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Chatbot is rapidly becoming the most popular brand communication medium, with a growth rate of 24.9%. This is because chatbots offer a number of benefits for businesses, including increased sales, improved customer service, and reduced costs.

While sales (41%) and customer support (37%) are the most common use cases for chatbots, marketing (17%) is the third most common and one of the most effective ways to use them. Chatbot marketing is the application of chatbots to promote products or services and engage with clients.

Let’s take a closer look at the data to see how chatbot marketing is helping businesses achieve their goals:

• Chatbots have helped businesses increase sales by an average of 67%, according to business leaders. Additionally, 26% of all sales start with a chatbot interaction. And 35% of business leaders say that chatbots have helped them close deals.
• 55% of companies using chatbots get more high-quality leads.
• Chatbots can have a conversion rate of up to 70% in some industries.
• Stores that use conversational commerce correctly can increase their annual revenue by 7 to 25%.
• 57% of businesses say that using chatbots results in a significant ROI with minimal investment.
• Chatbots are used for upselling in about 20% of cases.

In this article, we will explore the benefits of marketing chatbots in more detail and provide chatbot examples used by businesses to achieve success through marketing. We will also discuss how to develop a proper chatbot marketing strategy.

Chatbot Marketing: Definition and Applications

Chatbot marketing, an innovative marketing technique, entails the use of computer programs to automate interactions and boost sales. Companies employ chatbots on websites, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms. These bots initiate conversations, qualify leads, and even upsell clients.

Implementing chatbot marketing offers several benefits to businesses and brand reputation. Firstly, it provides 24/7 customer service with instant responses, enhancing user satisfaction. Moreover, data from chatbots helps businesses understand client pain points and emerging trends.

Find Your Marketing Chatbot’s Purpose and Learn the Advantages of Custom AI Bot Development

Additionally, chatbots facilitate closer engagement between brands and customers. Chatbots quickly provide answers and resolve complaints. They also offer detailed responses and connect clients to the right support team.

Here are just a few of the successful adoptions of chatbot for marketing by famous brands.

BloomsyBox Mother’s Day Chatbot

BloomsyBox leveraged AI chatbot for marketing to create a highly personalized Mother’s Day campaign. Partnering with Infobip and Master of Code Global, they introduced a Generative AI Chatbot. It engaged users with daily questions, offering a chance to win a free bouquet. The chatbot also personalized greeting cards with unique messages. This approach enhanced the brand’s gift-giving experience.

Key results:

• 60% of users engaging with the bot successfully completed the quiz;
• 28% of visitors answered all questions correctly, earning them a free bouquet;
• 38% of users opted for Generative AI to create personalized greeting cards;
• 78% of winners successfully claimed their prize.

Dom Juan on Tinder

In a clever move for Valentine’s Day, Domino’s partnered with Tinder to introduce ‘Dom Juan’. It was a chatbot that posed as a regular Tinder profile. When users swiped right, Dom Juan delivered playful chat-up lines to enhance their dating game. This creative campaign used Tinder’s Valentine’s Day popularity to its advantage. It resulted in significant engagement and brand visibility.

Key results:

• Achieved a 35x return on advertising spend;
• Resulted in a 10% increase in sales compared to the previous year;
• Generated over 2 million impressions on Tinder alone.

Mountain Dew’s DEWbot on Twitch

Mountain Dew ventured into the gaming world with its DEWbot on Twitch. This innovative chatbot was launched during the “Rig Up” promotion. It offered gamers the chance to win a $50,000 gaming Super Rig supplied by Origin PC. DEWbot helped Mountain Dew run a gaming campaign on Twitch. Fans voted on the best electronics for the Super Rig. This engaged the gaming community and taught Mountain Dew more about its Twitch audience.

Key Results:

• 550% increase in in-stream conversation;
• 265% growth in Mountain Dew Twitch fans;
• 572% increase in channel engagement;
• 190,000 unique in-stream viewers;
• 11,600 hours of branded content watched.

Chatbot for marketing helps businesses automate interactions, engage clients, and grow revenue. It’s a versatile tool that can be used on many platforms. Therefore, it is valuable for modern marketing strategies.

Benefits of Marketing Chatbots

Chatbots have become invaluable tools in modern marketing strategies for several compelling reasons:

• Engage and Qualify Leads. Digital assistants engage and qualify leads effectively. It initiates conversations with website visitors and collects basic qualification details. This data, combined with enrichment tools, allows for user segmentation and personalized interactions. Swift identification and routing of high-intent leads to the sales team. This significantly increases conversion chances.
• Customer Engagement. It’s a smart idea to have an AI bot for your business as 53% of people are more likely to shop with a business they can message. Bots enhance client engagement through consistent communication with a wider audience. This ultimately boosts sales through conversational marketing. They streamline ordering processes and guide users through the sales funnel.
• Save Time and Cost. Chatbots save time and money by answering common questions quickly and automatically. They are a one-time investment, work 24/7, and need few resources to give real-time responses. Bots are rule-based, AI-enabled, or hybrid. They cut wait times and improve customer support. It also gives users access to information outside of regular business hours, enhancing client satisfaction.
• Segmenting Traffic. Bots excel at segmenting traffic and directing product advertisements to the right audience. This is crucial, given that approximately 77% of a company’s ROI comes from segmented and targeted communication. Market segmentation helps businesses target the right customers with the right message. This leads to more sales and a better ROI.
• Collect Data for Analysis. Chatbots collect data from clients, such as their names, contact information, and interests. They also conduct surveys to learn how customers feel about the brand. This data helps businesses improve their knowledge bases and make bots more effective. Additionally, digital assistants use machine learning to understand consumer demographics and behaviors. This allows businesses to create personalized offerings and gain a competitive advantage.

