Exploring Chatbot Marketing for Small Business + 33 Strategies for Using Chatbots to Increase Website Conversions

Before we jump right into the 33 chatbot marketing strategies for digital small businesses and entrepreneurs, we need to cover a bit of internet history regarding how digital marketing strategies have evolved through out the years.

In learning how we, as small business owners and entrepreneurs, have used our websites and other online formats like sales funnels and lead funnels to communicate with our visitors, increase conversions, and drive in sales, we can come to appreciate, and see the power, in adding a mighty chatbot to our overall digital marketing strategy.

The insight I share below will help you gain a high-level, well-rounded perspective of digital marketing and possibly help you understand how to communicate better with your website visitors and audience.

If you’re more seasoned and you’d like to skip to the strategies, click on the type of website you have below to be taken straight to the relevant section. Before you click though, I will say, there is a bit of cross-over between the various website models, since these strategies can be applied differently to meet different website needs, so I encourage you to look in the other sections for inspiration as well.

Jump ahead to Chatbot Marketing Strategies for the following types of websites:

For many small business owners, their website is their digital store, their digital place of business. It’s no longer just an online catalog. It has all the basic functions of a brick-and-mortar business, without the bricks and mortar. (Instead, we have pixels!)

Unfortunately though, the online store or business can also be without the sales and support people to guide the visitors through the website, answer questions, and build relationships, similarly to what would be done in person. On the internet, that personal touch can fade.

The job is up to the voice of the content and eye-catching design elements to draw in and keep the attention of the visitors, and the funnel structure to guide them through the completion of the sales or registration process.

But for those websites that don’t follow a tight funnel structure, a bigger problem arises. Without direction, a website visitor can peruse the online store at their own will and possibly miss out on what the company really has to offer, if it’s not clearly displayed or easy to engage with.

Without guidance, the visitor roams around and either finds something to buy or abandons the buying process and leaves, without much say so from the company, other than the static content posted on the website for all its visitors to read.

It’s not personalized and can only guide the masses in general ways.

I would compare it to opening a brick-and-mortar store to the public, and only having quiet security personnel in the background to make sure all visitors are safe and that sales are processed safely.

Customers and guests can browse around, read or watch all the displays, and go down all the aisles, but they are on their own to decide based on the information provided.

If they have questions, they can search the store directory for answers or contact a representative through the not-so-instant online form, but typically, they do not have a store representative to interact with while they are in the buying mode (and so the store loses potential buyers).

For the business owner, that scenario presents an obvious need for a person, themselves or a chat assistant, to be that online support 24 hours a day, which is crazy and it’s not why online commerce was created. The owners of such platforms want freedom and flexibility… as do the visitors.

We as consumers want that level of autonomy and space to make our own decisions, but it’s ALSO nice to have help and guidance when needed, especially when we’re seriously considering a solution or are ready to buy.

As consumers, we don’t always know what our problem is, let alone if the solution we’re researching is right for us, until someone points it out and makes the connection apparent to us.

Then, when the problem AND solution are presented together, we make our move because it’s clear to see. And if it’s a really sweet deal, an “irresistible offer” that far exceeds the dollar value, it becomes a no-brainer for us to decide.

For a long time, there’s been no real bridge to connect the website visitor with the brand in the way a salesperson or representative could do in person.

Website funnels have been doing the best job at presenting the visitor with their problems, along with the paths to the solutions (plus add-on offers), in order to take care of their customers in more nurturing, personal ways.

While the website delivers the message in the right sequencing, and the buttons and links direct the traffic, there is a delay in how customers can communicate with the business, which often creates holes for prospects and leads to slip through, and never be seen again.

Now, if a business is actually paying for those visitors’ attention, only for them to eventually leave to find their solution elsewhere, it can really hurt the pocket!

Seeing funds go out, only to bring in people who don’t buy or don’t buy as much, can be a real wake up call! It can quickly get the attention of the business owner or marketing team to seek solutions to better convert their visitors and get a higher return on their investment (ROI).

In plain terms, the business owner seeks to make the most of their resources AND take better care of their website visitors and customers so that everybody wins.

While I’m a huge supporter of website funnels, I see a new, more powerful solution emerging through the implementation of website chatbots, programed by humans, and executed by AI technology. And even better, they can actually be integrated right into a website funnel to enhance and improve the process, the visitor experience, and traffic conversions.

A website chatbot has that ability to connect with a website visitor 24/7 and add a level of personal touch to their experience.

This powerful, ever-available bot also allows for precious one-on-one time with a lead while they are in the buying process. Not hours or days later.

This opens a special opportunity to build a meaningful relationship and gain invaluable feedback from your audience, in real-time.

What other marketing strategy offers that incredible power to the average business owner?

NONE!

… Let that sink in for a moment… because the value of a chatbot is golden.

