Businesses were able to save an average of $300,000 over the past year thanks to chatbots.
According to the newly published Opens a new window Chatbot Trends ReportOpens a new window from customer messaging platform provider Intercom, the fast-developing technology is now a must-have for every company.
Reviewing other relevant data available on chatbots’ increasing influence on bottom lines, marketers in every industry should ensure they’ve integrated easy-to-manage, dynamic chatbotsOpens a new window on their sites.
Indeed, Intercom revealed that 35% of business leaders agreed that chatbots helped to close sales deals, which makes sense when the top three use cases for these tools are: 1) engaging site visitors (improving the user experience), 2) arranging product demos and 3) gathering information and qualifying leads — all sales metrics that have direct links to revenues.
Intercom says that consumer demand for chatbots has been exploding, with nearly three-quarters of consumers expecting to encounter a chatbot on a website — a statistic that aligns with an Oracle poll from 2016 that found that four of every five companies will integrate them by next yearOpens a new window .
Call of the chatbot
Marketers not using chatbots must heed the warning. With 1.4 billion people interacting each year with these automated communications systems, the importance of this technology is only growing.
While the $300,000+ in savings will only be achievable by those of us who implement a robust, carefully-planned chatbot strategy, every company of any size will see benefits from doing even just the minimum with chatbots.
They can even cut operational costs by up to 30%, while Juniper Research forecasts that this messaging technology will help businesses save more than $8 billion annually by 2022.
Translation: Marketers can’t afford to fall behind, especially considering that one in two companies now plans to spend more on chatbots than mobile apps.
And seeing the many industry executives who predict that the future of CRM includes botsOpens a new window , this clearly is a tool that marketing teams are taking very seriously.
Meanwhile, chatbot technology is evolving at a rapid pace. Developers are finding new ways to streamline communications with prospects and customers, constantly improving the direct impact chatbots can have on the bottom line.
For instance, Juniper Research estimatesOpens a new window that retail sales from chatbot-based interaction will double year-to-year, rocketing from $7.3 billion in 2019 to $112 billion by 2023.
Intercom’s report — which finds that “chatbots increased sales by an average of 67%, with 26% of all sales starting through a chatbot interaction†— serves a reminder that chatbots can streamline sales, service and marketing communications, while boosting productivity, conversions and sell-through rates.
That could explain why there are well over 300,000 chatbots on Facebook alone. Or why $4.5 billion is expected to be invested in enterprise intelligent assistants by 2021 and why many experts believe that chatbots may be the future of e-mail marketing.Opens a new window
Meanwhile, more than 50% of customers expect 24-hour support from businesses. Couple that fact with growing consumer expectation for brands to be on social media, and marketers will need soon to accept that they need to manage chatbots across multiple platforms.
In short, chatbots are not a passing fad. According to GartnerOpens a new window , by 2020 85% of people’s engagement with companies will take place without human-to-human interaction. Rather, consumers will use self-service options and chatbots.<
Clearly, chatbots are the future. Are you ready?