Guest Experts

Use cases

Entertainment

<p>Every social media manager says you should add interactive posts into your content strategy to increase the engagement rate. Not only to have better statistics but to sell more and become closer to your customers. And marketing analysts prove this: recent research <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43039-021-00035-8">showed</a> that “engaged customers display greater brand loyalty and satisfaction, and are more likely to contribute to new product development, service innovation and viral marketing activity spread by word of mouth.”</p>
<p>But, it’s hard to engage the followers if you don’t think up anything new. So, we collected nine examples of engaging posts for Instagram showing promising results. Use them as your inspiration, adapt them to your brand, shake up your usual posting process and reap the fruits of your ideas.</p>
<h2>Secrets of good engagement</h2>
<p>Before posting interactive content, take a look at the rules applied to all types of engaging posts:</p>
<ul>
<li>Don’t post them too often to keep the followers surprised. Remember that you don’t sell at once with such posts, and you won’t get comments in a few days after posting a piece of interactive content. So save your resources.</li>
<li>Don’t ask customers to do random activities or actions when you run games in socials. Instead, slightly nudge them to mention your product or to share the values of your brand with their followers.</li>
<li>Ask to follow easy steps. The easier the rules, the more comments you’ll receive. For example, asking to tag a friend in comments is better than demanding visitors to go through several steps, like following your page, leaving a like and tagging a friend. But, sometimes, thought-through comments are needed.</li>
</ul>
<p>Explore the best practices below to understand which approach is better for your case.</p>
<h2>9 examples for interactive content on social media</h2>
<h3>Take what you need</h3>
<p>Shopify published a post with options users can take as if they see tear-off ads hanging on a lamppost. They mixed options for business and private life to grasp a bigger audience.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post Shopify" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c942061530b631aa45b_67f041139170cffd2ddeb7b758778d16497a5feefe0dffefdad732e386c222aac209bdbd1558a017ccd673087e11bf6c9c85e5fb0b5db3080b44209590593c339a4315a0ce26a0aecc625f0becd3c99bb2eb46a0cb95792ddfa04b8a0bf8be8f34ad0399.jpeg" height="1267" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nGPYOEPn0FJ7BmsGHgsGEQYXbgYbBgaGx9en/f+6EQBvDQkv6IoKNQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Such design takes very little time but gives good engagement.</p>
<p>To adapt the idea to your brand:</p>
<ul>
<li>Write the list of effects your product or service delivers to clients. For example, strong hair, freshness, rich scent — if you sell shampoos.</li>
<li>List the products or services you provide. For example, a full-body massage, uniform tanning, fresh manicure — if you run a beauty salon.</li>
<li>The values your brand broadcasts. For example, consciousness, sympathy, cooperation — if you’re a non-commercial organization helping someone.</li>
</ul>
<p>To encourage the followers to leave comments, ask them to choose a thing from their wishlist and tag a partner or a friend using @ so they know what the person wants. Or say you collect statistics about your clients and will share the results with everyone, so every comment matters. Another thing you can do is to make options funny. So you won’t have to ask people to tag their friends — they’ll share the post just to make other people laugh.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>The first words you see</h3>
<p>This is Olie asked followers to find three words in a set of letters. They devoted the post to the skills the followers should practice as the brand provides training programs and clothes and stands for self-improvement.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post Olie" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c95a73c187d852982a1_e7b3922f4da1e814c236eeff8ead069fe1ab6767f1973355f20df8cc66dc39664d458bdb932cbf2f35926bb0f8b0c328297de187d81b8030fe6665b438c505854378f5d4f67981bed38c6492bd61da6d95f46799f09d4592890c5f921dc5f7a81143c84b.jpeg" height="1152" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAMUlEQVR4nGNgsIji0fdU9cxkEBMx5WdRE+QzZAjV9Yg1DQjT9WI4cfzE08dPf3z9DgCjeg0337AMwwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Add your brand logo to the design to prevent author’s rights infringement.</p>
<p>To adapt the idea to your brand:</p>
<ol>
<li>Create a list of words connected with your brand, values, or products.</li>
<li>Place them in the square vertically and horizontally.</li>
<li>Randomly fill in the whole square with letters. Make sure you didn’t create new words out of your list.</li>
</ol>
<p>To get more attention to your interactive post, ask the followers to tag friends in the comments to get them playing in the game. Or promise to create a giveaway and give them a small reward for a random comment.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>A simple question to the audience</h3>
<p>People like talking about themselves and sharing their success and news. So, sometimes you can effortlessly get hundreds of comments just by asking your audience a simple question.</p>
