How to Use Chatbots for Lead Generation (with Examples)
Web forms have long been the main tool for generating leads. However, more and more entrepreneurs today claim that chatbots and live chats convert better than web forms.
Filling in web forms is a rather tedious task. To encourage visitors to share their contacts, you need to offer something out of the ordinary.
Unlike traditional static forms, chatbots offer a more conversational approach to lead generation. Here, the data collection process is more natural and seamless, as chatbots ask for users’ details within the conversation flow.
Moreover, chatbots help you connect and engage with the hottest leads instantly. Once a chatbot captures the necessary lead info, it can transfer the chat to your sales representatives. They will already have all the important information to understand the lead’s intent and quickly offer the right solution.
Chatbots provide a convenient way to collect visitor info which will help you determine further steps in your communication with leads.
Bots can help you segment your audience based on their location, gender, age, etc. With this information, you will be able to make offers that are relevant to a particular group of your prospects.
Also, chatbots can help you understand what stage of the buyer’s journey your visitor is in. For example, they can ask qualifying questions to identify whether the visitor is an existing customer or a prospect, what their budget is, and/or what their requirements are.
Some chatbots even provide an option to see what pages the user was browsing during the conversation. This feature will help you understand visitor intent and address their specific needs.
As a result, your data collection processes are automated and streamlined. The information gathered by chatbots helps you better understand your audience, make improvements in your lead generation strategy, and, therefore, increase your conversion rate.
A lead magnet is an effective way to generate leads. This is a special offer that you promote to your audience in exchange for their contact information.
The traditional way to present lead magnets is using a form on your website. This method really works, but you can make it even more effective using chatbots.
Lead generation chatbots can promote your offers by sending pop-up messages to your visitors when they land on your website. You can also specify the rules according to which the message will be sent. For example, you can trigger a chatbot on a certain page or after a visitor performs certain actions.
There are different kinds of lead magnets, such as:
People love discounts. That’s why offering a coupon or a promo code is a way to quickly attract new leads and customers. Sometimes, discounts encourage people to make purchases even if they weren’t originally planning to buy anything.
Chatbots can inform your visitors about your special offers and sales, provide coupons, and direct visitors to pages with particular products.
Email marketing remains one of the most effective lead generation channels for many companies. Combine it with your chatbots to use the potential of both tools to the maximum.
First of all, you need a qualified email list. As we already know, chatbots are a great way to collect visitor data, including email addresses. Once your bot captures a visitor’s contact details, it can automatically transfer it to your email marketing software.
However, make sure that you get the user’s consent before adding contacts to your email subscriber list, as it is required by law in many countries. For example, if your business is dealing with an EU audience, you must know about the GDPR requirements. When you ask your visitors to leave an email, you need to request marketing permission and inform them how you process their personal data.
The next important step is to segment your email list based on other information gathered by chatbots (location, gender, age, interests, etc.). Use this data to provide your subscribers with more relevant content and make your email campaign more targeted. This is an effective way to increase your conversions: personalized promotional emails have 29% higher unique open rates than non-personalized ones.
The easiest way to create a lead generation bot is to use chatbot builders. They don’t require coding and often provide ready-made templates to get you started.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to create a lead generation bot for your website using the Chaport chatbot builder. If you don’t have an account yet, feel free to sign up. It’s free and fast!
Log in to your Chaport account, go to Settings → Chatbots, and click on “Add chatbot”.
Provide a name for your chatbot (it will be visible only to you) and choose the conditions that make the chatbot send the first message. For example, you can specify a page URL, time a visitor spends on a website/page, their language, and other options.
Create an engaging welcome message for your lead generation bot. Keep it simple and include an attractive offer or CTA.
Then specify the reply options for your visitors. After each reply option, set the next bot action. For example, a chatbot can send another text message, request information, or transfer a chat to an operator.
Finish all the branches of the scenario and save changes.
You can also customize the appearance of the chat widget to match your website design. To do that, go to Settings → Appearance. Here, you can choose the chat widget color, specify the position on your website, and name your chatbot.
To install the chat widget, copy the Chaport installation code and paste it into your website code before the closing tag. You can find the installation code in Settings → Installation code.
If your website is on WordPress, Joomla, Ecwid, or Bubble, you can use our official plugins, so the installation will be even easier.
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