How to Use AI Chatbots to Drive Website Conversions

Buyer expectations have changed drastically over the last few years. This refers to several points, such as speed, personalization, and 24/7 expectations.

Nowadays, to have prospects satisfied so that they can turn into customers, you need to meet a list of requirements.

Since the number of competitors is increasing, brands incorporate technology to help them meet customer needs. That’s why chatbots are not an option but a necessity lately.

With their help, you not only provide support but also manage various repetitive tasks, which include registration for events, doctor appointments, product recommendations, proactive support, data capture, lead qualification, and so much more. This allows you to reduce the workload on your team and let them focus on high-priority issues. 

When it comes to AI chatbots, they can serve your purpose even better because their responses are more natural, thanks to the human-like language they use. They also adapt messages based on user behavior, page context, and answers.

However, to effectively incorporate AI chatbots into your business, you need to choose the right platform and know how to do it. In this article, we’ll uncover all the most crucial details to consider. Let’s start with key ways AI chatbots help your company to increase website conversions.

Key Ways AI Chatbots Drive Website Conversions

AI chatbots are valuable not only because of their 24/7 availability. There are numerous reasons to implement them into your business and reach your goals faster.

Here are the most essential ones:

• Instant engagement at the right moment. Various proactive triggers help chatbots react to customer actions and adjust their messages accordingly. When users just open the chat, you can greet them with a contextual message. The bot can also pay attention to exit intent, time on page, and scroll depth to deliver more personalized experiences. This way, you can keep your prospects longer on your website and reduce bounce rates. 
• Personalized experiences. By using visitor data such as location, page, and referral source, your chatbot no longer needs to send some basic messages. It can focus on providing exceptional experiences that your customers really look for. After teaching your bot, you’ll be able to ensure personalized product or content recommendations, which will increase your chances of conversion. By analyzing user intent, the bot can create dynamic conversation flows. 
• Lead qualification and segmentation. You can teach your AI chatbot to ask the right questions to effectively qualify your prospects and understand which of them are really interested in your product. Then, the chatbot can automatically segment your leads based on their purchasing intent and route high-intent prospects to your sales team. This way, you’ll be able to collect customer contact data during the conversation.
• Conversion-focused CTAs. You can modify your chatbot chat as needed by adding various call-to-action buttons. These can include registration for an event, a doctor appointment, adding products to shopping carts, etc. These conversion-focused buttons allow you to turn your leads into customers faster. 
• Less friction. By responding to customers’ inquiries instantly, chatbots prevent users from leaving the chat. When prospects get all the necessary information without waiting, they are more likely to stay satisfied and purchase your products. AI bots can also work with objections in real time, so there’s no need for prospects to wait for hours to get assistance for the issues they face. When the problem is too complicated, the bot can route the conversation to one of your human agents. Besides, chatbots are effective at sending updates on discounts, trials, and bonuses via chat. This is very convenient because users instantly see the information.

Now that you know their strongest characteristics, it’s time to find out how to develop a high-converting chatbot conversation. Let’s dive in.

How to Design High-Converting Chatbot Conversations

To develop a chatbot that converts, you need to follow several simple steps;

1. Outline one clear goal.

There should be one clear goal for each chatbot flow. It can be anything: lead capture, demo booking, a new purchase, and many more. Your task is to have it defined. This way, you’ll be able to reduce drop-offs.

2. Start a conversation with value.

It’s better when your interaction with users starts with a clear value your chatbot can provide. Instead of asking how you can help, try using such a message instead: “I’ll help you choose the right product in minutes.” It allows you to set expectations early and communicate the real benefit of your chatbot.

3. Take advantage of guided choices.

To simplify the usage of your chatbot and reduce the cognitive load and confusion, provide users with buttons. It lets prospects instantly choose the area they are interested in and positively impacts customer experience.

For example, you can open the chat with such buttons: “Pricing,” “Talk to expert,” “FAQs,” etc. This will help users take the right path and receive information fast. However, you can still use text when you ask for contact details or some other details.

4. Use fewer questions.

Using fewer but smarter questions is a good idea for higher conversions. Some questions, especially when there are lots of them, might confuse users and encourage them to leave. It results in poor experience and frustration, which is not good for your brand.