<p>Girlboss simply asked the followers whether they have any good news to share and gathered 366 comments. The followers shared their news, tagged friends, and exchanged positive comments with each other.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post: simple question" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c95d486a0eb59a21fdf_afe0ced47eb645e114b1d25b8776b49840b090cd4854ee012adae85e90430fa52953fee2ac8c12d481b966181da5409e172333640b1d93f793c264dce26bdc18bbb1c29e782ec81cdd51edf2b573431948d42acd4718c645720edd4bb0c1067f8cef0881.jpeg" height="1267" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nGPILFP4/m8jg5ouw5RpeQxmLgwF1ZoMQgIiV6/eAACNZgnX/TNMTQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Experiment with the design: make a screenshot from Twitter, add a sticker from Instagram stories, or call the post a “Honorous board” to get more attention.</p>
<p>The sphere of your business shapes which questions to ask — they should be connected with your brand. But there are questions suitable for everyone:</p>
<ul>
<li>Which three things inspired you today?</li>
<li>What do you think about the (latest event)?</li>
<li>Which (product) do you like the most?</li>
<li>What’s your superpower?</li>
<li>If you win $1 million, how would you spend it?</li>
</ul>
<p>Make sure it’s easy to answer to your questions, and you ask for a little effort or provide options.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>Relatable meme</h3>
<p>Memes gather all likes, comments, and tags if they’re relatable. Think of a meme or a catchy phrase that makes people laugh and share.</p>
<p>A Swedish fintech company Klarna posts memes relatable to their followers. They write comments that they think or feel the same and tag their friends. They connect the memes with shopping as it’s their sphere.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post meme" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c94127362c94abd65a4_a5e0043d2196c83032db73a561fcfda1cdc601ccb6bb0c403142cf0244fc66c33a878e70db79da069ddc35e90fca9092bbde4589db79f380062348e4913fdc345ccdf2ba777af66b498e4720736b3dc681f7a97fe5312be746df1c6c6e8e2f65c8f12bb1.jpeg" height="1082" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/ACUAAMKvq25MZwBMNjT2/PyHYWwAnY2H3N7dZ0FCAKObmK2ko6iYm1tAEzLJOYf/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Get even more likes and comments — create a funny illustration or take a popular meme and adapt it to your brand.</p>
<p>If you need help and inspiration in meme creation, use meme generators:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://imgflip.com/memegenerator">ImgFlip</a> — a vast library of popular memes. Take them as a template or upload your picture, add the text and customize it. View the most popular memes in a special section to know what’s popular now.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.kapwing.com">Kapwing</a> — a more complex meme builder for those who want to create them like a pro. Here you can create not only an image but a video, add emojis, control the picture using layers, record the screen, and add transitions, audio, and different elements.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.canva.com/create/memes">Canva</a> — a free meme generator that allows editing popular memes available in the app library. They offer over 5000 meme templates and two mln watermark-free images.</li>
</ul>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>This or that</h3>
<p>People adore voting, sharing their opinion, and waiting for the results to know who won. So, give them such an opportunity — ask the followers to choose between:</p>
<ul>
<li>products,</li>
<li>flavors,</li>
<li>colors,</li>
<li>looks,</li>
<li>shops at different addresses.</li>
</ul>
<p>A clothes brand, “Her Treasures Boutique,” regularly publishes posts where they ask to choose one of two looks on the same model. They get comments, involve users, and show the product. People write “A” or “B” in the comments, increasing the engagement rate.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post: voting" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c95d486a07d79a21fe0_fc51245416103d961eae60a5feb24b3b6736b9694c2894b325ca564d22441637b14ba35c188633da0032c21ffa8bc6eb7cc30a864274a9ee9c06ed1e711aefe869cea70f07f1834c28a6ae5ae2a4a4a1eaed08974a7b9a0798b7aba567fd926ca8a5e448.jpeg" height="1267" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nGN4/erVh/fvGQSYGRgFmBj8tfWCzU0ZPrz7/P/vfwCtjAznnljLswAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>And don’t forget to leave the shopping tags to lead the followers to make an order.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>Guess the product</h3>
<p>This game works well only with the existing customers or loyal followers as they know your brand and product range. Ask them to guess which product you propounded, give hints for the novelties, and check whether your audience knows the differences between your products.</p>
<p>Coca-Cola asked followers to guess which flavor was hidden. They hid two words plus gave facts that followers may not know. You can take this approach as an example and test it for your followers.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post: the game" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c95bc2be18bc66afb52_d7c535d611332208abd3d2da0d6e72ed2daaeed63e111a659636df9d01caefa4f528e1de9465c55c654535e1b51cb943e270625d12885cc03daec475eb2f14dfb15db76c1074704a368ce90c4971f7c3b2a3c8a5605c78e1da9d3027c9692fa7940f913e.jpeg" height="1118" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/AJuFfsy6t/Xv5ABOPTVnWllkVkoAIwAAgG1uJAEAAMCwq/Th3v/v7mmTEs9rg0dKAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>And don’t forget about the hints — you’ll get more comments.</p>
