages in our <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/2931038-multiple-languages">Help Center</a>.</p>
<h2>Disable user input</h2>
<p>If you want to collect user emails, but the user input is disabled, the users won’t be able to send you their emails. So make sure you don’t have such a goal. But the advantage of disabling the input is that users will be more likely to move through your flow from beginning to end. This is useful if you offer users to take a quiz — they’ll just press on buttons and stick to the flow.</p>
<p>To disable user input flip the switch on the top left corner.</p>
<p>Note that if you disable user input, it’ll be disabled for the whole chatbot, not only for the flow.</p>
<h2>Improve your automation today</h2>
<p>Persistent Menu allows businesses to navigate the users through the flows and concentrate them on the main business goal in a messenger. It’s time to make your own menu! Start creating a useful Persistent Menu in Chatfuel. Our user-friendly platform helps to do it in a couple of minutes. Just <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">sign up</a> and test your new menu on the first 50 conversations — it’s free.</p>

This article will explain what Persistent Menu is, how it can help your business, and how to set it up in a couple of minutes

Engage and navigate users with a Facebook Messenger Persistent Menu

Platforms

<h2>Missing comments in activity feed</h2>
<p>On Instagram, you get a notification every time somebody posts a comment. And if you are running a business, you can’t afford losing a single lead. But notifications about new comments are in the same feed as your likes, new subscriptions, recommendations, etc. This is by design. A unified activity feed helps Instagram engage users, but it makes comments harder to track. So business has to work around it. You can track comments yourself or hire somebody to do it for you. But, there is a more elegant solution. Automation.</p>
<h2>What you can do with automation</h2>
<p>Automation lets you send your customers a message and engage them right away. Instagram has the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1274133/engagement-rate-per-post-social-media">highest engagement level</a> compared to Facebook or Twitter. Around 1.16% per post, compared to 0.27% and 0.07% respectively. This means that users post more, but also expect you to reply quickly. That’s key. Automation easily solves two things. How fast your business replies and what engagement level your profile has. It also helps your business save money on staff.</p>
<p>Automation can help you:</p>
<ul>
<li>increase conversion;</li>
<li>retain customers;</li>
<li>increase online sales.</li>
</ul>
<p>You can do all that with Chatfuel. It’s a no-code automation app for small and medium business owners. It lets you create a conversation logic between your users and a bot. Kind of like a chain of messages. In our case, we need to track and reply to Instagram comments. Let’s start with a conversation example.</p>
<p>A user leaves a comment asking if the item is in stock. Our system replies and gives them a link to a website to check availability. A customer then goes to the website. After several minutes, your bot offers them a promo code for a future purchase. All they need to do is leave their email. You can set up responses to FAQs, run promo campaigns or send people a link to your website. In this tutorial, we will focus on replying to Instagram comments.</p>
<h2>How to automate Instagram comments in Chatfuel</h2>
<h3>Sign up with Chatfuel</h3>
<p>To start, you need to create an account at Chatfuel. Go to <a href="https://chatfuel.com">chatfuel.com</a> and sign up using your Facebook account. We recommend using a Facebook account for registration. This is because you will need to connect your Facebook Page before turning on automation. After creating an account, you will get first 50 conversations for free.</p>
<h3>Preparation</h3>
<p>Next, open Flow Builder. It’s a tool that lets you create automation in Chatfuel. Go to Flows tab in the left sidebar menu and create a new Instagram Flow. Then, click on the plus sign button on the right to open a menu. Add Comments Autoreply Entry Point. This will be the place where user starts conversation. Now, it’s time to configure comments reply settings.</p>
<h3>Decide which comments to respond to</h3>
<p>First, decide if you want to respond to all comments or to comments from specific posts. Then, think about keywords. Do you need them for your business? They are useful in case you want automation to react with a different message to a particular keyword. For example, you decide to run a promo campaign. Set up a separate message that responds to a keyword #iwantdiscount. Now, when your clients leave a particular comment, automation responds with this specific message. After that, choose the response to be private, public or set up both. Add more content if needed.</p>
<p>Look at the example below. In this Flow, our system sends a DM to a user after they post a comment. The message contains a link to the online store. After 5 minutes, a bot sends a second message offering a user to leave their email to stay tuned for new promo campaigns.</p>
<figure><img alt="Instagram comments autoreply flow example" src="/cms/static/blog/6202647615d70905a39051af_cf6df8b5a4993c71d4cdc6caea3fa263c7ccfc299ca430e7ac9c1ec24b729420aa2e0260e5e0f4b45c0f97e7e9820076900bc364e69a78204831db3781e464a6e4e61e0edd09504e2c426b64b072936abfe55590ef97800c5934fc029b1dc81e23dd0c2e.png" height="479" width="1420" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAABCAIAAAB2XpiaAAAACXBIWXMAAA7DAAAOwwHHb6hkAAAAFUlEQVR4nGPQUFHLzcmpq6nat28fABraBWbdYuvSAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<h3>Connect your Facebook and Instagram</h3>
<p>Finally, you need to connect your Facebook Page. Click on Grow tab in the sidebar menu and find Connect button next to Facebook Page and Instagram Account. Connect your Facebook Page first, then connect your Instagram Account. Your Instagram Account is linked to a Facebook Page, that’s why we need both connected.</p>
<h3>Turn on auto replies to comments</h3>
<p>After connecting your pages, go to your Flow and activate Comments Autoreply Entry Point. Your bot status will change to Live. It means that automation is on and your bot is now responding to comments.</p>
<p>Find this article helpful? We appreciate it. We believe that automation can take your business to the next level. <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-up">Sign up</a> for Chatfuel and never lose a new lead again. If you want to read some more, check out our <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/low-cost-hypothesis-testing">latest customer story</a>.</p>

Missing comments in Activity Feed? You can automate responses to Instagram comments with Chatfuel. This tutorial will show you how.

