No matter what your industry is, user experience (UX) is the most important aspect of your web design. Several factors influence the overall UX of a website, and you might be surprised to learn of some of the newer additions you could make to improve your own site’s UX. One of the most recent adoptions in digital business is the implementation of chatbots, or programs that mimic chatting with a live customer service representative over the web.
Why Chatbots?
Chatbots provide a customer service edge that can set your business apart from your competitors and create a conversational user interface that cultivates trust and encourages customer loyalty. Market research confirms this, as many internet users report high interest in chatbots for various purposes:
- According to research from Ubisend, about 95% of internet users believe that chatbots exist to enhance the customer service experience.
- Nearly 60% of users reported interest in using chatbots as a method for instant connection with a company.
- 55% of consumers report a preference for using messaging applications to contact companies about service issues, complaints, product questions, and other problems.
- Almost 50% of surveyed consumers reported they would prefer to use a chatbot as a preferred method of live contact with a brand over other channels. Modern customers know how frustrating it can be to navigate phone menus and prerecorded menus when they try and call some brands, and email ticketing systems may lead to long wait times. Chatbots can provide almost instantaneous solutions to many customer problems.
- 35% of surveyed consumers stated they would like to see more brands adopt chatbot features.
- More than 25% of surveyed global consumers reported high interest in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Chatbots could potentially evolve to the level of virtual intelligence or even full-fledged AI in the not-so-distant future considering the strides the technology has made over recent years.
- More than 20% of surveyed consumers said that chatbots were the easiest method of contacting their favorite brands.
- Industry analysts predict the chatbot market value will eclipse $4.5 billion by 2021 as more investors acknowledge the growth potential of enterprise intelligent assistant investments.
These statistics are clear indications that the modern consumer base is ready to adopt chatbots to enhance their customer service experiences. Instead of bogging down internal resources with expansive customer service and conflict resolution teams, chatbots can lighten the load and assist customers with simple requests, direct questions, and problems with their orders. This enables the internal teams to focus on larger customer service issues and growing the brand while simultaneously creating better, more memorable user experiences.
Chatbots Are Changing Modern Web Design
Modern web developers know that it’s crucial to design for UX before aesthetics. A solid user interface (UI) is important, and it’s equally important to ensure the UI flows with the brand’s overall image and design aesthetic. However, the bones of the website create the UX, and the main benefit of using chatbots is better user experiences.
If you want to invest in a chatbot application for your website, you cannot cut corners if you intend to create better user experiences. A good chatbot should be able to assist a customer in accomplishing a task. A great chatbot will make the process fun and enjoyable. However, a bad chatbot application will frustrate customers, waste time, or simply drive users away from your site entirely.
Conversion rates increase with better UX, so your chatbot should meet the same standards of quality you apply to the rest of your site and the content you publish. Chatbots are not a one-size-fits-all addition to any website; it is essential to design a chatbot program from the ground up that reflects your company values, business goals, and brand image. If using your chatbot becomes a chore for a user, he or she will likely abandon the chatbot and leave the site very quickly.
Many modern web design industry analysts predict that AI and chatbot technology will eventually overtake UX as the primary consideration in the web development project pipeline. Eventually, this technology could improve to a point where a customer can have an entirely guided positive experience with a brand through a sophisticated chatbot interface, essentially automating the customer journey with a brand over time. However, regardless of how advanced chatbots become, they will still require solid UX for support and will more likely function as assisted intelligence programs rather than full-fledged AI programs.
Benefits of Leveraging Chatbots in Web Design
Now that you understand the potential for chatbot adoption in the current digital business landscape, it’s essential to weigh the potential benefits of investing in chatbot technology for your website. Chatbots require careful design and consideration; any cut corners could lead to your chatbots responding to customer issues with complete nonsense or other inappropriate responses. Invest in solid chatbot programming to ensure your chatbot reflects your company values and helps you meet your organizational goals.
- Chatbots will lighten the burden on your customer service team. While some customer issues will require human intervention to resolve, many common customer complaints and queries are perfectly acceptable to delegate to a robust chatbot program.
- Chatbots will cultivate trust. When a potential customer visits your site, encounters an issue, and successfully resolves the issue with an enjoyable chatbot experience, this inherently cultivates trust and increases the likelihood of the lead converting.
- Chatbots convey value. Modern consumers are incredibly discerning and have a tremendous level of choice available for virtually any purchase they can imagine. Chatbots can help potential customers quickly and easily locate the information, products, or services they require from your website in an easy-to-use interface. The customer will remember the ease of this interaction and the value it provided, bolstering your company’s image in the mind of that customer.
- A good chatbot can set you apart from your competition. No matter how diverse your product and service offerings may be, you still need something unique that sets you apart from the crowd.
- Chatbots can increase your brand visibility. Solid chatbot programming can lead to enjoyable experiences for potential customers, and your audience may even generate positive content for you without realizing it if they share their positive experiences with your chatbot on their social media profiles.
- Chatbots humanize the customer journey. This may seem counterintuitive; how can a digital chatbot humanize a customer’s experience with a brand? These programs, especially those with friendly avatars, enable more natural communication between your customers and your customer problem resolution structures. Instead of an impersonal support ticket form or sending an email and waiting and hoping for a response, customers can enjoy human-like conversations with chatbots as they resolve minor issues.
Chatbots offer tremendous value to the modern business landscape, to both brands and the customers they serve. These programs can help customers solve their problems quickly and efficiently and help a brand stand out in a market niche. Remember, if a chatbot will help make your brand unique, you cannot resort to a cookie-cutter solution for your website. Invest in solid chatbot programming from trusted developers so you can have a uniquely designed chatbot that resonates with your brand message and your customers’ needs and expectations.
As the technologies behind chatbots and AI improve with time, the opportunities for creating better customer experiences with chatbots will only increase. Start thinking of ways to capitalize on this new technology and incorporate chatbot experiences into your strategy for the future.
