14 Apr
How Conversational AI is transforming Digital Marketing
With customer experience (CX) becoming a critical deciding factor in the choice of brand, organizations are looking at ways to engage with customers across all digital marketing platforms.
As customers increasingly demand round-the-clock access to information, social media and instant messaging apps replace phones and email. Companies, particularly FMCG brands, have started responding by implementing conversational AI experiences.
Mark Zuckerberg once said, We think that you should just be able to message a business in the same way that you message a friend. You should get a quick response. And it shouldn’t take your full attention like a phone call would. And you shouldn’t have to install a new app.
Conversational AI chatbots leverage machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to mimic real people and hold human-like conversations with customers. Chatbots embed easily in day-to-day messaging apps. They are reliable and accurate and enable companies to interact with their customers all-day. Moreover, they are intelligent. Capabilities like dialog management and sentiment analysis help chatbots gauge context and customer emotions and respond to their needs better.
Conversational AI bots help customers seek information, purchase products and services, and enable brands to push the latest offers and marketing campaigns.
Let’s understand further how conversational AI is transforming digital marketing.
Revolutionizing digital marketing with Conversational AI
1. Access information and perform simple tasks
As seen above, conversational AI chatbots are available 24X7, provide instant answers, and can be deployed on multiple channels.
They can answer simple customer queries, such as, “What is the status of my flight” or “When will my order reach me” or “Is this car available in red.” Moreover, they can handle multiple requests simultaneously, easing the burden off support staff and helping organizations provide quick, interactive support at scale. Additionally, chatbots can be used to execute customer requests, like booking a hotel room, transferring money from one account to the other, etc.
2. Educate customers on how to use the product
Recently, organizations have started using chatbots to recommend how customers can use the product or service.
Take this example – Quaker Oats, a famous food brand, uses its Facebook Messenger brand called Otis to recommend oats recipes, set reminders for overnight oats, and assist customers with online shopping. Users may use a combination of text and emojis to discover new ingredients and recipes.
3. Update customers about new products and offers
Brands can leverage AI-enabled chatbots to study customer profiles and proactively inform them about the new products, latest offers on products they may be interested in, upcoming sales, tailored product recommendations, etc.
Such services add a new dimension to their marketing endeavors and go a long way in building brand loyalty.
4. Capture customer feedback
To improve product design and quality, make meaningful adjustments in the product development process, and adapt to evolving customer needs, organizations can use conversational AI chatbots to capture customer suggestions and feedback.
Feedback may be in the form of a 1-10 rating scale, or the chatbot may request the customer to provide a written review, or else the customer may upload product images and videos.
The current scenario
Organizations deploy chatbots on various messaging apps and platforms, the most popular being Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and official company websites.
With over 300,000 active bots on Messenger and approximately 1 million new WhatsApp users every day, Deloitte predicts that by 2022, “we’ll be talking to bots more often than we talk to our own spouses.”
5 Examples of companies using conversational AI in their marketing mix
1. POND’s
We, at Acuvate, built POND’s Facebook Messenger bot called SAL that was launched across nine countries. SAL leverages augmented reality to provide skincare recommendations across four areas – pimples, wrinkles, spots, and uneven skin tone. Customers need to upload a selfie, post which SAL gives a personalized skin diagnosis and recommends products accordingly. SAL managed a 98% positive customer review, with the brand generating 15 times higher purchase intent.
2. Adidas
Adidas added an exciting element to its marketing mix with its “Rent-a-Pred” chatbot on WhatsApp to assist recreational football teams hire a professional athlete if a player backs out at the nth hour.
The campaign, which included the likes of football star Kaka, generated significant buzz around the brand and helped Adidas market its Predator20 Mutator footwear.
3. Whole Foods
Whole Foods’ chatbot for Facebook Messenger lets customers find recipes based on their favorite ingredients, dish type, dietary preferences, etc. Again, just like Quaker Oats, customers may use both text and emojis to find the recipe of their choice.
Also, the chatbot helps customers check if their nearest Whole Foods store has the necessary ingredients for a particular recipe.
4. Absolut Vodka
When Absolut Vodka launched its limited-edition collection in Argentina called Absolut Unique, it organized an exclusive party to generate excitement and positive word-of-mouth.
Since only two members from the general public could attend the party, people had to convince Absolut’s virtual bouncer, Sven, to give them the tickets. The campaign was a resounding success, with the company receiving more than 1000 hilarious videos, images, and voice notes from users on why they should be invited to the launch.
5. Dominos
Dominos Pizza launched its Facebook Messenger chatbot named Dom to help customers view the menu, place an order, track existing orders, and chat with customer support.
How can Acuvate help?
At Acuvate, we help clients build AI-enabled chatbots with our enterprise bot-building platform called BotCore.
Our chatbots can be deployed with minimalistic coding requirements within a few weeks and across different channels, with channel-specific API. BotCore’s bots support multiple languages to help you reach out to a global consumer base.
To know more, please feel free to schedule a personalized consultation with our BotCore experts.
Abhishek is the AI & Automation Practice Head at Acuvate and brings with him 17+ years of strong expertise across the Microsoft stack. He has consulted with clients globally to provide solutions on technologies such as Cognitive Services, Azure, RPA, SharePoint & Office 365. He has worked with clients across multiple industry domains including Retail & FMCG, Government, BFSI, Manufacturing and Telecom.
Abhishek Shanbhag