While the anonymity of the internet has allowed for detached company-customer relationships to form, a chatbot can initiate a warm conversation with a soon-to-be customer and connect with them in more personal ways than technology has ever allowed us to do before.

This connection is similar to what would be experienced in a real life, face-to-face setting, which hasn’t translated too well online, until recently.

A chatbot is a 24/7 representative there to greet visitors day and night, and offer a more personalized and guided website experience, similar to getting a store tour or personal shopping assistant.

It offers the ability for the prospect to get to know the company culture and the people behind it (who’ve created the bot conversation) before they decide to support the business with their purchase. It also allows the company to pre-qualify the visitor and make the best recommendations for their needs.

And because it’s run on AI, people don’t feel as if they’re wasting another person’s time or obligated into anything, and business owners don’t have to spend precious resources for humans to be available for instant 24/7 support.

Besides the more obvious customer service aspects, there are other behind-the-scenes ways a chatbot can make the customer experience more pleasing.

Any way the purchasing process can be made simpler and more straightforward, the higher the chances are of converting that browsing lead into a buying customer, and a loyal, raving fan.

AI-guided chatbots have that ability to lead the buying or sign-up process and guide the prospect step-by-step, wherever you wish to take them. This allows for less leads to fall in the cracks and get lost on the internet, and more customers satisfied with your brand.

With a personalized chatbot to guide a visitor through the online store or registration process, they feel more taken care of, less deserted, and they will likely engage more with your brand, knowing support and assistance are there for them.

We are all looking to connect these days, after all we’ve been through post 2020. While a website owner can’t possibly speak to and personally connect with every visitor, (I hope they are that busy!), a chatbot can take on that role on their behalf. And it can still deliver a live lead right to a live company rep to engage in real, verbal communication, as needed.

Now that you have a better understanding of the role and purpose of chatbots, I want to show you the best ways to employ a chatbot on all types of websites to maximize conversions and generate happy customers and supporters.

This supporting video reveals the 33 chatbot marketing strategies for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Feel free to watch and/or read them all below.

This is a prime opportunity for adding a chatbot to increase conversions! The buyer is “in the process” and open to engaging with the business. From here, a chatbot can do any of the following:

While many blogs are like libraries one can quietly peruse alone, they can become hubs for connecting with each reader and building a community of like minds and like hearts. By using a chatbot as an extension of their brand and personality, blog owners can:

This scenario is like a hybrid between a sales page and a blog, typically because as an affiliate, we don’t have control over the sale process or shopping cart, and we are usually promoting the product through a blog-style website, rather than an eCommerce website. An affiliate marketer can use a chatbot to:

There has been a saying roaming the internet for decades now that “the gold is in the list”, that “the list is everything”, and there are many good reasons why it’s a highly recommended business practice.

It’s the best way for a small business owner or brand to build a relationship with potential customers in an intimate setting, outside the temporary landscape of social media.

Through engaging messages, brands and subscribers can form mutual, highly beneficial relationships in an on-going setting to keep solutions coming and business flowing. A chatbot can present the initial steps in building a solid email list in the following ways:

Similar to list-building or opt-in pages, registration pages collect visitor information and therefore benefit greatly from adding a personalized chatbot conversation to the mix, for many of the reasons I just listed above. In the webinar or event registration setting, a chatbot can:

Like sales pages and funnel sites, eCommerce stores also have shopping carts, but they usually have all of their stock on display through the use of categories, rather than sales funnels only showing 1 -3 related products at a time. eCommerce stores benefit from having a chatbot to provide additional structure in these ways:

Local businesses who have an online presence benefit greatly from a chatbot, since it translates so well as a digital company rep. The bot itself becomes the bridge connecting customers and local businesses in more ways than ever before.

A local business can still be in business after hours when a chatbot is present to take care of the visitors. As an extension of the local business, a website chatbot can:

Having a chatbot on a consultant’s website can be like cloning oneself! Suddenly, there is another “person” to handle the time-consuming, repetitive tasks, which frees up time for more creative human projects to be implemented into the consultant’s business. Here’s the “botpower” a chatbot can offer this type of website:

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For any business owner or entrepreneur with a website that falls under one of those categories above, a chatbot can assist your online marketing efforts unlike any other tech available today.

You’ve made it this far.. when you’re ready to take the next step and discover a solution that turns curious website visitors into satisfied customers, check out this chatbot platform and get 10 free templates to help get you started.

As a chatbot agency owner, I highly recommend this platform for the ease of use and non-technical installation. Their customers have tons of great things to say about the team who supports the software, as well as the software itself.

This is Simon, one of the 3 creators of this amazing chatbot software, walking us through the dashboard of ConversioBot and how quick and easy it is to build your first bot!

And if you don’t want to do it by yourself, I can help with that!

(Contact me about how I can build a chatbot for you!)

Thanks to vectorjuice at www.freepik.com for the awesome chatbot graphics!