Conversational AI Websites: Leverage them to Transform the Game!

Improving the customer journey with conversational AI

Long before the internet, businesses focused on selling products and services in person or over the phone. The end result, hopefully, was a sale closed by a person. But in today’s fast-paced digital environment, many businesses are so focused on optimizing landing pages, website copy and button colors that we have lost that personal touch. The good news is that one-on-one conversational AI marketing is back with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). 

Trends in customer experience across many verticals indicate that organizations have made considerable investments in software technology and data infrastructure. Now, those organizations are grappling with how to leverage those investments to make sure the customer experience meets the technology gains.  

 

In a recent webinar, Botco.ai CEO and Co-founder Rebecca Clyde discussed the current challenges in enterprise marketing with Merkle Vice President of Experience Technology K. Deepak Narisety, Merkle Vice President of Enterprise Sales Jason Conley, as well as Botco.ai Product Manager Jacob Molina. This distinguished panel of product, marketing and technology experts provided valuable insight to help to implement conversational AI tools at scale and shared why it matters now more than ever. 

 

Increased expectations of digital customers

Across industry sectors, consumer expectations have changed over the last few years. The panelists were quick to dive in and share some of the big trends and issues that Botco.ai and Merkle clients are facing when it comes to customer experience and the state of the digital customer.

“We’ve seen transformational change in the hospitality and retail sectors recently,” said Jason Conley, vice president of enterprise sales at Merkle, a data-driven customer-experience management company that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. “More than ever, people want to buy online. Which is why it is important for businesses to remove friction in the customer experience.”

 

The importance of leveraging data and analytics with conversational AI

It is crucial for businesses to understand the customer journey in comparison to the ideal journey and what that gap is between those two experiences, and then apply data, analytics and insights to bridge that gap to really optimize the site traffic funnel.

“One issue that Botco.ai is constantly hearing about especially is around a single source of truth for data,” Botco.ai CEO Rebecca Clyde shared. “Really being able to handle data in a safe way, especially in some industries that require a protection of data privacy is continuing to be a challenge.”

According to Merkle Vice President of Experience Technology K. Deepak Narisety, companies are increasingly realizing that conversational AI technology is better at personalization for users, while in tandem also measuring success. Narisety explained that benchmarking against competitors has to move past driving sales and page views. 

“While page views, the number of items in each online cart and driving sales are all standard, businesses want to now know how engaging and relevant their online content is,” Narisety said.

However, leveraging data is not only crucial for businesses, it is just as important to leverage data for the benefit of consumers.

“A lot of organizations today have several platforms collecting data and storing data and it’s often hidden behind their IT departments,” said Jacob Molina, product manager at Botco.ai. “That’s a big challenge for most companies because data is gold. It is so important to leverage data to improve the customer experience.”

Molina added, “The bigger issue we’re seeing is that if your business is not leveraging data and you’re not interacting with all your systems and allowing that data to be useful to your end customer to enhance the experience, then you’re missing the point entirely.”

Molina extolled the vast range of benefits that conversational ai can bring to a business experiencing these challenges, and the ability of AI-powered chatbots to generate rich conversational experiences and deliver personalization at scale, and ultimately provide a customized experience to dynamically improve the buyer’s journey. 

“But businesses need to be able to access that data to achieve that at scale,” Molina emphasized.

 

Removing friction in the experience economy

More than ever before, consumers are seeking personalized experiences that enhance the buying journey. Websites should offer customers with an experience rooted in data and science, rather than just the idea of creating a website that is cool and creative. Providing rich conversational AI experiences on their websites can help brands to be better prepared to deliver this enhanced journey.

 

Narisety added, “If you want to get more engagement on your website, you need to create a better user experience for your customers and prospects. Conversational AI will improve conversions from prospect to customer, and ultimately, you’ll build a better brand.”

 

It’s imperative to get people excited to give you first-party information. And providing an interactive experience with conversational AI on your website is the key. In addition, your business will become less dependent on big tech for data and analytic needs.

Conversational AI – Improving KPIs and growing product lines

Personalized and interactive approaches are also driving metrics around digital marketing programs for many companies. Aside from assisting customers and prospects in a very personalized manner, chatbots are enabling businesses to capitalize on conversational insights.

 

Molina shared that one specific Botco.ai client, Massage Envy, created a new line of products as a result of users visiting their website and asking questions regarding acne-related massages.

“If Massage Envy didn’t have chat analytics built into their website, they likely would not have discovered that otherwise,” Molina said. “Having a conversational AI piece to your website allows you to convert prospects in a much more efficient way.”

 

Benchmarking against your competitors

Success means different things to different companies. Perhaps it is to drive sales, increase revenue, or provide a better brand experience. For other companies, it may focus on greater enablement or having the ability to put content out quicker. 

“Benchmarking against your competitors has to move past ‘I just need to drive more sales’ or ‘I need to have more page views’…our clients are now looking at how engaging their content is and how frequently that content is being engaged,” Narisety said.

Many companies have challenges in adding relevant content and adapting their website in real time based on the demand. Putting the power from the IT department into your marketing team’s hands enables your company to optimize conversion rates, page views and average cart value much quicker. 

 

Setting up your organization to deliver rich conversational AI experiences

For many companies, the idea of putting together a conversational website sounds daunting. Oftentimes, they are quickly overwhelmed with the prospect of having to hire engineers or additional staff, the lengthy timeline to completion, or how this will fit into the company roadmap. So, what does it really take from a resource standpoint to make conversational websites a part of your toolkit? The panel shared their perspective on how organizations can prepare or allocate resources for this reality.

The key is not to replicate your website within the chat, but to think of chat as a unique experience that has its own requirements,” Molina said.

“The goal is to have high-quality conversations at scale,” Clyde added. “We want every user to get their questions answered, find the information they’re looking for, and ultimately produce the outcome our clients are hoping will be achieved, whether it’s informational or transactional through the website.”

Facilitating automated workflows

How does conversational AI work? A key factor for many businesses looking to implement conversational AI on their company website goes beyond just answering questions for users. It is the capability to facilitate the automation of an important workflow that may be a bottleneck or a pain point in the customer experience. 

Verifying insurance benefits is one such bottleneck that both patients and health care providers alike are frustrated and challenged with. Botco.ai builds a flow and user-friendly experience that allows patients to connect and easily provide that data, which enables the verification of benefits in real time.

 

Watch the webinar replay for more information

VISIT HERE to watch the replay of Botco.ai’s webinar “ Conversational Websites: How They Are Changing the Game” featuring Botco.ai CEO and Co-founder Rebecca Clyde, Botco.ai Product Manager Jacob Molina, Merkle Vice President of Experience Technology K. Deepak Narisety and Merkle Enterprise Sales & Solutions Jason Conley.

 

Well-integrated and highly conversational ai chatbot experiences can help your business stand out from the competition and bring new experiences to delight your existing customers and prospects. Botco.ai’s conversational AI enables meaningful conversations between businesses and their customers, creates a HIPAA-compliant place to provide personal data, and provides an engaging experience.

If you’d like to learn how to integrate automation and advanced conversational ai into your organization or to see a product demo from Botco.ai, schedule a call with our team or email us at [email protected].