In my next 3 articles on chatbot types, I will attempt to cluster the different types of bots into groups.
I cluster chatbots into 3 use case groups:
- Marketing
- Distribution
- Service
In this article, I will only mention the chatbot types that are suitable for marketing use cases suitable.
1. PUBLISHER BOT
The Publisher Bot primarily transmits informative content from companies to customers – similar to a digital newsletter. This usually involves the latest news about the company, the industry, offers or new products. Media companies use these bots as an additional service offering for their current and potential customers.
Many media companies (TV and radio stations, as well as newspapers) have so-called news bots – a special form of publisher bots that regularly broadcast personalized breaking news or stories. One example is the CNN Bot.
2. GUIDANCE BOT
The Guidance Bot provides customers with advisory content. These are mostly tips and suggestions on how products can be ideally used. General advice (for example in the form of recipe suggestions) that includes or recommends the company’s products is also popular.
The Maggi chatbot, which I have already described here, serves as an example.
3RD FUN BOT
The Fun Bot provides entertaining content, mainly to advertise a company’s current offers and new products and to increase reach. The bot is defined by the intensive use of media and tends to have a more informal character. It does not have to fulfill a specific or meaningful task for the user – it can simply be entertaining and fun. Fun bots are particularly suitable for promoting and supplementing films and series. Chatbots were programmed for the films “Zootopia” (Disney) and “Unfriend” (Universial Studios) as well as for the National Geographic series “Genius”, allowing users to talk to one of the characters and solve puzzles, some of which were aligned with the content of the film or series. Unilever developed a bot that rewards children with virtual games, pictures and badges for brushing their teeth regularly and thoroughly (and “popping into the bot”).
4. LOYALTY BOT
Customers can collect coins or loyalty points in the Loyalty Bot by typing in or scanning a code from the product packaging, for example. These points can be used to earn rewards or other benefits. The Loyalty Bot generates leads and strengthens brand loyalty. This form of bot already requires a higher level of interaction than the publisher bot, for example: the customer must purchase products and then react in the bot.
I hope this article has given you an overview of chatbots for marketing.
The different types of sales bots will follow in the next article.
