Surprize :) Get it here:
That was an actual SMS I received earlier this week.
Unidentified number? There’s the first red flag. Followed up by a bit.ly link? Red flag number two.
I still have no idea who it was from, what lies beyond that link, or what I did to deserve this.
Now, that message has been banished the land of deleted SMS along with thousands of other shipping alerts, thinly-veiled scams, and local service providers shouting at me about LAST MINUTE DEALS.
It feels invasive. It is wholly impersonal. It does quite the opposite of connecting with or engage me.
“Consumers no longer want to talk to a business by phone or email; they’ve moved to social media and messaging in their personal lives, why not when they’re dealing with a business?"
"Convenience is winning. People do not want to wait or search for an answer, they want the answer to come to them.”
The Adoption Curve
The technology adoption curve, sometimes called the innovation curve or the innovation adoption lifecycle, is a bell-curve-shaped model that describes how individuals and organizations start using a new technology over time. The curve is divided into several phases that describe the point in time different groups adopt a technology as it matures.
Innovators - (2.5% of a population). Innovators are the visionaries willing to try new ideas and take risks along the way.
Early Adopters - (13.5%). People in this category are the thought leaders and change drivers within an organization. They may not express a willingness to try anything that comes along, but they’re comfortable with change and helping others understand the importance of change. (We Are Currently Here)
Early Majority - (34%). These individuals aren’t thought leaders, but they are the people you see lined up outside of a store on the day a new technology comes to market. As soon as they see the demonstrated benefits of a change, they’re willing to jump on board.
Late Majority - (34%). Typically skeptics, this population waits until a larger population adopts an innovation to invest time and effort making a change.
Laggards - (16%). Every organization has individuals “stuck in their ways.” Convincing these individuals to make a change is challenging.
The Next Frontier
It’s obvious a shift is happening.
People view chatbots as an opportunity for conversation with a brand; SMS as information being pushed at them from a brand.
And people are interacting with SMS at a high rate, but it’s all in the delivery.
Who among us isn’t quick to respond to a notification in an app where we regularly communicate with friends and family? It’s the exact same reason why bots work, as well.
A chatbot’s engagement time is less than seconds. SMS’s engagement time is…what engagement?
Businesses have unfortunately taught consumers that engaging via many common sales and marketing channels (forms, SMS, emails) is about as effective as leaving a voicemail — don’t even bother.
“I don’t know anyone who likes calling a business. And no one wants to have to install a new app for every business or service that they interact with. We think you should be able to message a business, in the same way you would message a friend.” — Mark Zuckerberg at F8 in 2016.
1. Order Pizza
It’s ridiculously easy to order pizza with the help of chatbots. You can order by texting, tweeting, voice, or even from your car.
Domino’s was one of the early adopters of chatbots. Today, Domino’s lets you easily build a new pizza (or reorder your favorite pizza) and track your order all from Facebook Messenger.
2. Product Suggestions
Many consumers know they want to buy some shoes, but might not have a particular item in mind. You can use chatbots to offer product suggestions based on what they want (color, style, brand, etc.)
It’s not just shoes. You can replace “shoes” with any other item. It could be clothes, groceries, flowers, a book, or a movie. Basically, any product you can think of.
3. Customer Support
Last year, brands including AirBnB, Evernote, and Spotify started using chatbots on Twitter to provide 24/7 customer service.
The goal of these customer support chatbots is to quickly provide answers and address customer complaints, or simply track the status of an order.
4. Weather
There are numerous weather bots to choose from. Most are pretty basic, though a few are designed to be a bit more fun.
You can use these to ask about the current conditions in your area and find out whether you should bring the umbrella before you leave for work. Some bots allow you to set regular reminders for a certain time of day.
5. Personal Finance Assistance
Chatbots make it easy to make trades, get notifications about stock market trends, track your personal finances, or even get help finding a mortgage.
Banks have created chatbots to let you check in on your account, such as your current balance and most recent transactions. And there are tax bots that help you track your business and deductible expenses.
6. Schedule a flight
With so many schedules to juggle, setting up meetings can be a pain. Unless you let a chatbot do the work for you.
Meekan is one such example. Simpy request a new meeting and this Slack chatbot will look at everyone’s calendars to find times when everyone is available.
7. Track flights
You can use chatbots to get some vacation inspiration. Others will let you search for and compare flights based on price and location. Kayak’s chatbot even lets you book your flights and hotels entirely from inside Facebook Messenger.
Once you’re all booked, there are other chatbots that will let you track current flights, wait times, delays, and more.
8. News
Chatbots help you stay up to date on the news or topics that matters to you.
You can get the latest headlines from mainstream media sources like CNN, Fox News, or the Guardian. Or you can get the latest tech headlines from TechCrunch or Engadget.
9. Find Love
A match made by chatbots? It could happen.
Instead of swiping left or right on an app, you could use Foxsy. This Messenger bot promises to help you find a “beautiful and meaningful connection with the right person.”
10. Send Money
You can easily send payments to your team or friends with chatbots. All you have to do to send money on the Slack PayPal account is type /paypal send $X to @username.
That’s it. Crazy simple, right?
11. Find a restaurant
Where do you want to eat tonight? Not sure? Ask a chatbot.
Much like the product recommendation chatbots, restaurant chatbots can provide recommendations based on cuisine, location, and price range. Some chatbots will even make reservations for you or take your order online.
“Messaging is the new frontier of marketing. Bots give us the opportunity to tap into it by creating scalable, one-on-one interactions directly with consumers.”
Not only is SMS cost prohibitive on a large scale, you’ll rarely leave people thinking “I feel more connected to this brand now.”
References:It's Time To Put SMS Out of Its Misery
Chat Bot Use For Business By Larry Kim
Connect with me at my LinkedIn platform here: Brian Shem
