A fruit from Artificial Intelligence, Chatbots are an amalgamation of terms ‘Chat’ and ‘Robot’. As the name suggests, Chatbots are meant to make conversations just like a real person. Though the concept came a couple of years ago, but certainly it has made huge strides in the digital world. The debut of Chatbots has entirely changed the scenario how users interact with regular websites.
Powered by AI & Machine Learning, chatbots congregate conversational cadences that allow them to imitate human conversations and then reacting accordingly. They continuously learn from conversations they have with people, understand their predictions & solve their queries effectively. The basic contour behind developing Chatbot is “embodying learning with experience” and AI & ML-based rules and algorithms helps in making better decisions.
Why Chatbots Are Important?
Well, Chatbots become a platform for people to interact with your business. They are not only cost-effective but also eliminates frivolous requests that don’t lead to sales. Numerous marketing organizations are adopting the chatbot technology to interact with the world, and most importantly their customers.
They offer a more practical way to reach your audience and provides a seamless experience for customers to clear all queries through the app itself.
In addition to the above, Chatbots also helps in:
- Making your website a helpdesk with zero-waiting time.
- Available 24*7.
- Delivers personalized experience.
- Helps in improving user engagement.
- Captivate wider audience.
- Provides assistance in payment & checkout.
- Better lead generation.
- And above all they are cost-effective, building chatbots are way cheaper than hiring humans.
Chatbots are gaining much popularity in the marketing industry and this because they are bringing a new way for businesses to communicate with their customers. Adopting this cutting-edge technology will surely give you a greater advantage as a marketer over competitors.
What is Facebook Messenger Bot?
Facebook Messenger Bots are the customer interaction personnel build for organizations. Similar to Google Assistant or Siri which plays the role of your assistant in getting things done or clarifying doubts. Facebook Bots are used for business purposes that answer customer queries, provide information & help customers in their purchasing journey.
How To Set Up Your Own Facebook Messenger Bot?
Now that you have a better understanding of how using a chatbot can be a fruitful operation for your organization, let’s jump into building one. There are numerous tools available for building chatbots, among all the best are Chatfuel, OnSequel, Botsify, and Diagflow. All of these will let you create chatbot without indulging into complicated programming.
For this blog, we are using Chatfuel, which is super easy to get rolling with and it’s fairly packed with robust features. It is considered as the ideal tool for beginners and small businesses.
To be honest, the end-product won’t be that promising to wow your potential customers, but it would be enough to create a very basic chatbot for an inception. A well-featured chatbot demands a considerable amount of time, effort and immersive AI techniques that can carry out strong conversations, which might probably be a damn complex process for newbies.
So, let’s begin with creating basic chatbot for Facebook. Follow the steps carefully!
STEP 1- Connect Your Facebook Account with Chatfuel
Reach to the Chatfuel homepage and click on ‘get started for free’ button. Do ensure that you are already logged in with Facebook on the browser, so that once you begin using the tool, Chatfuel will gather your Facebook pages and redirect you to your Facebook account. You have to allow certain permissions in order to get started with the tool.
As soon as you grant permissions, you will be taken back to the Chatfuel tool, where you will have to select which Facebook page you want to connect to.
Note: Till now you must have understood that Chatbots are meant for Organizations and not individuals. Thus, you are required to have Facebook Business Page to which you will link your Chatbot to. If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your business, then you should create one. Once you have set up your business page, go back to Chatfuel and simply connect your Facebook page!
STEP 2- Go Through the In-App Tutorial
Once you have linked your Facebook Business Page with Chatfuel, you will be taken to the actual Chatbot builder. You will be presented with a detailed tutorial that will help you to learn ‘How to Create Chatbot’. Do spare five minutes to go through the tutorial for getting basic knowledge about how the tool works & how you can get started with the interface.
STEP 3- Draft A Messenger Greeting
The next step is to create a welcome message & default answer that will be prompted when the audience will try to connect with you through messenger. Remember, this is the first impression to your visitors, so make it good. To create one, follow the steps:
- Go to your Facebook Page > click on Settings > Messaging.
- Locate ‘Show a Messenger Greeting’ option & switch it to ‘On’.
- Tap ‘Change’ button > write your welcome message & click ‘Save’.
Now whenever a customer will click on Message button > the message will be popped up. Do remember to generate a ‘default message’ that will be popped up in times when a user types a message which you don’t have AI detection set up for.
For example: ‘We are not sure what you’re asking. Maybe some options mentioned below can help you.’
STEP 4- Set Up Default Message
There can be times when a customer asks a question that Facebook chatbot cannot answer. In those cases, you are required to have a default reply to tell them where to head next. For example, giving assistance through email support or helpdesk etc. To create one, follow the steps:
- Head towards your Chatfuel dashboard > click ‘Default Answer’ button.
- Replace the placeholder text with your default reply text like, ‘Sorry, I’m still learning the ropes. However, for better assistance, you can click here & directly connect to our representatives.’
- Your changes will automatically be saved!
STEP 5- Set up a Welcome Message
Once your Chatbot session gets launched, a customer should be displayed with a ‘Welcome Message’. So, that they can get further help about how to get the most from their chatbot session. To set yours, follow the steps!
- Go to Chatfuel Dashboard > click ‘Welcome Message’.
- Create your message in the box, like ‘Hey! How Can I Help You?”.
- Your changes will automatically be saved!
STEP 6- Create Your AI
Now, this is the step where you give superpowers to your Chatbot. To completely understand what customers are asking, a chatbot must get trained under AI system, so that it can understand what customer’s queries are. Follow the steps to set up AI.
- At Chatfuel dashboard > click ‘Set Up AI’ > Add AI Rules.
- Now brainstorm all the questions that might be asked to chatbot and set up answers for the same.
- For example, if a customer types something similar to ‘Shipping’ word. The chatbot will reply as ‘All orders over $10 qualify free shipping’ and you can give a direct link to your shipping policies.
- Work with common keywords that customer may inquire about. Repeat the process with as many numbers of common questions as possible and use those to set up your AI.
STEP 7- Begin Chatting with Chatbot
It’s time to see how well you chatbot works. Once you are done training your Chatbot, it’s time to live the changes. In fact, Chatfuel will immediately launch your chatbot, all you have to do is promote your page and start engaging your audience. You can try testing your bot by clicking on ‘Test This Chatbot’ blue button at the top-right corner.
Do remember this is just the beginning, there’s a lot more you can do with the tool including the use of images, graphics, audios & other visual elements which can make the customer experience more interactive.
Hope you’re all set to produce your own Chatbot!
Build something awesome!