How to automatically respond to Instagram comments

Bojana Vojnović

<p>Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is customer loyalty. To get customers to stick around, you can invest your time and effort in improving your product and your customer experience.</p>
<p>Great customer service is an extremely valuable tool for building exceptional experience and more loyal customers. That’s why we’ll explain how customer service makes a huge impact on your business and give you concrete ideas for <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-for-customer-service">making improvements</a> to your current offerings.</p>
<h2>Customer acquisition vs. customer retention</h2>
<p>One of the age-old questions in customer marketing is: should you focus your efforts on customer acquisition or customer retention? There is no “right” answer, but both are important for building a sustainable business.</p>
<p>Acquiring a new customer, although necessary, is <a href="https://www.huify.com/blog/acquisition-vs-retention-customer-lifetime-value">five times more expensive</a> than retaining an existing customer. Loyal customers are also more likely to make a purchase from you since they are already familiar with your brand, products, and experience.</p>
<p>So, how do you get customers to keep coming back? Offering great customer service is one of the most powerful ways to retain the customers you’ve worked so hard to acquire.</p>
<h2>What influences customer loyalty?</h2>
<p>Customer loyalty is influenced by the perceived value you bring to your customers, brand trust, and customer satisfaction—all of which can be increased through having great customer service.</p>
<p>A reported <a href="https://www.nextiva.com/blog/customer-service-statistics.html">96% of customers worldwide</a> say customer service is an important factor in their choice of loyalty to a brand, and the vast majority are willing to spend more if it means receiving great customer service in return.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/610a694aecea9356b0ce9cfd_01-min.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="2336" width="4160" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AAADZmJp2b23//nr/wDBiv//zv9+hv+2rf+//RDfJjVuLgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>When asking consumers what impacts their level of trust with a company, offering excellent customer service ranked <strong>number one</strong>.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>How loyalty is built with customer service</h2>
<p>A great customer service strategy, at its core, means having a consistent game plan for addressing all types of customer questions and feedback.</p>
<p>If you can deliver answers quickly, efficiently, and politely, your customers will be much more likely to return.  To improve your strategy, here are a few key areas you should evaluate:</p>
<h3>Through your onboarding process</h3>
<p>Whether your onboarding process is human-led or automated, it’s a critical part of <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/customer-loyalty-chatbot">building customer loyalty</a>. Onboarding is one of the first interactions your customers have with your company, so it’s extra important to make sure they have a positive experience. If you have a self-guided onboarding process, give your customers opportunities to seek more information whenever possible.</p>
<h3>Through self-servicing options</h3>
<p>If your product or service is complex enough to require more detailed tutorials, it’s a smart idea to build out a knowledge base or support center. Your knowledge base can contain in-depth articles on product features or short, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A499Eeq9Lq8">easy-to-read FAQs.</a> The easier it is for your customers to find the answers they need, the better.</p>
<h3>Through agent-assisted support</h3>
<p>Your agents may be responsible for chatting with customers through several different channels, including phone, online chat, email, and social media. High levels of customer retention stem from consistent and compassionate service.</p>
<p>Train your agents and check-in with them regularly to ensure they are handling customer interactions with the same level of excellence across the board. Go for meaningful conversations, rather than just closing as many tickets as possible.</p>
<h3>Through feedback implementation</h3>
<p>Evaluating your strategy and performance to make your service even better is always a good idea. You should be examining feedback from your customer service team as well as your customers. Ask customers how they feel about your service <a href="https://surveysparrow.com/blog/guide-product-feedback">via feedback surveys</a> on social media or <a href="https://blog.lemlist.com/best-email-verification-tools">email</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, survey your team members to identify strengths and pain points in your current strategy. These are just a few of the many proponents of implementing a successful customer feedback loop.</p>
<h2>4 parts of customer service you can automate</h2>
<p>Good customer service doesn’t necessarily have to be entirely human-powered. Your customer service strategy may actually benefit from being partially automated.</p>
<p>If you want to provide round-the-clock, consistent service and let your agents handle more complex cases, here are a few areas of customer service that may be worth automating.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/610a6ac9b289383ee9949a25_03 (1)-min.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="2336" width="4160" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGNgYHU/fvH/s5f/+Y1mMTCwO3z++f/i9f8Myo0Ao8ANCq2U2Y0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Automating services is made easy with chatbots</figcaption></figure>
<h3>1. Your onboarding</h3>
<p>An <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/onboarding-chatbot">automated onboarding flow</a> lets your customers get situated with your product or service at their own pace.</p>
<p>For example, you can use a chatbot to create automated flows that are as simple or complex as you’d like. A chatbot can walk your customers through a proper onboarding checklist, recommend related tutorials or videos from your support center, or guide them through certain features in more detail based on how they interact.</p>
<h3>2. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A499Eeq9Lq8">How to Automate Customer FAQs on Facebook Messenger</a></p>
<p>If you have a running list of the questions your agents get asked the most often, you can save a lot of time and effort by integrating them into a chatbot. Once it’s been programmed, a bot can anticipate what your customers are looking or asking for, and deliver those answers quickly.</p>
<h3>3. Advanced routing to the right teams</h3>
<p>When phone calls can’t be routed to the intended recipient, it creates a frustrating experience for both you and your customers. <a href="https://www.nextiva.com/blog/what-is-call-routing.html">Call routing</a> is a great tactic to ensure that customers who reach your business by phone will be able to speak with the person or department that can provide the help they need.</p>
<p>With routing, customers will hear a list of departments they can speak with and the action required to connect, i.e. press “1” to speak with the billing department, press “2” to speak with customer support, and so on.</p>
<p>In addition to connecting customers with the right people, automated redirections of calls also reduce wait times and can give you the option to forward calls to a partner or outside firm when you’re unavailable. Given these benefits, it’s no surprise that call routing is a proven way to boost your customer satisfaction ratings.</p>
<h3>4. Keeping databases</h3>
<p>Detailed database-keeping is essential for providing exceptional service. A <a href="https://blog.appsumo.com/crm-software">Customer Relationship Management system (CRM)</a> that integrates with your communication channels (phone calls, texts, emails, chatbots, etc.) will help your customer service team capture notes and information about customer interactions. You can then refer back to this data to make more informed decisions to increase customer loyalty.</p>
<h2>Investing in loyalty pays off in the long run</h2>
<p>Building up your customer service strategy to increase customer loyalty can help you cut costs and generate more revenue. A loyal customer is easier to sell to, cheaper to maintain, and tends to <a href="https://blog.smile.io/repeat-customers-profitable">spend more on new purchases</a>. They’re also more likely to recommend you to others, making them one of the most valuable acquisition tools. Customer service has immense benefits for your bottom line and is a powerful way to set yourself apart from others.</p>

To get customers to stick around, you can invest your time and effort in improving your product and your customer experience.