<p>To increase the engaging effect, offer discounts and give a reward to one of the participants. But don’t reward a person who answered the first — others won’t be motivated to participate.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>Match</h3>
<p>Add a few columns and lines to make them cross. Put products, flavors, or services recommendations in these squares. Such “matches” make people feel that the recommendation is personalized and increases leads and sells. To adapt it to your brand:</p>
<ol>
<li>Choose a few products or services you want to focus your followers’ attention on.</li>
<li>Write short characteristics for them.</li>
<li>Match them with anything simple: favorite color, weather, or mood.</li>
</ol>
<p>Starbucks offers followers to guess what their spring will bring. They are to choose a favorite drink and their spring vibe to get an answer. Most of the followers write their results in the comments. Starbucks got 452 comments on this post.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post Starbucks" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c951496aea1c437da11_4c8f2c6c1539758cf13ddd56d3784a17f85e370e4f697ca4fdb450e168b9f99aa2cbba641a34cd5636475da7455a6e7fda3f64f54090222ac006503466f5eba9ae1369b690b44ca1d9964d19a0096818a0f935e7cfe6ec3f352806ff38239c43ecb7bbaf.jpeg" height="1149" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/AKqsq766vdzU2ADAwrwJDgABAwAAtLKsbm4va20nAJOTk8LAwu/u8IwqE/4Jf3IQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Don’t forget to ask for comment on the results.</p>
<p>Motivate the followers to leave the comments — say they’ll find co-thinkers or that you do the research and will show the results later.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>Tag a friend</h3>
<p>Sometimes people tag their friends without asking when they want to share the post and don’t send it to DM. But if your followers aren’t used to tagging — ask them to do it a few times to create a habit. Their tags help you grow the audience faster for free — don’t ignore this instrument.</p>
<p>HelloFresh asked followers to tag a friend the followers love more than food topped with melted cheese. They got 38 comments. People tagged their friends and wrote “definitely!”, “hahaha you” and “hey bestie lol.”</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post: tag a friend" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c966f5bad0ae7e5c2d1_c91f98267af7f0ccad410f225a6d34984e4eda373e70a141bc6bf53622e1a490c098332c52160de37a013e072b4adb6754f6bf27b3211a228114815ac8b613e944dd2f3e5593a25964d316f01b3bb8f22722e9c863a6b74cfc3ba8cb59e8b5658d172d82.jpeg" height="1224" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJElEQVR4nGPwSnLOaKxnYBBiUDXQZRDW4tX3cGHYvW/vt98/AVzxCRH8qa/uAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>Support the picture with a good joke to make closer contact with the followers.</p>
<p>Make sure you create a positive post, and a tag will make your followers’ friends smile or laugh. This way, you connect people’s good feelings with your brand, and there’s a bigger chance your followers’ friends will become your customers.</p>
<p>‍</p>
<h3>Giveaways</h3>
<p>Don’t wait that people who subscribe to you during the giveaway will stay with you for a long. So don’t try to increase the audience with giveaways; use them for engagement and organic growth.</p>
<p>To create an engaging giveaway, think of a unique algorithm. Don’t ask users to write emojis and numbers — it asks too little effort from the users. Ask intriguing questions instead.</p>
<p>Daisy, a jewelry brand from London, posted a giveaway on the 8th of March. They ask to tag inspirational women in the comments and share the stories of why these women are inspirational. They got 652 comments and warm stories and then chose a winner from the comments.</p>
<figure><img alt="example for interactive post: giveaway" src="/cms/static/blog/62680c96e78044aa3ed5e930_c1b3652eddf714f90c32f95503be1d925495cf19954d6653cbc3106d297d29dc1497a910d09bf69dedd6f8b2f2d2b48493746613c89553add7f330603bc69285b42359d39e0c88f88f5078f80f64b2c5890af6c1a4c7fb199a99bf3f42d7961d6e597874.jpeg" height="1270" width="750" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAIAAAAECAIAAAArjXluAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJ0lEQVR4nAEcAOP/ALWvqffy6wAtHxYjFQkAnpeRr6ehAGNjZPr6+7TZDVswrz9SAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"></figure>
<p>It’s better to say it’s a giveaway in the picture to catch more attention to it.</p>
<p>To make the giveaway even more engaging:</p>
<ol>
<li>Choose a winner not randomly but for the best comment.</li>
<li>Ask the followers and their friends to put likes on the best comments.</li>
<li>Announce the deadline and see who got more votes.</li>
</ol>
<p>It works as there’s more competition, and while putting likes, people read each other’s thoughts, find new friends, and comment on the comments.</p>
<p>Also, make a screenshot of the results when the deadline comes to prove everything is fair. And if you choose a winner randomly, make a screencast of the process and share it in Stories or the post with the results.</p>
<h2>Turn the engaged followers into customers</h2>
<p>Gathering comments isn’t enough if you want a better conversion and increased sales. Chatfuel automation allows <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/automatically-respond-instagram-comments">answering all questions automatically</a>, creates a CRM from users’ comments, and helps to lead the followers further to the marketing funnel. Connect your Instagram page with Chatfuel no-code automation builder and start the first 50 conversations for free.</p>