5. Use personalization early for higher relevance.

Tailor your messages to customers’ needs from your first chatbot message. When users choose a specific company size or industry, instantly proceed to the best recommendations for them.

You need to sound relevant rather than generic. Generic messages are equal to drop off in the majority of cases.

6. Create short and scannable messages.

Long messages overload users and encourage them to leave the chat or call your customer service. That’s why ensure that your message is 1-2 short sentences long. Besides, you should have one idea per message for better clarity. 

7. Make sure to include a human handoff.

While AI chatbots are great at understanding natural language and responding to user questions, there will still be times when they can’t fully help.

That’s when having a clear “Chat with a human agent” option becomes important. It gives users an easy way to reach out to a real person, keeping them happy and making sure their issues get resolved.

8. End with a clear call-to-action button.

At the end of the conversation, ensure to include a strong CTA. They should be action-oriented.

For instance, “Get my personalized setup,” “Book a demo,” “Get a guide,” etc. People are more likely to click on them rather than those saying goodbye.

9. Always test and optimize for better performance.

Try different options of your chatbot flow to figure out which is more relevant to your target audience. Consider adding shorter 3 first messages and buttons, including CTA earlier, rephrasing the opening message, etc.

See how users will react. It probably will improve your conversion rates.

Check your analytics, especially for the following metrics:

• conversation completion rate;
• button click-through rates;
• drop-off points;
• conversion rate per entry point.

They will give you a hint on areas that need your close attention.

Now let’s take a look at AI chatbot features that might influence your conversions. You should always look for these before choosing a platform for your business. 

Features That Have the Biggest Impact on Conversions

There are several points you need to consider when selecting a chatbot builder. There are dozens of services available out there, but not all of them cover the most crucial features.

• Natural language processing (NLP). This refers to the understanding and interpretation of the context by the chatbot. It allows your bots to understand user intent, context, and typos to provide human-like answers. With this feature, the chatbot tries to understand the message rather than relying on pre-written scripts. It results in more relevant answers and higher satisfaction among users.
• Behavioral triggers and targeting. These features use real-time actions to help your chatbot decide when and how to interact with users. Behavior triggers let it respond based on things like which pages someone visits, how long they stay, or if they leave items in their cart. Targeting is all about who sees the message. This can depend on location, traffic source, whether the visitor is new or returning, and similar factors. You get to set the rules so your chatbot talks to the right people at just the right time.
• CRM and email marketing integration. It’s also really helpful if your platform connects with a CRM. That way, you can automatically save contact data and use it later for follow-ups without doing everything manually. Email marketing also plays a big role in nurturing leads. You can send personalized emails with products people are actually interested in, straight to their inbox, which makes it easier to turn interest into sales. There are plenty of great all-in-one tools out there, and SendPulse is one of them. It lets you build chatbots for improving sales on WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook Messenger, follow up with email campaigns, and keep everything organized in its built-in CRM.
• A/B testing for chatbot messages. Testing is the most important part for all chatbots because it shows you whether everything works as expected. You should also use A/B testing to figure out which elements are better for your audience. As a result, you’ll have a chatbot that is useful for your customers. 
• Analytics and conversion tracking. Once you launch your chatbot, you should keep an eye on analytics. It will unveil all the details of your bot and areas where it requires improvement. Besides, pay attention to conversion rates. If something doesn’t meet your expectations, be ready to adjust your bot for higher performance.
• Fast response time. Ensure that your chatbot reacts to customer inquiries instantly. It should take your bot less than one second to respond. This way, you’ll be able to provide the best service for users and still keep them satisfied. 
• Human handoff at the right moment. When your chatbot doesn’t understand the question or the situation your customer is facing, it’s always better to route this person to a human agent. The best way to do it is to provide a human handoff button at the right moment. It will help you prevent customer frustration and drop off.
• AI-powered recommendations. You can use your bot as a source of product recommendations for customers. By analyzing customer behavior, needs, and expectations, your bot can share relevant recommendations and thus improve conversions. If customers get what they want, they are more likely to convert fast.
• Lead qualification. Your bot should be able to qualify leads. It significantly speeds up the process of identifying high-converting leads and focusing on them. This prevents you from spending time and resources on people who came to your website by curiosity without having a purchasing intent.