Why Great Customer Service Builds More Loyal Customers

Chloe West

<p>For apps and software companies, properly onboarding new users is crucial. Your goal is to help them find success on your platform as soon as possible so that they’ll become a long-term, satisfied customer. Having a human agent run personal onboarding sessions with each new users and checking in with them frequently would be ideal. But of course, that would take major resources that most companies can’t reasonably provide.</p>
<p>Instead, some software companies are turning toward chatbots to manage and improve their user onboarding process. Whether the user has just signed up or is logging in for the first time in a while, a chatbot can help guide them toward success with your app.</p>
<h2>Why chatbots make excellent tools for user onboarding</h2>
<p>Chatbots—especially those integrated with Facebook Messenger—are useful for <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/top-9-reasons-your-business-needs-a-chatbot">lots of different sales and marketing tasks.</a> They can <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/lead-generation-on-autopilot">generate leads</a>, recommend products, <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/lead-generation-on-autopilot">answer FAQs</a>, and more. The characteristics that make chatbots so helpful in these use cases are the same ones that make them helpful in the <a href="https://www.liveagent.com/blog/a-complete-guide-to-an-effective-customer-onboarding-program">customer onboarding</a> process.</p>
<p>The main one is that chatbots are available any time, 24/7. They don’t need time off like human agents do, which means they’re ready to help your customers at any time of day or night, in any time zone. That means they can onboard new users or engage returning users whenever, helping retain customers for your business while you sleep.</p>
<p>In addition to their constant availability, here are a few other reasons chatbots are fantastic tools for customer onboarding:</p>
<h3>Chatbots can offer personalized experiences 👥</h3>
<p>Messenger chatbots can pull data from the user’s Facebook profile, or from past conversations with them (if applicable). They can also gather information about the user by asking them questions within the bot, or importing information from your CRM or <a href="https://leadgenapp.io/multi-step-or-single-step-forms-how-to-get-the-best-conversions">multi-step forms</a>. From there, your bot can use these details (stored in the form of user attributes) in conversation with the user, so the whole experience is personalized to them and their needs.</p>
<p>For example, the chatbot could have the customer’s name, their signup date, last login date, etc. all at hand. When it incorporates this information into the conversation, the customer knows that the advice they’re receiving is specific to them. They’ll feel listened to and will enjoy a better user experience, since they’ll be more likely to get assistance that’s relevant to their situation.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb5e1ddead74_User Onboarding chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/APv7+////0dLTjg8QgDw8PD29/kcHSACAgIA+vr6////MjM0IiIjxHkUhXfTqqgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Here's a simple example of how a chatbot can incorporate personal details into the conversation, like the user's name.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Chatbots are easy to customize for your brand ⚙️</h3>
<p>Your chatbot, like any other marketing channel or tool, should be an extension of your brand. That means you should write copy for it that matches <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/craft-a-brand-voice-that-converts">your brand voice</a>. You can <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-names">give it a name</a> and a personality that will resonate with your users. And of course, you can equip it with all the information they need for a smooth <a href="https://academyocean.com/blog/post/the-best-onboarding-plan-for-a-b2b-saas-company">onboarding process</a>, including answers to all the common questions new users have when interacting with your product.</p>
<p><em>Here’s how to set up your chatbot to answer common FAQs about your app or platform.</em></p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A499Eeq9Lq8"></iframe></figure>
<h3>Chatbots can save you time ⏱️</h3>
<p>Each member of your customer success team is only one human. There will be times when they’re simply too busy to respond to new-user questions immediately, or even within the same day. This is where chatbots can step in and assist.</p>
<p>A Messenger chatbot can manage an unlimited number of user conversations at once. They can provide all the basic onboarding information and answer up to <a href="https://www.invespcro.com/blog/chatbots-customer-service">80% of routine questions</a>, taking all that work off the plate of your human customer service team. That way, you can have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of new users being onboarded by your chatbot at once. The bot can send only the ones with complex inquiries through to <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">a live chat session</a> with your human support team, so they’re not overwhelmed or wasting time answering repetitive inquiries.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb1580dead75_Chatbot live chat.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="509" width="980" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AN/g4urm5u3r7Njb3QD39valo6MFBwqpsb0EAxGnFEv0WAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Setting up live chat for your chatbot takes just two clicks in Chatfuel! <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat" target="_blank">Here are the full instructions.</a></figcaption></figure>
<h3>Chatbots are easy and pleasant to interact with 😄</h3>
<p>Create an onboarding experience your users will actually enjoy! Because chatbots are still a bit of a novelty for many consumers, interacting with them can be a unique and fun experience. Plus, they’re easy to use. As long as you avoid the common bot-building mistakes and have your chatbot give clear instructions, even inexperienced and non-tech users will go through its onboarding process easily. And the easier your chatbot is to use, the more successful the onboarding process will be, which leads to higher customer satisfaction and lower <a href="https://www.realbookies.com/4-tips-for-preventing-customer-churn-3599">customer churn</a>.</p>
<h2>How to onboard new users with a chatbot</h2>
<p>If we’ve talked you into considering chatbots to onboard new users into your app or software, let’s get into the next step: the how-to. Your onboarding chatbot will need to be customized closely for your specific platform or tool. But the basics are the same for any business. Just follow these three steps.</p>
<h3>#1. Map out your onboarding process</h3>
<p>First, you need to list out the key steps of your onboarding process. What needs to happen first, next, and last? What are the crucial pieces of information new users need to know? Which common questions need to be addressed right away? If you’ve already got an onboarding process on another channel (like email), you can use that framework to guide you here.</p>