Secret of good engagement: read about best examples for interactive content on social media and adapt this ideas to your brand.

9 ideas you can steal for interactive posts on social media in 2022

Dmytro Kot

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><strong>Challenges that business faces</strong></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/posts/cut-operational-costs-with-messenger-bot?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">turn out to be unqualified</a> or miss their chance with high-intent prospects.</p>
<p><strong>Personalizing experience</strong> <strong>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/?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">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/posts/future-of-chatbots-based-on-data?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">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><div><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"></div><figcaption>Users see interactive buttons in your Messenger bot</figcaption></figure>
<h2><strong>How does a chatbot work</strong></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/posts/add-a-messenger-chatbot-to-your-website?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">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?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">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><strong>Chatbot lead generation examples</strong></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>
<h4><strong>1. Nissan dealership, Israel</strong></h4>
<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>
<p><strong>Results</strong></p>
<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/posts/nissan-sells-cars-using-messenger-bot?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">Nissan case study.</a></p>
<h4><strong>2. Real estate and insurance lead generation: Tacobot</strong></h4>
<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>
<p><strong>Results</strong></p>
<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/posts/marketing-agency-uses-messenger-bots-to-deliver-high-quality-leads-for-clients?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Flead-generation-on-autopilot">Tacobot case study</a><em>.</em></p>
<h2><strong>Put your business lead generation on autopilot</strong></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?utm_landing=blog-posts%2Fhellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot&lng=en">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

