Sometimes, people really do judge a book by its cover. At least at first, anyway. And for many consumers in the process of browsing a website, the “cover,” the first thing they come into contact with, won’t be the content of the site itself. Nor will it be a blog post (as fascinating as those might be…).

In terms of introducing brand and content on a website, live chatbots are leading the way. They’re relatively newcomers to the feature scene, but they can have a significant impact on things like brand perception. The nature of that impact, however, tends to vary with the quality of the bot itself.

The team at Blue Orchid Marketing is dedicated to keeping you ahead of the curve and on top of any developing trends. This blog post will serve that goal by getting into the details of live chatbots: What they are, how they work, and the pros and cons of using them in the first place.

Wait, Do People Even Like Chatbots?

It’s complicated. There are certainly some drawbacks to using any emergent tech, and live chatbots on your website are no exception to that rule. Here are a few stumbling blocks to watch out for:

1. They can annoy your customers. A study by Forrester determined that 50% of customers are irritated by their interactions with live chatbots, which in turn causes them to view the associated brand in a more negative light.
2. In terms of the inputs they can accept, chatbots can be somewhat limited. They draw on scripts that are focused on customer intent, and they make use of general information as a rule. This means that they can’t be as responsive as a live agent in terms of precise inquiries, which narrows the customer service issues they’re capable of resolving.
3. The development of a live service chatbot can take quite a while, and the resulting product will immediately impact a large number of customers. This means that for certain smaller businesses, the risk-reward ratio can be a bit skewed.

What Can Live Chatbots Do Well?

They certainly have a few perks:

1. They’re available 24/7. Customers who are frustrated or dealing with an ongoing concern can actually troubleshoot it at any time of day.
2. At larger businesses, chatbots take a considerable burden off the shoulders of busy service reps, who can, in turn, put more of their time into requests demanding greater precision.
3. Chatbots require training data. The larger the data set, the more effective the machine learning that powers the chatbot. Conversely, less data means a chatbot that’s a little less sharp.

If you still have questions about live chatbots, perhaps you should ask ours! You can also call us at 203-746-5901 or email us at sales@BlueOrchidMarketing.com today to schedule a consultation to discuss our digital marketing services.