Chatbots are one of the biggest trends in technology right now. And it’s not difficult to see why. Automation has always been a goal of technology and chatbots can automate one of the things that seemed to be very much human-only – conversations.
Smart software that can communicate has quickly gone from being a new thing to a worldwide trend. A recent survey quoted by Business Insider found that 67 percent of worldwide consumers had used a chatbot for customer support in the past year. It’s not just the big names that use them, though. Small businesses have increasingly been realizing the potential of chatbots – and that includes freelancers, too!
There are two essential ways that chatbots can benefit your freelance business: you can either help make them or use them yourself. We’ve made two separate lists for each one of those ways. That should help you decide which one is the right for you and how to go about making use of the chatbot trend.
Being Part of the Creation
To get one of the main misconceptions out of the way at the beginning, you don’t have to be a coder to build a chatbot. You can be, but you don’t have to. In such cases you’ll be relying on tools:
1. Tools for Building Chatbots
There are various tools for building chatbots out there, each of them with a unique spin and focusing on different networks. Here’s a list of some you might want to check out:
– Chatfuel: Focusing on the currently most popular environment for chatbots, Facebook Messenger, Chatfuel is a great place to start out. It’s simple to use and offers intuitive linking between triggers and responses. It’s also completely free and promises to help you build a bot for Messenger in just 10 minutes!
– Motion is a bot builder that goes the extra mile. It creates bots not only for Messenger, but also SMS, Email, web-chat and Slack. There’s also the possibility to link to other platforms. Because of the sheer amount of more functions it offers compared to something like Chatfuel, it can get a bit more complicated. Additionally, Motion does offer a free trial, but will charge for everything beyond that.
2. Experiment, but Test Extensively
Going into the market of creating chatbots can expand your brand a lot. It is a very sought-after skill and clients have come to terms with the fact that it isn’t always a perfect technology yet. That means some mistakes will be forgiven.
The most important advice for current chatbot builders is to push forward the boundaries of what appears possible. This growing dynamic field is constantly looking for innovators and if you succeed in being one of them, you could be set for life.
However, and that is a big however – don’t forget to double and triple test everything you’re pushing out. Last year, Microsoft let loose an AI on Twitter. And while it started out pretty innocent, it took less than a day for it to turn into a racist Holocaust denier. Imagine how much that could hurt a client. So, don’t forget to test and make sure your clients are aware of all the disclaimers.
Utilizing Chatbots for your Own Business
Whether they serve for answering your FAQ, selling stuff or something entirely else, chatbots are not only something you can make as a freelancer, but also something you can use. Here are the two main ways you could use them:
1. Recurring questions
Recurring question are the number one thing automated communication can help you work around. Let’s face it, people reading FAQ’s are a rare species that seems to be getting rarer with each day if Google’s autofill responses are anything to go by. So why not hire a bot to do it?
That’s one of the simplest versions of the technology, too – you provide a list of questions and their respective answers and you’re as good as ready.
2. New sales channels
Chatbots are also increasingly being used to sell stuff. And there are a couple of reasons behind that. First of all, many people still feel most comfortable having some kind of interaction behind a sale – somebody asking them what they would like and thanking them for the purchase, even if it’s not a real person. Furthermore, that saves customers having to fight their way through menus with different options.
All that can lead to more sales for you, the freelancer. Clothes companies, banks, social media companies and many more have realized that. It can work for your products and services too!
Have you ever thought of using or making chatbots? Go for it – it has never been easier than it is today! And while you’re at it, share this article or tell us what you think about it in the comments below!