Joren Wouters 

Wondering how to increase customer loyalty so you can grow your business? Guest expert Joren Wouters shares how to build a loyalty chatbot.

How to Build a Customer Loyalty Chatbot to Get More Repeat Customers

Features

<p>You’re probably already familiar with the <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/top-9-reasons-your-business-needs-a-chatbot">most common uses for chatbots</a>. They can help businesses do things like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Answer FAQs instantly, 24/7</li>
<li>Generate and qualify leads</li>
<li>Recommend products</li>
<li>Move shoppers down the funnel</li>
</ul>
<p>But what many business owners and marketers don’t know is that chatbots can help with other areas of your business too. They can help improve SEO, skyrocket digital ad performance, boost customer retention, and lots more. So whether your business already has a chatbot or you’re considering building one, scroll to learn about several extra perks they can bring to your brand.</p>
<h2>#1. Chatbots can decrease your website’s bounce rate for SEO</h2>
<p><strong>Bounce rate</strong> is the percentage of a website’s visitors who only visit a single page on the site before leaving. While these statistics don’t count toward your search rankings per se, websites that appear higher on Google do <a href="https://backlinko.com/search-engine-ranking">tend to have lower bounce rates</a>.</p>
<p>Website abandonment is a real issue, especially for online merchants. In fact, the average ecommerce site experiences [bounce rates <a href="https://www.similarweb.com/corp/blog/bounce-rate/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20you%20should%20expect,average%20between%2045%25%2D65%25.)">of around 42%</a>. Why? Because typically, websites with high bounce rates have user experience (UX) issues. Their pages often aren’t intuitively designed, which makes it difficult for visitors to navigate. And if people have to spend too much time trying to find what they want, they’ll simply go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Chatbots can help decrease bounce rates by offering navigation help from the get-go. You can <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/add-a-messenger-chatbot-to-your-website">add a chatbot to your website</a> and set it up to ask questions that get straight to the heart of a customer’s issue. From there, it can point them in the right direction—whether that’s to an information page, a product page, or even <a href="https://docs.chatfuel.com/en/articles/849315-live-chat">to a live agent.</a></p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb5024dead06_Chatbot on website.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1394" width="2650" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAABYlAAAWJQFJUiTwAAAAI0lEQVR4nGPg5OGXYGAw1VL+/es/g6KS8uwJffNmzThx6AYAWwEKBBXmoAYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>Leeds-Beckett University offers a chatbot on their homepage to help visitors navigate the site.</figcaption></figure>
<p>As Nicolina Savelli, Wily Global’s Content and Social Media Marketer, <a href="https://databox.com/how-to-reduce-your-websites-bounce-rate">explains</a>: <em>“[Chatbots] dramatically decreased our bounce rate to 2%. […] The option forced users to browse longer and ask questions, rather than bouncing off the page.”</em></p>
<h2>#2. Chatbots can increase session duration for SEO</h2>
<p><strong>Session duration</strong> is the amount of time that people spend on your website before returning to the SERP (search engine results page). Google uses session duration to help rank your website. Longer website sessions, for example, show the algorithm that your website’s information is relevant to the search that led the visitor to it.</p>
<p><a href="https://drift.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2020-State-of-Conversational-Marketing.pdf">39% of B2B marketers</a> already say that conversational marketing techniques like chatbots will increase the time visitors spend on your website. It’s similar to how Messenger bots decrease bounce rate: they can help customers find the information they’re looking for more easily (and maybe some extra information they didn’t know they needed).</p>
<p>Visitors can ask for help on specific problems and chatbots will provide personalized answers that guide users to the correct information. Or, if the visitor isn’t looking to solve a specific problem, chatbots can help increase their session duration by asking them a few questions and recommending relevant content.</p>
<h2>#3. Chatbots can improve your customer service ratings</h2>
