Matt Leitz is the founder and CEO of BotBuilders, a company that builds automated chatbots. Think messenger bots that run on Facebook and Instagram. In fact, BotBuilders actually built Manychat, which you’ve probably interacted with at some point. These bots can generate leads, make sales, and streamline support for those who use them. Matt believes any person, any type of business can benefit from an automated chatbot.
A year or two ago, everyone was talking about chatbots. Then it seems like they kinda died off. I haven’t heard anyone talking about ’em lately, besides Matt here. That’s ’cause a lot of marketers came in, built crappy bots that didn’t work very well, and so everyone got cynical about the concept and moved on to the next thing. But don’t let that fool ya, Matt says. Big companies are pouring more and more money into chatbots and AI and all things automation. This is still the future. It’s just that, we’re in the bottom of the second inning.
“It’s all about collecting a lead,” explains Matt, “and then communicating with that lead with a customized experience, which is better not only for the business but also for the user. Think about it. A couple decades ago, what was marketing? It was a billboard, it was this thing you just ran into. And then, the next generation was email and text marketing, which is different ’cause it’s permission-based marketing. But it’s still one-way in nature. Right? I’m sending you marketing. You can opt-out at any time.”
“Whereas, now, the third coming here of marketing—and this is why we’re doing so well—it’s called conversational marketing,” Matt continues. “How primitive is it to just shove something down someone’s throat? Conversational marketing, on the other hand, is saying, hey, let’s automate this process but let’s have an actual conversation where we can build a real relationship, and in the process I’m gonna learn more about you so that I can customize your experience to make it better for you and the conversions higher for me.”
What Matt’s found is you can 5-10x conversions with conversational marketing. Make no mistake though, the magic’s in the messaging. Even the best built chatbot can’t sell an offer nobody wants. Also, another misconception is that a bot’s purpose is to replace people. Couldn’t be further from the truth, Matt says. A bot is there to protect your people from unwanted or unnecessary conversations. It’s there to handle the FAQs, to screen out the tire kickers and the looky-loos. To satisfy the high-maintenance customers.
“I’ve been writing persuasive copy for 20+ years,” Matt points out. “And I would argue that it’s the most valuable skill that you could ever have. Now imagine, if you’re sending an email, that’s like writing copy in 2D. It’s flat. Well with automated chatbots, it’s like writing copy in three dimensions. You might reply back with a certain word, and that triggers the next response. You’d be surprised. People will chat with a chatbot for 20 minutes sometimes. And then the bot will connect that individual to the right person at the right time.”
But again, develop your USP, or else you’ll just have this chatbot that oohs and aahs people but doesn’t move the needle. Matt gives an example. He was consulting for this winemaker who was struggling to get people to sign up for their wine club subscription, right? And he’s like, “You need a hook.” So they came up with this slogan: We make the wine, you make the memories. And then they’d include a Polaroid Instant Camera with each shipment. Boom, it took off. So what’s your differentiator? Awesome advice from Mr. Bot Builder.