<p>You might use pen and paper or a <a href="https://www.visme.co/flowchart-maker">flowchart tool</a> in the early stages of this process, to help organize your ideas. Or, you can jump right into Chatfuel’s visual, drag-and-drop <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/4237017-how-to-build-a-flow">Flow Builder</a> to start mapping out the flow this way.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HX-zA-DkPaU"></iframe></figure>
<h3>#2. Create your list of initial questions</h3>
<p>Asking a few questions is arguably the best way to start a customer onboarding experience for your software or app.</p>
<p>First, the bot can store the user’s answers to these questions as user attributes. You can then use them for research and <a href="https://www.conversific.com/blog/customer-analysis-behavioral-segmentation">customer analysis</a>. These questions might allow free-form user input (using the Save User Input plugin) or offer multiple-choice options (using quick replies). Some examples include:</p>
<ol>
<li>What are your goals for using [name of tool or app]?</li>
<li>What industry do you work in?</li>
<li>How big is your company?</li>
<li>How did you hear about us?</li>
</ol>
<p>Second, the chatbot can use the customer’s answers to the questions to customize and guide the onboarding experience it provides them. For example, your Messenger chatbot could ask new users:</p>
<ol>
<li>Is this your first time using a tool like ours? (Yes/No)</li>
<li>Would you prefer to start with X or Y?</li>
<li>Do you want to learn how to do X, Y or Z?</li>
</ol>
<p>After all, brand-new users won’t always know exactly what to expect from your service or what they can do, so it’s a good idea to put together questions that can guide them. Figuring out these questions should be relatively easy for you. You’re the one <a href="https://mariopeshev.com/entrepreneurs-running-business-customers">running your business</a>, so you know exactly what you want customers to get out of your app or software.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb0770dead76_Onboarding chatbot questions.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAKUlEQVR4nGP4//9/SEiona3D////Gf7//6+sosbELALlxMbFu3p4ATkAra0WHk3Meq0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A chatbot can start the onboarding conversation by asking a series of questions.</figcaption></figure>
<p>Once you’ve created the list of questions you want your Messenger chatbot to ask, you can set them up in Chatfuel’s Flow Builder easily. Just type the question into a text box and drag and drop the arrow to connect it to the next one. <em>Learn more about <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/4237017-how-to-build-a-flow">the basics of using Flow Builder</a>, or get expert tips on conversational design for chatbots.</em></p>
<h3>#3. Test and monitor your chatbot</h3>
<p>Before you launch your chatbot for all new users, you should test it. Have a few colleagues go through the flow to make sure it includes everything it should. Then, have a few beta testers try it out too. Choose people who have never used your software or app before, so you can get a real sense of whether the chatbot provides clear, useful instructions for new users. Take all their feedback into account and make the necessary adjustments.</p>
<p>And once you launch your chatbot, keep an eye on its stats and make changes as needed over time. You can use Chatfuel’s built-in stats to help you track how many users are going through the bot, and where they get stuck or drop off, if applicable. You can also have your chatbot ask users to rate their onboarding experience at the end of it (and even leave comments). Then, you should regularly make changes and updates to your bot based on all of this data.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbe957deacf8_Chatbot statistics.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="248" width="584" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/ANTZ39/k5/z///T09gDu8fTQ0NEDAwPR0tUNZBLUzcwVQgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Chatfuel shows basic stats for each card in your chatbot's flow, so you can easily monitor performance and make adjustments based on user behavior.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Tips for building an excellent onboarding chatbot</h2>
<p>Keep these tips in mind to create an outstanding onboarding process via bot, so you can engage and retain even more new users.</p>
<h3>Use images, GIFs, and video in your chatbot 🎥</h3>
<p>When it comes to using a new app or piece of software, you’ll find that most users are visual learners. That means you should make use of images, GIFs, and video in your chatbot, so users can see its instructions and advice in action. Plus, media like this helps keep users engaged till the end of your onboarding sequence.</p>
<h3>Write copy for an eighth-grade reading level 📖</h3>
<p>Readability is important for any type of sales, marketing, or support collateral—but it’s especially important in onboarding. The way you write copy for your onboarding chatbot can be the difference between users staying engaged and going on to be life-long customers of yours, and users dropping off and abandoning your tool altogether.</p>
<p>Around <a href="https://readable.com/blog/the-flesch-reading-ease-and-flesch-kincaid-grade-level">80% of adults</a> can read at an eighth-grade level, minimum. So it’s wise to keep your chatbot’s copy around this level for maximum readability. Use short, simple sentences. Avoid jargon and industry-specific acronyms (or define them clearly, if you do use them). You can even put your chatbot copy through a tool like the <a href="http://www.hemingwayapp.com">Hemingway App</a> to test its readability and get suggestions improvement.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb8402dead77_Readability app.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1098" width="1928" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGMoLS1taGhYv2FDWXUdw+vXrz99+nz29CkxXgYAvFMOexm6wU4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Tools like the Hemingway App can help you make sure your chatbot's copy is readable and accessible to your entire audience.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>Make it easy for users to chat with a human instead 👩🏾‍💻</h3>
<p>Not being able to find the answer to a specific question about your app or software is frustrating for users. If they have an issue or inquiry about your platform that the chatbot doesn’t address, let them use <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">live chat</a> to connect to one of your human agents right away. The longer you keep them waiting or make them search for the solution themselves, the less likely you are to retain them as a customer. Set up your chatbot to handle as many questions as possible, but keep some human agents on deck to jump in and help as needed.</p>
<h2>Try a chatbot as your new onboarding method</h2>
<p>Any app or software company knows that onboarding is one of the most crucial steps in the customer lifecycle. When you use a Facebook Messenger chatbot for onboarding, you can offer a unique, interactive, and trackable way to onboard users. Your chatbot can offer all the information new users need and can answer most of their questions. As a result, you’ll save time and resources and will retain more customers in the long-term.</p>
<p>To build an onboarding chatbot for your software or app, <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">sign up for a free Chatfuel account</a> today. There’s no coding or previous knowledge required to use our platform; just use our visual builder to drag and drop text and other elements into your bot’s flow. Happy botting!</p>