<p>For local businesses, reviews are the <a href="https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors">third most important ranking factor</a> if you want to make the cut for <a href="https://www.rankranger.com/seo-glossary/local-pack">Google’s Local Pack</a>. And even if your business isn’t geared toward local services, reviews still feature as <a href="https://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors">a top Google ranking factor</a> since they boost your site’s reputation.</p>
<p>Improving the customer experience is one way to get positive reviews on sites like TrustPilot and Yelp as well as on your Facebook page—and the keys to a great customer experience are <strong>personalization</strong> and <strong>speed</strong>. <a href="https://www.evergage.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Evergage-2018-Trends-in-Personalization-Survey.pdf">88% of marketers</a> agree that customers have come to expect personalized service. And if it’s not available immediately, they’re likely to abandon your brand for the competition.</p>
<p>Messenger chatbots can improve your customer service in both of these areas. First, thanks to user attributes, bots can personalize the conversation with everything from the user’s name and time zone to preferences they’ve shared in past chats. And, of course, chatbots are available to answer questions instantly, 24 hours a day. <a href="https://www.intercom.com/blog/the-state-of-chatbots">Studies show</a> that they can boost customer satisfaction by a quarter and speed up response times by 300%.</p>
<p>Look at the HelloFresh chatbot, for example. Their “Freddie FreshBot” <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/how-to-turn-facebook-post-commenters-into-customers">automatically messages customers who leave comments</a> on HelloFresh’s Facebook posts. From there, the bot can answer questions, share coupon codes, and suggest recipes.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb3a81dead07_Hellofresh chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1046" width="1600" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAMklEQVR4nAEnANj/AP7+/uTm5dzg4Nvk6gC/wsRgX1YOAAA1JyQA7e/wxcTCtK+r2dTS+yMYe3SxhA0AAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The HelloFresh chatbot has improved the brand's customer service.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The result? HelloFresh’s <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/hellofresh-reduces-support-wait-times-with-chatfuel-messenger-bot">response times are down 76%</a>, which leads to lots of satisfied customers, as you can see from the <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/review/hellofresh.com">24,000 five-star reviews</a> HelloFresh now has.</p>
<h2>#4. Chatbot data can inform your content marketing strategy</h2>
<p><a href="https://respona.com/blog/content-marketing-blogs">Content marketing</a> is one of the most powerful ways to <a href="https://userp.io/organic-business-growth">improve your search rankings</a>. By identifying important questions that your target audience may have and answering them through great content, you demonstrate the authority and expertise of your brand. By optimizing this content with keywords related to these issues, you push your site up search engine rankings.</p>
<p>While keyword research can certainly help you find out what your customers are searching for, it’s sometimes easier to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. That’s where chatbots come in, because they can directly learn more about what users need and are looking for through a friendly back-and-forth conversation or quiz. Right now, only <a href="https://www.intercom.com/blog/the-state-of-chatbots">22% of organizations</a> are using chatbots to collect data. That means 78% are missing a huge opportunity to better inform their <a href="https://getcodeless.com/content-marketing-companies">content marketing strategies</a>!</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb4c3edead08_iPhone 11.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="788" width="940" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAIAAAA7ljmRAAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAL0lEQVR4nGP4/Pmzk5OTopzq58+fGV68eOHj48PLL3Dnzh2G////29ra8QryAGUAiosT8Z9aYrEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>A food blogger could use a chatbot to find out what people are most interested in, and then optimize her blog accordingly.</figcaption></figure>
<p>By collecting chatbot data, you’ll be able to discover the most commonly asked questions and biggest challenges that your customers face. These takeaways can guide your content strategy so that you have a clearer idea of the types of articles, guides, <a href="https://www.richterstudios.com/video-production/corporate-video-production">product videos</a>, etc. that your customers will find useful. In turn, you’ll end up ranking higher for key search terms that are relevant to solving problems within your specific target audience.</p>
<h2>#5. Chatbot data can improve your social media ad performance and ROI</h2>
