Chatbot : Definition, Advantages, Creation

Are you wondering what a chatbot, otherwise known as a conversational robot, is? Companies and salespeople must adapt to make the most of their target audience’s presence on digital channels. To facilitate exchanges with their customers through these new modes of communication, many companies opt for a chatbot. It is an automatic conversation robot that interacts with a human via a chat. If you want to discover the chatbot and know how it works, please read on. You will learn more about the definition and the usefulness of chatbots for your business. If you are looking to create a configurable and powerful chatbot, you should try the Botnation chatbot! You can also develop a custom chatbot for yourself!

➜ Discover Botnation and launch your chabot easily!

What is a chatbot? Definition and vocabulary

The word “chatbot” does not belong to the lexicon of the French language. Indeed, it is a neologism by composition which comes from the association of two English words: cat and bot. Each of these has its own meaning. For example, “chat” in French means “discussion” (to chat = discuss). As for the word bot, it is only the shortened form of robot in English. The result of such a composition should give “chatrobot”. To make it simple, we preferred “chatbot” which, by the way, sounds better.

A chatbot is therefore a chat robot, conversational robot, or conversational agent, whose purpose is to converse with a human via a chat.

Here is the Oxford Dictionary’s definition:

A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate a conversation with human users, especially on the Internet.

Oxford Dictionary

The chatbot is therefore a tool for putting a user in contact with a company, via a bot programmed for this purpose.

To do this, the chatbot is integrated into the internet (social networks, website, chat platforms…). Thus, the online chatbot can be implemented on a WordPress blog via a plugin (like the free Botnation plugin), on a corporate WhatsApp, on a corporate Facebook page via Messenger, and of course on any website, regardless of its CMS or programming language.

A chatbot can be rather basic in its operation (answer to pre-recorded recurring questions), or much more advanced (machine learning, AI, NLP) depending on the needs.

For more information on the definition of a chatbot, check out this page on what is a chatbot.

With Botnation, you can create a WordPress chatbot for your website, a Facebook Messenger chatbot, a WhatsApp chatbot, and many more!

How does a chatbot work?

The functioning of such a chatbot depends on the type of artificial intelligence that characterizes it. There are generally two categories of chatbots:

Simple chatbots

They are designed according to a standard programming. Therefore, their interaction is limited: the answers they provide are essentially pre-recorded. These conversational agents work according to the classic “WorkFlow” scheme. They are very useful if your leads or customers have recurring questions that are easy to answer. They can replace a FAQ for example.

Advanced chatbots with artificial intelligence

They are developed with a more advanced artificial intelligence. They are thus endowed with an ability to imitate or simulate human behavior, and even to understand emotions, which gives the user the impression of conversing with a human. Some chatbots are even programmed to simulate feelings according to the emotional state of the customer they are conversing with.

To function, these chatbots are based on programs includingartificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing(NLP). Thus, they are able to tap into data from multiple servers and learn from their conversations. The responses that these chatbots generate are therefore more advanced. This kind of chatbot is more versatile, with more features that can be useful for your company’s online business.

So, no matter how well programmed your conversational agent is, it can serve the growth needs of your business. Check out some examples of online chatbots here.

At Botnation AI, we create chatbots with artificial intelligence. We can also create chatbots that will answer pre-recorded questions in French or English. Contact us: our chatbots are very versatile and configurable to your needs.

You can customize them according to your company’s needs, especially on Botnation. Better yet, there are Botnation chatbot models specifically designed for each industry. Contact us for more information.

Why develop a chatbot? Advantages of chatbots for companies

First, a figure from a 2018 Accenture Digital study: 57% of companies say a chatbot can deliver a worthwhile return on investment with little effort.

Conversational agents are particularly interesting for companies. They allow to answer several needs such as:

• Automation of exchanges between you and the customer (automatic and instantaneous responses, 24/7)
• Improving the customer experience, and therefore customer satisfaction, through permanent and easily accessible assistance
• Consistent and interesting answers for the user thanks to the possibility of configuring the answers of his chat robot and thanks to new technologies (NLP, machine learning, AI)
• Creating a reliable, fast, customizable and 100% autonomous customer service
• Improving branded sites-customer relationships
• A significant time saving for your After Sales Service (AS) teams. The chatbot can free up time for your teams by answering frequent questions, or other uses. According to a study conducted on the subject, 61% of managers confirm that chatbots save their teams time by improving their productivity.

According to figures published by another study conducted on the subject, 59% of users say they enjoy automated discussions with a chatbot.

In other words, exchanging with a virtual interlocutor can have a very pleasant side for the Internet users, leading to a successful customer relationship. Not to mention that the bot’s responses can be pre-recorded to specifically adapt to the needs and profile of each user. You can free up your communication or marketing team’s time to deal with recurring user requests about your brand. In addition to saving time, you can use the bot’s features to direct your internal resources towards other more important missions for the company.