The onboarding process is crucial for any app or software. Here's how to use a Messenger chatbot to onboard new users.

How to Use a Chatbot to Provide an Engaging, Informative User Onboarding Experience

Angela Skowronek

<p>Automating lead generation means allowing the company to focus on more pressing matters maintaining contact with customers. Chatbots can take some weight off your shoulders in this endeavor. According to APSIS, a four score of automation software marketers drive increased leads, and 77% convert more leads than those who don’t. This article will show how you can embed automation and how it can benefit your business.</p>
<h2>Challenges that business faces</h2>
<p>Sourcing high-quality leads is tricky, whether you create helpful content that leads prospects down the funnel or attracts cold prospects. There are three main challenges that businesses usually face:</p>
<p><strong>Not enough high-quality leads</strong>. Improving the quality of leads is one of the most important goals for two-thirds of marketers, according to Ascend2. Some marketers turn to lead generation agencies, and not all get the desired result.</p>
<p><strong>Too many leads</strong>. Wrong targeted ads and giveaways can bring many leads. But, if resources are limited, companies can spend too much time on leads that <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/cut-operational-costs-with-messenger-bot">turn out to be unqualified</a> or miss their chance with high-intent prospects.</p>
<p><strong>Personalizing experience for new users</strong>. According to an Accenture survey, consumers are more likely to shop with brands that offer relevant recommendations. In addition, tailored experiences that keep users engaged demand constant human interaction.</p>
<p>Automation can solve these challenges. It is more accessible than ever to businesses of all sizes. You can use an online platform as a <a href="https://chatfuel.com">no-code tool</a> to create different types of automated systems. <a href="https://funneloverload.com/lead-generation-statistics">80% of marketers</a> say they’ve found that automation like chatbots generates more leads and conversions than other methods.</p>
<h2><strong>How chatbots expand your lead generation sales funnel</strong></h2>
<p>Messages from <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/future-of-chatbots-based-on-data">chatbots have 80% open rates</a>, while emails only have 20% on average. Automation also has 35% click-through rates on messages with links than email’s 2%. It lets you set up triggered email communications easily, without having anything to do with the backend or coding. You can also integrate your CRM or other business tools with your Chatfuel bot.</p>
<p>A lead generation chatbot can work for you 24/7. Users get information without you having to answer repetitive questions with the FAQ template. As a result, you have more time to focus on providing excellent service to your customers and finding new ways to grow.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/624ad1b10181b33bd684bb62_example_FAQ.png" loading="lazy" alt="How chatbots expand your lead generation sales funnel" height="1168" width="2080" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAI0lEQVR4nGP48flLUlBMqH/Fg6uvGb7//y+jFc7Ab/f5938AwsMOePmow9oAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Users see interactive buttons in your Messenger bot</figcaption></figure>
<h2>How does a chatbot work</h2>
<p>A chatbot is a computer program that has a back-and-forth conversation with users. Simple chatbots follow a script: If the user says X, they say Y. More advanced chatbots use artificial intelligence to provide humanlike answers to user inquiries. Building both types requires no experience.</p>
<p>One of the most common types of chatbots “lives” on Facebook Messenger. It means your business can generate leads from 2.8 billion global users. However, anyone can enter your chatbot without a Facebook account, using a guest mode if it’s embedded on your website. So that’s even more users for your chatbot. Depending on your needs, your bot can attract leads, start a conversation with users, provide information about your services, and ask questions to qualify them.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<ol>
<li>Users open a chat with your Messenger chatbot by clicking your Facebook ad or browsing <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/add-a-messenger-chatbot-to-your-website">your website</a>.</li>
<li>The bot offers basic information about your business: their names, emails, or phone numbers.</li>
<li>The bot then asks the user a few questions to determine if they’re warm leads. For instance, it can provide a discount if the user follows your organization on Facebook or signs up for newsletters.</li>
</ol>
<p>Depending on your needs, you can set your bot to take the next step: help users to <a href="https://youtu.be/9jGuWa1sgAw">schedule an appointment</a>, gather their contact details and send them to your CRM, <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">pass the conversation over</a> to a human agent, or more. Once you’ve set up your automation, it can start generating and qualifying new leads. That means you can wake up in the morning to an inbox or spreadsheet or calendar full of promising new leads.</p>
<h2>Chatbot lead generation examples</h2>
<p>Currently, lead generation chatbots can benefit different industries, such as vehicle operations, insurance, real estate, food, and drinks. Let’s look at some of these Chatfuel customers who use a chatbot as their primary lead generation marketing method.</p>
<h3>1. Nissan dealership, Israel</h3>
<p>A car is a big-ticket item that most people aren’t going to buy on the spot. Instead, they’ll make an appointment to visit the dealership, test drives the vehicle, and ask the salesperson their questions. A lead generation chatbot can be the first link between the dealership and these consumers looking to purchase a car — which is precisely why this Nissan dealership in Israel built one.</p>
<p>Their chatbot asks a few questions to confirm that the dealership has the type of car they’re looking for. Then it lets the user schedule an appointment for a test drive to move them down the lead generation funnel.</p>
<h4>Results</h4>
<p>The chatbot turned out to be a far more accessible and more efficient way for the dealership to get qualified potential customers in the door. The first month after launching the Facebook bot, the dealership sold ten cars ($380,000 in revenue) to customers who came through it. Check out the complete <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/nissan-sells-cars-using-messenger-bot">Nissan case study.</a></p>
<h3>2. Real estate and insurance lead generation: Tacobot</h3>
<p>Tacobot is a marketing agency building chatbots that generate leads for insurance brokers and real estate agents. Their clients no longer have to pay more for low-intent leads, thanks to their bots. Instead, Tacobot builds them a Facebook chatbot that qualifies leads through a simple questionnaire. It gathers information about each prospect and functions as a quoting tool so users can get an immediate, tangible benefit to incentivize them to complete the process.</p>
<h4>Results</h4>
<p>Tacobot’s clients can expect high-quality insurance leads for $2-5 each and high-intent real estate leads for less than $10. Check out the complete <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/marketing-agency-uses-messenger-bots-to-deliver-high-quality-leads-for-clients">Tacobot case study</a>.</p>
<h2>Put your business lead generation on autopilot</h2>
<p>Whether it’s lead generation for lawyers, lead generation for restaurants, or a B2B lead generation, a chatbot can help. Businesses across industries that depend on leads are turning to Facebook Messenger and Instagram automation for a lead generation more and more.</p>
<p>With Chatfuel, building your lead gen chatbot is easy. Use our templates to load, customize, and launch automation for your own business regardless of your coding experience. With interactive automation, you can save time. Focus on improving things that matter most while providing constant communication with your customers. <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com/sign-in">Sign up</a> today to get started.</p>