<p>We’ve already discussed how chatbots are great tools for getting to know your customers better. The good news is that this customer data can also help improve the performance of your social media ads. The more you learn about your audience, the more precisely you can target them.</p>
<p>Take Beauty Player, a Taiwan-based ecommerce shop for skincare products. At first, their ads were expensive and underperforming. But then <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/beauty-startup-sells-more-with-messenger-bot">they launched a chatbot</a> and started gathering data about their users that way. They used that data to create custom and Lookalike audiences for their Facebook ads. The result? The brand reduced their cost per conversion by more than half — from $8.30 to $4.06 —and got a 10x return on ad spend.</p>
<figure><iframe allowfullscreen src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O5HmJtC1A4M"></iframe><figcaption>Learn how to instantly send data about your chatbot users to Facebook Ads Manager to create Lookalike audiences.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>#6. Chatbots can encourage social sharing</h2>
<p>Your social media strategy should strive to increase brand awareness by encouraging your audience to share your content for you. Known as the “snowball effect,” you’ll gain more traction when your fans share your posts since your content will then seen by their audiences too. It’s one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness quickly.</p>
<p>To get this effect started, <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">build a chatbot</a> that serves a useful purpose to your target audience. Then, encourage them to share the link to the Facebook bot with their friends, who are typically like-minded individuals.</p>
<p>The Taiwanese political party, Can’t Stop This Party, used this technique to great success. Founded by young people, the party wanted to urge other young voters to take part in the election. <a href="https://youtu.be/D4n6VLQHE5U">They created a Messenger chatbot</a> that educates voters on the issues and reminds them to head to the polls on election day. The helpful, engaging, and interactive bot was a huge success with its initial user base, so those people shared it. As a result, more than 40,000 youth turned out to vote in the elections! That’s the power of social sharing.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb08a5deac7b_Social sharing chatbot.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1168" width="2080" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAACCAIAAADwyuo0AAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAJUlEQVR4nAEaAOX/AJvQ+f75/+705+Hu6ACwqKDrx+VLI0EOAgAATBAp5StJLwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The chatbot that Can't Stop This Party created to encourage young people to vote was a success, because its initial users shared it with their friends.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>#7. Chatbots can boost customer retention</h2>
<p>Acquiring new customers can get expensive, since it’s common knowledge that you need <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/the-ultimate-guide-to-prospecting-how-many-touchpoints-when-and-what-type#:~:text=With%20this%20in%20mind%2C%20eight,might%20be%20right%20for%20another.)">eight touch points</a> with a prospect before you’ll get the sale. Of course, customer acquisition needs to be a part of every business’s strategy. But retention should be too, since it’s cheaper and more efficient to focus on recapturing past customers who have already proven they liked your product or service.</p>
<p>Netting return customers relies on a range of factors, including how well you know them, how personalized your services are, and how slick your sales process is.</p>
<ul>
<li>Let’s consider <strong>personalization</strong> first. Nowadays, <a href="https://www.redpointglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/RedPoint-Gaps-in-CX-White-Paper_3.20.19.pdf">most consumers</a> expect businesses to personalize their services. That’s why <a href="https://www.yieldify.com/ebooks/personalization-after-covid-19">most brands</a> are now using personalization techniques in their customer retention strategies. And, as we’ve discussed, chatbots are ideal for this. In using more personalized customer service interactions like bots, <a href="https://info.ada.support/hubfs/Ada%20Content%20Assets/Ada_Forrester%20Opportunity%20Snapshot.pdf?utm_campaign=Forrester%20Ops%20Report&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=72058063&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_8dT3oFjo4tn0ZHnVAyoxnnQtGBh32IKMbpzmJKYgR-9vP9tI1a8ZL9PFhhl_AHLgxJd_xFFHeUoC_phoeoD6Rfn2FDA&utm_content=72058063&utm_source=hs_automation">over half of business leaders</a> have found that they’ve ended up with more loyal customers.</li>
