I’m going to be honest: If I go to a website and am greeted by a chatbot, any chatbot, that asks “How can I help” I immediately click out of it.
Why? Because it’s not a conversation starter. It’s a passive message that doesn’t interest me as a future buyer. It puts all the pressure on me to start the conversation, when I’ve come to the company’s website to have them tell me why I should choose their product over all the other options out there.
That’s why all of the Bots Drift runs on our website have proactive messages that start the conversation with something specific – not “How can we help”?
In fact, we saw a 25% increase in conversations, emails captured, AND meetings booked from just one Bot alone when we introduced proactive messaging.
So how’d we do this? Here are the top 5 ways I like to start our Bot flows to drive more qualified conversations from the very first message:
1. Psst down here ? Can I ask you a question?
This was the first iteration we ran on most of our higher trafficked bots. It was a great way to “open up the floodgates” and drive more people to chat with us. When we updated our bot flow from a generic “Hey [company], do you have any questions about Conversational Marketing” to “Hey [company], can I ask you a question?” we saw a 25% lift in the number of conversations had, emails captured, and meetings booked from just one bot.
2. Ask users if they’re experiencing the pain point you help solve.
Every company exists to solve a pain point for their customers (or they should). That pain point is probably the reason those customers came to your website in the first place. Be specific about the main paint you help solve and ask an easy question that focuses on THEM.
3. Ask if your target customer is as successful as possible with their current setup.
Chances are, if they’re on your website, your target customer is looking for ways where they can be as successful as possible! Reassure your visitors that they’re in the right place quickly by adding social proof, your value proposition, and a few important questions to your bot flow.
4. Want to hear a secret?
Who doesn’t love secrets? This is a great way to start off a conversation in a lighter, friendlier way that can help drive more conversations with your Bot. This is also a great way to conveniently add social proof and your value proposition while making it sound exclusive to the visitor. The secret can be that your company is the leader in your industry and you can list a few reasons why.
5. Just curious – what would you do with an x% increase in ___?
Using success metrics as a way to drive conversations helps start the conversation with your future customers about the success they could be having if they were using your product. Your website tells people why they should choose you, now your Bot can help sell that dream too.
These five examples are good jumping off points. Like every marketing campaign, your Bots should be tweaked and tested at least once a month.
I like to look back on all of the conversations our bots have had that month (through bot flow analytics) to see how many people are having conversations with us, where the drop off is, and to create a more exciting and outstanding website experience for everyone.
A reminder for when you’re building any bot: This is a conversation you’re having with prospects. You wouldn’t approach someone at a party and ask them if they’re interested in learning more about your product or service, then fire personal questions at them. Your bot shouldn’t act that way either! Remember to be helpful, personable, and friendly every step of the way.