This article will show how expand your lead generation sales funnel and how it can benefit your business

How to automate your business lead generation funnel

Mary Rybakova

Industries

<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

<h2>The Brand</h2>
<p>Direct Relief is an international <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/9-reasons-your-nonprofit-needs-a-chatbot">nonprofit organization</a> that was founded by William Zimdin, a US immigrant from Estonia. In 1945, Zimdin was starting a nonprofit by sending thousands of relief parcels with food, clothes, and medicine from the US to relatives and friends in Europe, who were rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of World War II. In 1948 he made his project official, registering it as a California-based non profit organization.</p>
<p>Since then, <a href="https://www.directrelief.org">Direct Relief</a> has worked to help people around the world recover from everything from disease outbreaks to natural disasters. They continue to follow Zimdin’s tradition of “direct and targeted assistance provided in a manner that respects and involves all people served” to this day. 💙</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb62eddeacc0_history-directrelief.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="History of Direct Relief" height="720" width="1280" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAC4jAAAuIwF4pT92AAAAIklEQVR4nGP49+9fdHS0ubl5amoqw5QpU4qLi81MzRgYGACcSwmWxEzWwQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Direct Relief's operations in their early days</figcaption></figure>
<h2>The Problem</h2>
<p>When people need assistance from nonprofits like Direct Relief, they usually need it immediately—whether it’s food and water after a hurricane or crucial healthcare after an earthquake. Fast response times are absolutely critical to this nonprofit business’s operations as human lives are often on the line. But when disasters struck in the past, the volume of these messages was often more than Direct Relief’s small social media team could handle in a timely manner.</p>
<p>Over the course of the 2017 hurricane season, for example, they received hundreds of messages on Facebook Messenger from people around the globe. Some were wondering how they could rally support for those in impacted communities. Others needed urgent information on how to receive medical assistance. At first, the only solution the Direct Relief team could come up with to handle all the messages was bringing on more people—either temporary staff or training volunteers. And then they discovered chatbots. 🤖</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb39b1deacc1_Direct Relief volunteers aid a community heavily impacted by a hurricane.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Nonprofit chatbot of Direct Relief" height="720" width="1280" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AP/+5PT06cu6qu7++QCvrq6DfnY0LSQABgT4RA7YbtC6GAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Direct Relief volunteers aid a community heavily impacted by a hurricane.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>The Solution</h2>
<p>The Direct Relief team started looking for solutions to the problem of their overflowing Messenger inbox. “As we were weighing options,” explains Tony Morain, Direct Relief’s VP of Communications, “we reached out to our contacts at Facebook for recommendations. They told us about Chatfuel. We signed up and saw how easy it was to create a working chatbot,” he continues, “one that was smart enough to respond to people’s needs and guide them to the resources they requested.” In just a few hours, a team of two people at the Direct Relief non profit organization built <a href="http://m.me/directrelief">a Facebook Messenger chatbot</a> that was ready for launch.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbcf95deacc2_Chatbot Helps Nonprofit Respond Immediately to Emergency Requests_.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMElEQVR4nGNgME5lcCxmEHZgMMxg2Pfq/+kv/xceu3vz/38GBqUgBnl/BodChsg+AB82DzMwn43XAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>At first, the chatbot for this non profit organization focused on <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-for-customer-service">answering FAQs</a> about their emergency response efforts, and providing information about volunteering, receiving help, and donating. But “the bot has evolved since then,” Tony says. “It now converses in <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/create-a-multilingual-chatbot">a number of languages</a> and routes inquiries to the right internal teams for follow up.”</p>
<p>Though the team has made improvements over time, the Facebook chatbot’s core purpose remains the same: “to help people at scale,” confirms Tony. To make sure the bot is achieving this goal, he explains that its conversations are regularly reviewed by staff members, and that users are also given a <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">live chat</a> option if they prefer. Tony adds that, when it comes to how to market a nonprofit, Direct Relief doesn’t spend much on advertising. “That makes it all the more important to maintain relationships with the people who do support the organization, and the chatbot is critical in that regard.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It’s important to maintain relationships with the people who do support the organization, and the chatbot is critical in that regard.” — Tony Morain, VP of Communications at Direct Relief</p>
</blockquote>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bbd491deacaf_CTA button #2.png" loading="lazy" alt="nonprofit chatbot for nonprofit organizations " height="281" width="1283" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAABCAIAAAB2XpiaAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAFUlEQVR4nGNwnHOMgddAvXnVqr//AR5ZBdsVGgq6AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<h2>The Recipe</h2>
<p>The Direct Relief team focused on these Chatfuel tools and features to build their nonprofit chatbot:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Templates</strong>. Before they sat down to actually build their Facebook chatbot, the Direct Relief team explored Chatfuel’s bot templates “to understand the platform and learn about what’s possible,” says Tony. Templates are a great way to get familiar with the structure of a well-built chatbot before you dive into the actual building process yourself. <em>Find templates for Automation → Blocks-tab bots by clicking the <strong>Choose from templates button</strong> when you first log in to Chatfuel. Templates for Automation→Flows-tab bots take the form of links. A collection of these is coming soon. (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/chatfuel">Join our Facebook community</a> for updates.)</em></li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb7cb2deacc3_nonprofit template for chatbots.png" loading="lazy" alt="Nonprofit template for nonprofit organizations " height="562" width="1202" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsSAAALEgHS3X78AAAAI0lEQVR4nGNg4JTa+/z/9P3XGASlGTiEmA/8+z/50lcGHikAhjYKeazVmUkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Templates and shared flows can help you get familiar with the basic structure of a well-built chatbot. The one shown here is for bots built in the <em>Automation → Blocks</em> tab.</figcaption></figure>
<ul>
<li><strong>Artificial intelligence (AI)</strong>. If a user sends the bot a custom text message (instead of choosing a button or quick reply), artificial intelligence allows it to still respond accurately. To build their AI chatbot, the Direct Relief team used the <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/json-api-examples">JSON API</a> to integrate Dialogflow (a conversational AI). As Tony explains, the artificial intelligence helps “expand the bot’s contextual understanding and responsiveness.”</li>
<li><a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat"><strong>Live chat</strong></a>. Users who interact with this charity’s Facebook chatbot have the option to pause the bot’s responses and connect with a live agent instead. This functionality is helpful if the chatbot isn’t able to answer the user’s question, or if the user simply prefers speaking with a human agent.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb1db4deacc4_livechat Facebook chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="Live chat in chatbot " height="1068" width="1616" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AOfo6fPy8vTy8fXy8QDu7e3W1dXKy9HN1d4A+vj4BgMCJSsy0+XuXQobikXaz6AAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<ul>
<li><strong>Google Site Search plugin</strong> and <strong>RSS Import plugin</strong>. These plugins allow Messenger chatbots to pull information from websites and instantly display it in Messenger for users. The Direct Relief bot gets information from the Direct Relief website and others to share emergency updates with users as needed.</li>
</ul>
<h2>The Results</h2>
<p>Thanks to their Facebook Messenger chatbot, Direct Relief is now able to receive and respond to requests for help more quickly than ever before. <strong>Their response time went from several days to under a minute.</strong> As a result, the people they serve are able to get the resources and aid they need as quickly as possible. To date, the Direct Relief nonprofit chatbot has responded to <strong>over 10,000 user messages.</strong></p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb974fdeacce_Direct Relief Chatbot Case Study Results.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1168" width="2080" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAIUlEQVR4nGNg0G9mEEyrPfp/4s3/DCCOWOaV//8v/f8PAIOBDKcWd+icAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>The chatbot also assists Direct Relief with their nonprofit marketing. For one, the bot helps facilitate nonprofit fundraising by engaging those who want to donate and directing them to the right place. Plus, the chatbot saves the Direct Relief team “<strong>dozens of hours each week</strong>—time that can be reinvested in our mission to serve those in need,” says Tony.</p>
<p>Tony shares a specific example of how the chatbot for Direct Relief helped an organization quickly get the supplies they needed to provide aid to others. 👇</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V3aPGnw9GSM"></iframe></figure>
<h2>Changing the world one chatbot at a time 💙</h2>
<p>The Direct Relief chatbot can get users the often crucial and even life-saving information they need immediately. As a result, it empowers the organization to accomplish their mission even more effectively.</p>
<p>Could your nonprofit also benefit from quicker response times, more donations and volunteers, and the other perks of a Messenger bot? Check out <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">this video tutorial</a> to see just how easy it is to build a no-code chatbot with Chatfuel. (After all, the function of Chatfuel is to make bot-building accessible to all!)</p>
<p>👉Then, <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com"><strong>sign up for your free account</strong></a>—no credit card, contracts, or previous experience required. When you’re ready to upgrade for more users and priority service, apply for Bots for Good. It’s our 1:1 matching program where we give approved 501c3 nonprofits double the chatbot users for free.</p>
<p><em>Building a chatbot to help with COVID-19 information or relief efforts? Learn about our free COVID-19 chatbot template for non profit charities.</em></p>