Now, let’s proceed to the mistakes that might cause low conversions. You should be aware of those to prevent such scenarios from happening.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Conversions

When businesses develop chatbots for the first time, they might make some mistakes that later result in low conversions. To avoid such problems, we invite you to explore these mistakes.

• Overusing pop-ups and aggressive triggers. Using too many pop-ups and intrusive chat prompts can negatively affect the experience with your brand in general. This can even cause bounce rates. So it’s essential to create your chatbot conversations wisely.
• Too many questions at the beginning. Ensure to ask only simple questions in the beginning. Your conversation shouldn’t only contain your questions. Also, avoid using long or complex opening flows to prevent users from leaving the chat instantly.
• Poorly trained AI responses. Before launching your bot, you should train it well first. All the answers should be relevant and accurate, helping customers solve their problems seamlessly. This way, you’ll be able to encourage trust and drive conversions. 
• Ignoring chatbot analytics. Chatbot analytics is the first place to check when you want to see how your bot is really doing. It shows you what’s working, where people are dropping off, and what might need a little tweaking. When you keep an eye on the numbers, it’s much easier to spot ways to improve the experience and make your chatbot more helpful. That way, customers are more likely to come back whenever they need support or have questions.

Now that you know the common mistakes, it’s time to proceed to the next section. It will uncover the metrics that will help you evaluate how bots influence website conversions.

Measuring The Impact of Chatbots on Website Conversions

To figure out how chatbots influence your conversions, you should keep an eye on the most important metrics. Here are the main ones for you to consider.

• Conversion rate. It shows how many prospects perform the desired action after interacting with your chatbot. These might include making a purchase, registering for an event, signing up for your email newsletter, or submitting a form.
• Engagement rate. This metric unveils how many users interact with your chatbot compared to those who have seen it. It allows you to understand how relevant and accurate your chatbot messages are. 
• Lead quality. This metric helps assess how well-qualified your prospects are. It shows which leads demonstrate strong purchase intent, how engaged they are based on their responses, and which of them are most likely to convert.
• Assisted conversions. This metric allows you to track conversions in which the chatbot plays a supporting role. For example, it may answer specific questions, provide assistance, or guide users through a process that helps them complete the desired action via another channel.

Now, let’s move on to a short guide for those who are just getting started with AI chatbots.

Step-by-Step: How to Get Started with AI Chatbots

Before jumping into chatbot creation, take a moment to understand the steps that will help you achieve the best results. Here are the essentials to get started.

Identify the perfect chatbot builder.

Among dozens of platforms available, choose those that offer AI-powered conversations, flexible automation, CRM, and email marketing integrations. They are essential for the proper work of your bots and seamless interactions with users.

Also, consider such factors as ease of use and scalability. These will ensure that you can start without any special skills and grow your business when you are ready. 

Outline your use cases and primary goals.

Before developing your bot, you need to have a clear understanding of the things you want to achieve.

Whether you want to generate leads, qualify prospects, improve sales by 20%, or just help users, ensure you have all of them mentioned. You’ll develop your chatbot flows based on these objectives. So get ready with this part.

Develop your first conversion-focused flow.

Start small by creating simple logical conversations that lead prospects toward a specific action. Ask important questions, deliver relevant answers, and add clear CTAs so that users can proceed to the next step. 

Set up human handoff.

Consider adding a button allowing users to connect to your human agents. This is necessary when your chatbot doesn’t understand a customer inquiry. It will help you prevent customer frustration and drop off. 

Optimize your bot for better performance.

Always monitor your analytics to understand how your chatbot is performing. Analytics help you see where users engage with your business and identify points where they drop off. These drop-offs often indicate areas where the chatbot needs improvement.

Additionally, you can test different versions of messages, CTAs, conversation flows, and triggers to determine which options perform best with your target audience.

Conclusion

All in all, AI chatbots significantly improve website conversions when you use them right. However, to create a powerful bot, you need to choose the right platform for this. Pay attention to the features the service provides.

A good chatbot builder should have natural language processing capabilities, behavioral triggers and targeting, CRM and email marketing integrations, A/B testing, and analytics. All of these ensure that your chatbot can understand user intent and react accordingly.

Always keep an eye on how your chatbots perform so that you can modify them whenever customers face challenges using them.