AI and chatbots: Enhancing customer experience in the digital age


Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic recently, although it doesn’t seem to receive much good press. It is easy to find clickbait headlines around children cheating when completing their homework or robots taking over the world, but the reality is that there are many more sides to AI than the predicted apocalypse that some media outlets would like to have us believe.  

AI is something that has been developing for many years, and it has a great many uses. It has gradually crept into our daily lives without us even noticing, whether it is through the facial recognition software on your phone, the personalised content that you see on social media or even autocorrect when you write a message.

The truth is that AI is already a big part of every day, and that is why it is so important for businesses to harness it and make it work for them. 

Chatbots

We have all found ourselves looking for help on a website or app, and using the chatbot that they provide to resolve something instead of calling a helpline. These chatbots are able to simulate human conversation through AI by asking questions and reading your responses. They incorporate a range of technologies from machine learning to natural language processing and natural language understanding to generate conversations that not only seem real but can actually get to the bottom of an issue. 

The use of chatbots is becoming more popular as their speed and accuracy increase, making them something that more and more customers choose to turn to. This means that an increasing number of businesses are now trying to incorporate chatbots into their own online offerings in order to provide the experience that customers have come to expect.

The benefits of chatbots to the customer

In the modern world, many of us now prefer to text or email rather than picking up the phone, so it stands to reason that chatbots are now a preferred way for a consumer to communicate with a business.

It can provide a more comfortable experience for anyone who does not feel confident speaking on the phone. The fact that customers can make use of tools such as autocorrect when chatting online, means that they can feel happier to deal with things in this way, particularly if they have some form of language barrier or communication issue. 

Another factor that customers seem to prefer is the convenience of a chatbot. This form of technology is capable of working 24 hours a day, and so they can choose to communicate with you at a time that suits them. It also makes it much easier to get something resolved quickly and easily whilst at work or performing other tasks, as there is no sitting around on hold for long periods of time waiting for a call to be answered or an email to be replied to.

With the help of AI, customers can get what they want, when they want it, which can only help to improve how they feel about a business. 

Personalisation

The dawn of the digital age was often criticised as it took away the personal experience of dealing with a business directly. Whether it was speaking to a shop assistant, seeking advice from a staff member or revisiting a place that has gotten to know you well over the years, it was felt that the online experience would be a colder one.  

However, the use of AI has changed all of this, and made many areas of the online world feel like a much more personalised space. This is because it is able to track what customers look at and what they purchase and can gather this data to help businesses create marketing plans that are tailored around each individual customer. This is something that has not been possible before, but now means that products can be recommended based on what AI has learned about a person, questions can be answered, and businesses can target what they offer more effectively than ever before. 

Benefits for businesses

For most businesses, it is vital to enhance the customer experience and journey wherever you can.

In a world that can seem faceless, you can present a unique experience that makes each customer feel as though they are at the centre of your world.

You can create marketing strategies that are more targeted and effective because they can show the right things to the right people at the right times, ensuring that your money and efforts are better spent. 

At the moment, it seems like robot armies and butlers might be a long way away, but AI in its current form is certainly a force for good, and one that your business should be embracing.

At Koobr, our team of experts can help you to make use of the tools that AI has to offer, enabling you to provide personalised marketing that can reach new customers and show them exactly what they need to know about you. Give us a call to find out more about how we can help (and we promise a human will answer). 

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