The Messenger chatbot for this non profit organization helps get life-saving aid to people in need.

Chatbot Helps Nonprofit Respond Immediately to Emergency Requests

<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.

How to Build a Free Chatbot for Customer Service

<h2>The Brand</h2>
<p>The Famous Grouse is a Scottish whisky brand founded in 1896. Their blend is one of the most popular in the world, and they’ve been the best-selling whisky in Scotland for over 40 years. This year, they released a new product: a limited-edition gift box featuring three of their hard-to-get blends (Ruby Cask, Wine Cask, and Bourbon Cask). They hired The Leith Agency, a full-service marketing agency, to help them market and sell their new offering as a Father’s Day gift.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DAlWAujLjlQ"></iframe></figure>
<h2>The Problem</h2>
<p>The team at <a href="https://leith.co.uk">The Leith Marketing Agency</a> knew that selling the gift box would require a different approach than <a href="https://www.thefamousgrouse.com/en">The Famous Grouse</a>’s typical campaigns. Normally, they target and speak to whisky drinkers with their marketing. This time, “we also needed to think about people who would be buying gifts for whisky drinkers,” explains Leith’s Head of Social Jamie McAdam. “This meant that they perhaps had less knowledge about whisky itself, the brand, or what we had to offer.”</p>
<p>So the team knew that product education had to be a key component of their strategy. But they also knew it had to take a more engaging form than “extra-long Facebook statuses,” in Jamie’s words. So instead, they created a series of <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/facebook-ads">Facebook ads</a> for the gift box using <a href="https://www.shopify.com/blog/facebook-ads-sequential-retargeting">sequential retargeting</a>. “This allowed us to tell a longer story, building in more information about the product with each ad,” Jamie says.</p>
<p>While the ads worked well to tease the product to shoppers, “we wanted an opportunity for a more in-depth customer experience,” explains Jamie. “We wanted a place where people could learn specific product details and strengthen their affinity with the brand.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We wanted a place where people could learn specific product details and strengthen their affinity with the brand.” — Jamie McAdam, The Leith Marketing Agency’s Head of Social</p>
</blockquote>
<p>‍</p>
<h2>The Solution</h2>
<p>The Leith team knew that this was the chance they had been waiting for. They’d been interested in trying out <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/6-reasons-marketing-agencies-should-offer-chatbot-services">conversational marketing for their clients</a> for a while, and this opportunity “ticked all the right boxes” for their first go. “Both the client and our team were keen to explore how <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/9-reasons-your-ecommerce-business-needs-a-chatbot">a chatbot could act as a new and innovative solution</a>,” Jamie tells us.</p>
<p>“After some initial research,” he continues, “Chatfuel stood out as <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/3882031-chatfuel-for-agencies-and-creators">the best option for this project.</a> The platform itself is easy to manage, no code skills required, and the level of support offered was just what we needed to take this project to the next level.”</p>
<p>The team ended up crafting a version of a gift-recommendation chatbot to lead people who were shopping for Father’s Day gifts towards the new product. “By being more conversational [with the ecommerce chatbot],” Jamie explains, “we could guide people through what the offering was and help them make a purchase decision.”</p>
<p>Here’s how the bot works:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>The bot welcomes the user</strong> 👋🏽The chatbot <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/welcome-message-best-practices">greets the user</a> and introduces itself as the Grouse, the whisky brand’s well-known and beloved icon. Its <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/chatbot-names">friendly, charming persona</a> makes users feel both comfortable and intrigued. (The Leith team also made sure to break up the text, add pauses, and include visuals to make for a more natural, streamlined conversational design.)</li>
<li><strong>The bot confirms the user’s interest</strong> ✅ It asks if they need help finding the perfect Father’s Day gift.</li>
<li><strong>The bot begins a</strong> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfmQvqtJN9Q"><strong>product-recommendation flow</strong></a>❓When the user confirms that they’re looking for a Father’s Day gift, the chatbot guides them through a series of questions. “Although the ultimate goal is always the same—to sell the gift box,” Jamie explains, “the questions helped make a clearer case for why it would be a good gift for that user’s dad in particular.”</li>
<li><strong>The user makes a purchase</strong> 🎁 Once the user is convinced that the gift box is the right choice for their Father’s Day gift, the Facebook Messenger chatbot sends them to the website to buy. Or, if they’re still unsure, they can choose to live chat with a human support agent instead. Either way, they’ll have traveled along the ecommerce sales funnel and will be likely to make a purchase from there.</li>
</ol>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb846bdead59_Product Recommendation Chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AP/796Sgn2lmZYmQlADisZJPPjcABAs1OTwA//v2qamqfYGDmJiYi5wTjZN9hTkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The Famous Grouse ad led to their product recommendation chatbot.</figcaption></figure>