<li>Secondly, consider the <strong>user</strong> <strong>experience</strong> of your sales process. Is it easy to buy (and buy again) from your brand? Consider that <a href="http://f9e7d91e313f8622e557-24a29c251add4cb0f3d45e39c18c202f.r83.cf1.rackcdn.com/RTP_RT208_SURV_CustomerAcquisitionRetention_July_2019_Final.pdf">a third of retailers</a> say it’s hard to retain customers due to their long sales cycles. What’s the correlation? It’s simple: Customers don’t want to buy from companies who make it difficult to purchase their products. The process needs to be fast, smooth, and efficient for the shopper.</li>
</ul>
<p>That’s where chatbots come in again. Messenger bots have the power to ease friction in the buying process, making it easy for customers to buy again. Check out <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/ecommerce-entrepreneur-uses-chatfuel-bot-to-automate-over-100-000-in-sales">the story of Photobooth Deluxe</a>, for example. Recognizing that 95% of its customers <a href="https://www.freshbooks.com/blog/facebook">came through Facebook</a>, the photobooth company switched out its slow, manual ordering method for a super-efficient Facebook chatbot which can handle the whole process. In doing this, the brand was able to automate over $100,000 of orders within a few months, all because their bot made the repeat-buying process easy for customers.</p>
<figure><img src="/cms/static/blog/60afa6a88bd1bb7546dead09_Chatbot ordering process.png" loading="lazy" alt="" height="1040" width="820" blurDataURL="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAMAAAAECAIAAADETxJQAAAACXBIWXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAM0lEQVR4nAEoANf/AI+Rk7S0tuvq6wDLzc2IiIjz8/MAsLKzDg4N5ubmAN7d3n2BhePk5PZAGR+9uKzVAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC" placeholder="blur"><figcaption>The photobooth company's chatbot reminds repeat customers when it's time to reorder printer supplies, and lets them complete the order in a few taps.</figcaption></figure>
<h2>A chatbot is a multi-purpose tool for your business</h2>
<p>As you can see, the function of a Chatfuel bot reaches far beyond simple customer service inquiries. Chatbots can now help to inform, shape, and amplify your SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and more to help you boost brand awareness and drive sales.</p>
<p><a href="https://dashboard.chatfuel.com">Sign up for your free Chatfuel account</a> to start building a Messenger chatbot for your business today. Then, when you’re ready for priority support and unlimited users, <a href="https://chatfuel.com/pricing">upgrade to Pro</a>. Happy botting!  🤖</p>
<p><em>This post comes to you from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannecamarce">Joanne Camarce</a>, a digital marketing expert specializing in SEO, ecommerce, and social media.</em></p>

Chatbots are known for answering questions and boosting sales, but they can also help with SEO, content marketing, ads, and more.

7 Hidden Benefits of Chatbots, from Improving SEO to Informing Content Strategy

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><div><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"></div><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://try.chatfuel.com/instagram">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/posts/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><div><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"></div><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><div><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"></div><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/posts/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-ai-setup">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 <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/posts/build-ai-chatbots">set up Dialogflow</a> 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/posts/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><div><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"></div><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/posts/sponsored-messages-guide-to-reengaging-chatbot-subscribers">sponsored messages</a> and <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/posts/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/posts/use-instagram-ads-to-bring-users-to-your-dms-or-your-messenger-bot?clid=_jXrNVtAnPWGOU2sq-odX&abt=">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-asset-guide">gallery cards</a>, images, GIFs, and sequences in the recipe tutorials. User attributes and <a href="https://chatfuel.com/blog/posts/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><div><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"></div><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

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