There?s an awkward moment at the outset of every new technology when marketers and agencies begin spasmodically craving it. This craving is often blind to whether the investment would solve a business challenge or if that money would be better spent by letting junior staffers roast marshmallows on a giant burning pyre of cocaine.
To date, much of the conversation around chat bots has been focused on replacing rote customer service for existing clients and ?driving loyalty,? as spurious as that phrase has been shown to be by the good folks at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
So we?re going to look at something different: four ways that chat bots could increase marketing effectiveness outside of giving existing customers a better experience. In short, how could chat bots be used to actually grow a brand and reach new customers" How can chat bots increase reach by turning something boring into something fun" We know from decades of academic research and years of Facebook lift studies that reaching category buyers (especially light and lapsed buyers) is key to growing a brand. So rather than seeing chat bots as a way to service existing customers cheaper, we should be asking how chat bots can reach new buyers for the brand.
For example, is anything more boring than weather" Conversations about weather have become a symbol of milquetoast human interaction. A chat bot named Poncho the Weather Cat is changing that. Poncho, a fictional cat, can be reached on Facebook ...