<blockquote>
<p>“Chatfuel is incredibly easy to manage, no code skills required. And the level of support offered was just what we needed to take this project to the next level.” — Jamie McAdam</p>
</blockquote>
<p>‍</p>
<h2>The Recipe</h2>
<p>The Leith team focused on these key tools and features to build the Messenger chatbot for The Famous Grouse:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/828883-keywords"><strong>AI rules</strong></a>. AI, or artificial intelligence, was key to the success of this Facebook chatbot. First, the Leith team created a few basic AI rules, including an option to return users to the start of the chat experience if anything “went wrong.” Then, they brainstormed other questions or comments users might send during the chat, like mentioning other whisky brands, “swearing/being cheeky,” and questions about the box itself or about shipping. They added AI rules so the bot could properly respond to all of these scenarios. After launch, they continued to watch out for where users were getting stuck and added more rules to remove those friction points.</li>
</ul>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F-lO4dAujjg"></iframe></figure>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat"><strong>Live chat</strong></a>. The Leith team used the live chat feature as a sort of net to catch any users who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks. If a user completed the product-recommendation flow but had other questions or still wasn’t sure about buying, they had the option to then initiate a live chat session. From there, a human would take over to resolve their queries, so no sales opportunity would be lost and no user would be abandoned.</li>
</ul>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb87f2deac64_image-5.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="371" width="645" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/APLu7Nzc3PX09N/e3gAOHyrHx8jn5+fV1NX82hK5gu9e8QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/create-click-to-messenger-ads-to-drive-traffic-to-your-bot"><strong>Click-to-Messenger ads</strong></a>. The team ran click-to-Messenger ads to attract prospects to the Facebook chatbot. (This ad type appears in a user’s feed and directs them immediately to a conversation with the bot in Messenger.) “These ads meant less effort for users to take part, and they proved to be a much more effective way of acquiring new prospects on the media budget we had available,” says Jamie.</li>
</ul>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tjKqCie3IsA"></iframe></figure>
<p>Another tool that was crucial to the success of The Famous Grouse’s chatbot: <a href="https://youtu.be/ZIUTFnRyJZI">excellent copy</a>. First, the Leith team’s copywriters made sure all the bot’s content <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/craft-a-brand-voice-that-converts">matched the voice and tone</a> of the brand’s mascot, the Grouse itself. They created a user experience that was consistently warm, welcoming, and on-brand throughout.</p>
<p>Finally, the team also made sure to closely monitor the Facebook chatbot’s performance stats so they could iterate and optimize. Shortly after launch, “we could see where [in the flow] certain users were stopping,” Jamie explains. “So we implemented a flow that provided them with three new areas of information: price, shipping, and the box itself.” Following these edits, the conversion rate increased.</p>
<h2>The Results</h2>
<p>The detailed work the Leith team put into The Famous Grouse’s Messenger chatbot and its conversational commerce campaign paid off in a big way. It earned their client an <strong>on-site conversion rate of 24%</strong>. That means virtually a quarter of users who chatted with the bot ended up purchasing the gift box! 👏🏼 (The shoppers who went from the bot to the website also spent the longest average time on the page.) Before the chatbot, the Facebook video ads the team created were earning 8% conversions at their peak. So when the chatbot marketing campaign <strong>tripled the client’s conversion rates</strong> compared to the ads, the Leith team knew they’d hit the jackpot.</p>
<p>These results “showed us that people who came to the website from the chatbot were much more informed about the product, what it offered, and how it worked, and were therefore more likely to purchase,” explains Jamie. The goal of using the chatbot for ecommerce product education was a definite success.</p>
<p>Lastly, we asked Jamie what his team has planned for future campaigns with the bot. “We’re very pleased with how it performed,” he tells us, “and we’re now looking at ways it can play an additional role alongside our social advertising campaigns.”</p>
<h2>Chatbot marketing success—on the rocks 🥃</h2>
<p>The conversational marketing campaign for The Famous Grouse shows just how impactful online ecommerce chatbots can be for businesses. They’re an incredibly engaging way to educate shoppers about your products so they’re primed and ready to buy. The result: more sales for you (or your client)!</p>
<p>Whether you’re an ecommerce business owner or an agency with ecommerce clients, the key function of Chatfuel is to help you earn results like these.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>For ecommerce</strong> <strong>merchants</strong> 🛒 <a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Sign up for a free Chatfuel account</a> to get started with chatbot marketing today. (Then <a href="https://chatfuel.com/pricing">upgrade to Pro</a> for more perks as you grow, including priority support and no user limits!)</li>
</ul>

A marketing agency helped The Famous Grouse to market and sell their new offering as a Father's Day gift.