Engagement is a crucial part of your marketing efforts.
Webster’s Dictionary defines engagement as “emotional involvement or commitment.”
An engaged visitor is more likely to become an empowered visitor, and an empowered visitor is in a position to effectuate change.
And the change all website owners are looking for in their website visitors is the change from browser or “window shopper” to an active customer or subscriber!
If you can get your audience to engage with your brand, your audience will be far more likely to buy from you.
It is common to define engagement by specific actions, such as users clicking on a video, hearting, or leaving a comment on a blog post.
With chatbots, however, engagement is more obvious. Rather than just receiving comments or playing a video, a chatbot can actually converse with your customers.
And let’s not underestimate the power of engaging conversation! Or in the case of Gobot, conversation via messaging.
Case in point: the handsome wool cap I recently picked up in Dublin, Ireland!
My friends, have I told you about my awesome trip to Dublin yet?
No, I don’t think so…perhaps some time over a frothy dark Guinness!
Yes, there were many of those tonics consumed on the trip, and there was also wonderful live local Irish music, beautiful rolling hills, and, yes, a wool cap I purchased at a street market!
I must admit that the conversation I had with George, the cap salesman (and perhaps the Guinness?) resulted in me paying about 30% above market price for that wool cap.
And here is the thing – I was very happy with my purchase, and the price!
I love m’ dashing wool cap – when I wear it I remember not only my trip, but also the engaging conversation with George.
He cracked a joke about Ireland and its fine Chinese made wool hats, and we chatted about the weather and some local tours I might take along the countryside – for this, I made sure I left with a purchase and was more than happy to pay a premium.
As they say, it’s the small things in life. Engaging with people is not only nice, it helps sales!
I really don’t blame you for not “engaging” your website customers to date.
How could you? The tools were simply not available.
If you tried to engage with popups, you quickly realized popups were more likely to annoy than engage!
You could pay for expensive live customer service, but these reps have no clue where and what your customers are doing, and thus cannot truly engage – answering technical questions is their specialty.
Chatbots were designed to fill this void!
Imagine you’re in the market for a winter coat, and you’re shopping, for example, at coats.com.
You quickly zoom in on a fetching wool coat, and start to review your color options.
The traditional navy blue and black are safe options, but you notice the coat is also available in a seductive taupe.
The taupe coat is pretty dashing but you hesitate; you start to wonder if the color is too light, or whether it will go with your shoe collection.
As you are perusing, a chatbot appears at just the right time and place.
Gobot:
“Excellent choice!”
“This taupe coat is our hottest seller for professionals.”
“The taupe is stylish but not too stylish!”
“We’ve surveyed hundreds of our customers about this particular color.”
It is au current and attractive, you will impress!
The chatbot is there to engage exactly when you need it. You end up sportin’ that taupe coat with pride and confidence.
Sales is about anticipating your customer’s needs, and with a chatbot, you can be there to do just that.
How about another example, you say?
It’s not just about selling your product, make your blogs as engaging as possible so your readers come back for more.
This can be accomplished by writing great blogs, for sure, yet if you want that special edge, you need a chatbot.
Chatbots take your readers in and out of your content, refreshing interest and, thereby, increasing duration on your site.
Let me show you.
Imagine you are 10 minutes into an interesting but complex blog entry about growing weed.
Ooops, did I just say that? I meant getting rid of weeds in your garden.
OK, say the entry is about organic pesticides…and your reading threshold, at least for technical stuff, is usually about 10 minutes!
As you begin to fade, a chatbot appears at just the right time and place.
Gobot:
“Thanks for reading!”
“Just wanna make sure you got this point.”
“One of the most famous naturally occurring pesticides is”
User chooses:
- a) Coca-Cola
- b) Chrysanthemum flower compounds
(You pick choice b)
Excellent you are paying attention!
Click here if you would like to see a quick video about Chrysanthemum flowers!
And by the way, keep reading if you are curious about what Hugh Hefner does with pesticides!
Blog materials can be so damn interesting and informative.
Sometimes, however, reading can become a lonely venture, and you want to feel like others are reading the same stuff as you.
