Conversational AI 101: The Ecosystem at a Glance

By 2020, 85% of our engagement with businesses will be through chatbots, as per Gartner.

Moreover, the chatbot market is anticipated to hit around US$ 1.25 billion in 2025, according to Statista.

Clearly, bots are the future, and bot-powered commerce is the modern-day manifest destiny.

Whether you want to order your favorite cheese pizza or book an appointment with your hairdresser or take quotes for that much-awaited holiday package at Mauritius, bots can do it all for you. Yes, that’s the superpower of bots. And entrepreneurs, business leaders, and marketers are leaving no stone unturned to maximize the potential of bots to the fullest.

So, What Exactly are Bots?

Simply put, these are computer programs that leverage the power of conversational AI to chat with users.

How?

Well, let’s get a little technical here.

Bots are powered by Artificial Intelligence which allows them to learn from interactions with the end-users. There are analytical tools and integrations with the APIs, which help in feeding the bots with valuable information so that the bots respond correctly. Chatbots use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to convert a user’s speech, text, sentiment, or voice, into structured data, which is then utilized to provide the most suitable and relevant answer.

Developers further train AI with various sets of user behavior patterns. Databases, which store these patterns or user conversations, are connected to the bots. By leveraging Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, the AI bots examine the databases, account for each user’s conversation history, understand the intent behind the user requests and respond to their questions in a friendly, natural and human way.

TL;DR

Bots are powered by Artificial Intelligence technology.
Developers feed the AI-powered bots with massive data sets (e.g., user information).
Smart AI capabilities help bots analyze customer preferences.
Bots evaluate conversation logs to produce intelligent responses.

So, whether you want to purchase a yellow tote bag or schedule a business meeting at a specific time, bots are capable of doing it all.

What Could Conversational AI Mean for Your Business?

Clearly, profitability!

Here’s a quick lowdown of the same:

Offers 24*7 Availability
Chatbots are available 24*7. They help businesses offer 24*7 customer support throughout the year. So, the customers do not need to wait endlessly for their calls to be answered by a human representative. They can easily interact with the conversational AI, get their queries answered, and even gain valuable recommendations and suggestions in no time.

Simplifies Operation and Lowers Costs
Implementing a fully functional conversational AI can help in reducing the operational costs of a company. Let’s face it – human staff can only handle 3 or 4 customers at a time. Often, it can become cumbersome for the human representatives too. However, a chatbot or a virtual assistant can handle multiple customer queries at a time. It can even deliver personalized answers to each customer effortlessly. Moreover, businesses do not need to spend considerable amounts in hiring human personnel if they have a bot in place.

Improves Engagement and Sales
Since a conversational AI can be quick, humorous, and natural in its responses, customers immediately connect and engage with it. Specific answers and personalized responses make customers happy. For instance, if a customer wants to book a movie ticket online, the bot asks him about the name of the movie and its date and time. Accordingly, it takes the customer to the booking page and closes the sale. Customers get a pleasant experience that invites future leads.

Monitors Customer Data and Boosts Marketing
Equipped with specific customer behavioral patterns and other relevant data, a conversational AI quickly tracks, analyzes, and understands why a particular customer is happy or dissatisfied with a product or a service. Accordingly, it help experts fine-tune their marketing efforts.

Enables Businesses to Stay on Top of Trends
Smart, quick, and intelligent customer support solutions, offered by conversational AI, encourage people to get back to brands over and over again. This gives businesses that much-needed edge over their competitors.

In Essence, with Conversational AI, Businesses Can…

Simplify their research
Streamline their customer support
Tailor-built their services

Clearly, Conversational AI Brings in a Radical New Reality

It’s helpful. It encourages scalability. It promotes one-on-one conversations between brands and consumers.

And of course, it’s cost-effective.

In fact, chatbot conversations can aid in $8 billion costs saving in the banking and healthcare sector by 2022, as per Juniper Research.
Moreover, Opus Research estimates a $4.5 billion investment in chatbots by 2021.

Without a doubt, the conversational AI ecosystem is robust and it’s only expected to grow from here.

In Short

Conversational AI can help turn a marketer’s dream into a reality. It is here to create a world where brands can strengthen a bond with their buyers and buyers can learn to rely on brands again.

It’s a part of a larger shift we’re seeing in the business landscape today.