Learn more about the benefits of chatbots and their possible applications for improving the customer experience.

So, is a chatbot really interesting for a company?

As we have seen, when you decide to implement conversational agents, it helps improve your relationship with customers. Indeed, thanks to this means of marketing, your company can be closer to its customers. Since the conversation agent answers 24 hours a day, it is a real added value to your business.

Since chatbots can express themselves in multiple languages, language barriers have become a thing of the past. You can now promote your business on the international market and manage your reservations and after-sales service thanks to the chatbot. The other advantage of this digital communication medium is that it can be personalized. It can have a name, an avatar and even the colors of your brand, like a mascot.

In addition, using a virtual conversational character can help you expand your consumer market. It is especially through the automation of exchanges and quick responses that you can reach more people and retain your customers.

The advantage with virtual chat agents is that they do not send long messages to your customers. Discussions are generally marked by short answers and very practical writing styles. Users can easily find answers to their questions during the exchanges, or they can be directed to a human if the bot cannot give a satisfactory answer. The two strategies are not in opposition to each other: they are complementary.

It should also be noted that with such a robot for marketing and communication management, you have an easier time controlling the feedback of your consumers. The after-sales service is thus optimized.

Moreover, the use of a chatbot is a practice that is increasingly present in recruitment. If recruiters or HR departments are using them more and more, it is above all because of their ability to converse with candidates and provide them with information about the position. In addition, the HR chatbot can ask candidates for information such as their mobility, thus preventing the selection of profiles that do not meet the criteria set by the HR department.

Chatbots perform time-consuming repetitive tasks to save recruiters more time. Not to mention that it can be very useful for career management and information transmission.

Learn more about chatbot for business.

Chatbot to improve customer experience?

We have seen it: it is very interesting today for a company to have a chatbot. But what about the user side?

The chatbot can be installed where your customers are used to go:

• On your website
• On Facebook
• On WhatsApp

Thus, the user can choose where to get information about your company. There is a notion of proximity with your customer and his habits.

The customer or prospect can get an answer to their questions instantly, without having to wait for a human to be available. This can quickly remove disincentives to purchase.

For example, according to a study by Botnation, 59% of consumers appreciate being able to ask their questions to a chatbot. 89% like to have a quick answer to their questions.

The chatbot is therefore able to improve the customer experience. Having a successful customer relationship with your brand, the person will climb the customer satisfaction ladder.

Common use cases

The main use cases for a conversational robot by brands are:

1. To improve the ordering process and quickly remove the obstacles to purchase (e-commerce, sale of services)
2. To help in the capture of leads to better qualify the customer via a series of questions / answers
3. To have a more efficient after-sales service, requiring less human resources (Messenger and WhatsApp chatbots)

For the first two points, the chatbot is usually installed on the company’s website, either on the home page, on a landing page, or on all the pages of the site.

For after-sales service, customers like to contact brands on social networks like Twitter. Having chatbots on social networks (Messenger, WhatsApp), can allow your customers to contact you via these channels. This way, you free up time for your community management teams.

How to create a chatbot?

To create a conversational agent, there are 2 main solutions.

1. Use the skills of an expert agency in the field

You can use specialized chatbot creation agencies, like Botnation. You have several options when it comes to choosing your Botnation package. There is a free package that allows you to configure and test your chatbot. You can modify your Botnation conversational agent yourself according to your needs, easily and without having to code! You can also entrust this realization to one of our computer specialists if needed. Whatever your chatbot configuration or development needs, contact us.

2. Develop your own chatbot

You can also decide to program a chatbot yourself, without the help of an expert agency. You can surely with some developers create a simple chatbot in Python or PHP for example. However, you should know that creating a performing chatbot that will satisfy your users is not an easy thing to do. Developing your own sculpin can therefore cost you a lot of time and/or money.

At Botnation, we have been developing chatbots for years. Our teams of developers are experts in this field. We can adapt our chatbots to your needs. We can also program a chatbot with custom features. Contact us now to learn more.

Learn more about creating a chatbot.

Need help getting started with your own chatbot?

Botnation’s chatbots use state-of-the-art NLP, machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to provide you with high-performance conversational bots. Moreover, our chatbots are customizable! You can configure them without coding.

Do you need a WordPress chatbot, a Messenger chatbot, a WhatsApp chatbot, a WordPress plugin, or a chatbot for your website coded without CMS or with an in-house CMS? We can meet all your needs in terms of chatbots. Check out our rates, and if you need to, contact us now to get a quote for a customized service through our expert developers. If you are looking for a free chatbot, we even offer a free version that allows you to configure and test your chatbot.

➜ Discover Botnation and launch your chabot easily!