Other times you simply need a quick break or a change of pace.
As in the example above, a quick engaging question about the subject matter can do the trick – it reinforces your knowledge, while giving your eyes a new perspective.
And who says that a blog has to be all about reading?
Chatbots can be used to spice things up with a dynamic video on the topic or an engaging teaser about a particularly juicy blog entry conclusion, e.g., about Hugh Hefner’s pesticide uses.
A chatbot might just be enough to entice you to extend your typical 3 minute read to 10 minutes or more!
By now I expect you are feeling the seismic shift.
Engagement is everything, my friend.
For the first time, you can actually build brand loyalty with your chatbot.
Now, all website owners like repeat business, right?
The most obvious magic ingredient for repeat business is the provision of an excellent service or product, at an excellent price.
Because these two ingredients (quality and price) loom so large, some website owners ignore the third equally crucial ingredient to repeat business: a positive feeling or emotion tied to the site and brand.
This third ingredient is often forgotten because an excellent product at an excellent price itself often generates a positive association with the site and brand, and thus, the website owner does not feel compelled to invest independent effort on this third ingredient.
However, there is SO much more that can be done to generate a positive association with your site and brand.
Brick and mortar businesses have totally mastered the third ingredient, the ability to create a warm, welcoming environment that somehow just feels good.
And when people feel good, they open their wallets and want to linger and come back again.
Starbucks is a perfect example.
I would dare say that the Starbucks environment (including free wifi!) is just as valuable and appreciated as the Starbucks coffee, wouldn’t you agree?
And don’t you feel extra environmentally conscious walking down the cheery, bright, green, and clean aisles at Whole Foods?
Conscious enough to gladly pay $3 for a single bell pepper perhaps? Absolutely, and I brought my own shopping bags to prove it.
You see where I am going with this…in contrast to the brick and mortar ambience of Starbucks and Whole Foods, most online stores simply don’t create that kind of feeling… that “wanna buy and wanna come back” feeling.
But don’t despair.
This just means that there is so much room for improvement!
Chatbots will help you add that magic third ingredient and make you stand out amongst your competitors with your special combo.
Trifecta!
The time-tested, and mother-approved, way of generating a positive feeling is humor!
Unleashing the power of humor could have tremendous potential in creating a positive association with your site and brand.
But humor, good humor that is, requires just the right delivery, and just the right timing.
Now let’s see how a chatbot can liven up the most stale of offerings, and make you itching to come back for more.
Imagine your child is on a math-tutoring website.
The site has daily math problems assigned to your child as part of his tutoring program.
This is a site you want your kid to like!
And a chatbot is there to help.
The chatbot is triggered to appear after every 5th math problem solved.
Gobot:
“Did you know that 3 out of 2 people have trouble with fractions?”
“Smiley face!”
And after the 10th math problem solved.
Gobot:
“Don’t you love parallel lines?”
“Parallel lines have so much in common…”
“It’s a shame that they’ll never meet!”
“Smiley face”
And after the 15th math problem solved.
Gobot:
“What happened to the plant in math class?”
“It grew square roots!”
Ha ha! Good stuff, right?
I don’t know about you but that joke was so unexpected, it made me laugh out loud.
That’s exactly the positive feeling you want associated with your site!
And being entertaining is not just all about corny jokes.
You can use a chatbot to compliment your sites in more subtle, practical ways.
Instead of a joke in the above math tutoring website example, your chatbot can appear during the lesson with the following:
Gobot:
“You are making great progress with your geometry problems.”
“Take a quick break and watch this short video.”
“It’s amazing how the ancient Egyptians used geometry to build the great pyramids!”
OK, just one more example.
Your customer is experimenting with a new food blog, and she stumbles onto an intriguing bean salad recipe.
As she peruses, a chatbot appears.
Gobot:
“Hola!”
“If you are a bean lover, this recipe is for you!”
“Did you know that beans are technically a fruit?!”
“So feel free to introduce this dish as a fruit salad…”
A fun factoid is sure to generate conversation over dinner.
OK, you get the idea…make visiting fun for your visitors and they are likely to come back for more.
It sounds simple, but most great ideas are!