Bots are very useful in modern digital marketing. They automate tasks, personalize messages, and engage with customers. Chatbot marketing can help businesses nurture leads, increase sales, and gather information about their consumers. It is an important part of marketing strategies and helps businesses save time and improve the customer experience.

How Can You Use Chatbots in Marketing?

NLP chatbots help businesses interact with clients more effectively and make processes more efficient. Here are some ways of how to use chatbots for marketing.

Lead Generation

Generally, 36% of companies turn to the chatbot market to improve lead generation. This is because digital assistants simplify the process of generating leads. They engage with website visitors and collect essential information.

They replace traditional online forms with friendly and conversational interactions. This makes it easier for users to provide their details. This approach not only increases lead quantity but also enhances user experience.

Lead Qualification

Chatbots for marketing go beyond lead generation by automatically qualifying leads. By asking relevant prequalifying questions, bots assess a lead’s quality and interest. This way businesses focus their resources on the most promising prospects. Such automation reduces manual work and ensures that sales teams receive leads that are more likely to convert.

Quote Generation

Marketing chatbots can offer instant quotes based on consumer responses. This feature is useful for services with personalized quotes, like insurance or consulting. Actually, 54% of customers prefer talking to a bot when making the payment. Digital assistants make the process efficient and convenient, increasing the chances of conversion.

Appointment Booking & Reservations

Multilingual chatbots are excellent tools for managing appointments and reservations. They schedule, modify, and cancel appointments. Thus, bots save time for both customers and businesses. By automating this process, businesses can improve client satisfaction and reduce administrative burdens. One in four travel companies are already using bots to help users with questions and bookings.

Loyalty Programs

Many customers forget about their loyalty program benefits. In fact, 54% of loyalty program memberships go unused. Chatbots help loyalty programs by reminding members of their point balance and encouraging them to use their rewards. This boosts client engagement and ensures loyalty program participation. Bots can also collect valuable feedback and insights from loyal consumers.

On-Site Services

Marketing chatbots provide on-site services, such as sharing business information and offering virtual receipts. They can also present menus and assist with event schedules. These services enhance customer experiences and engagement. Chatbots act as virtual assistants, making it easier for clients to access information and services. That’s why 80% of companies are looking for ways to use chatbots in their services.

Contests

Contests are effective marketing tools, and virtual assistants can make them even more engaging. Bots attract participants, collect entries, answer questions, and announce winners. This interactive approach fosters user engagement and provides a seamless experience for participants.

Reviews

Chatbots for marketing prompt customers to leave reviews and share feedback. Chatbot for business makes it easier to collect valuable feedback from users. This feedback helps brands improve their products and services. It can also help businesses boost their online reputation.

Community Management

Chatbots help online communities by inviting new members, sharing updates, and enforcing rules. Additionally, they can answer member questions, providing support and assistance. Thus, they enhance community management and engagement. Virtual assistants ensure that communities run smoothly and provide valuable resources to members.

Content Distribution

Chatbots deliver content directly to users. This includes spreading blog posts, podcasts, videos, or other forms of content. Users access and consume content within the bot interface. Such approaches save time and create a smooth experience for your customers. Content distribution through virtual assistants also helps businesses reach their audience more effectively.

Surveys

95% of companies collect feedback, and chatbots can optimize this process. Conversational surveys are simple to complete, mobile-friendly, and have a higher engagement rate. They allow for real-time data collection and personalization. Bot-driven surveys provide valuable insights and feedback for businesses to make data-driven decisions.

How Master of Code Global Can Enhance Your Chatbot Marketing Strategy

To create a winning chatbot marketing strategy develop a comprehensive plan. You have to define your audience, their brand interactions, and success metrics. These steps will guide your chatbot’s user experience and maximize bot benefits. Let’s break it down:

• Define Your Chatbot Marketing Goals and Use Case. Clearly articulate your objectives for using chatbots in your digital marketing strategy. Do you want to use the chatbot for client acquisition, brand awareness, or customer service enhancement? We will work with you to understand your goals and make sure the chatbot meets your marketing needs.
• Develop a Robust Chatbot Content Strategy. Determine the type of content you want your consumers to engage with. Virtual assistants may cover FAQs, product information, or support resources. We’ll help you create a content strategy that works. Our expertise in chatbot flows helps to deliver relevant information to users.
• Utilize Purpose-Built Marketing Chatbots. Choosing the right type of bot is crucial. There are various chatbots designed for different purposes. We specialize in creating marketing chatbots customized as per your specific needs. You may need product recommendations, order placement, or appointment scheduling bots. We have the expertise to develop any bot that effectively serves your objectives.
• Create a Distinct Bot Personality. Define your chatbot personality, aligning it with your brand’s tone and values. Consider naming the bot for a more personalized touch.

We will assist in shaping your chatbot’s persona. We ensure it resonates with your target audience and maintains consistency across channels.

• Provide Live Chat Capabilities. Let your potential customers know that a real person is just a click away. Some people prefer human interaction over chatting with a bot. We can integrate live chat features into your chatbot to make sure real human agents are always available. This gives users the option to talk to a human if they need more help. Such an approach can assist save potential leads and facilitate sales.
• Collect Customer Feedback. Gathering customer feedback is crucial to understanding their needs and improving your services. We can make your virtual assistants send client satisfaction surveys and follow-ups after conversations. This feedback helps you learn about your consumers’ preferences and likelihood to recommend your brand. It provides actionable data to make necessary enhancements and better meet client needs.
• Track and Analyze Performance. To continuously enhance your marketing chatbots, monitoring their performance is essential. We can integrate analytics and metrics to check how your bots are operating. This data offers insights into customer interactions and engagement levels. You can make real-time adjustments to the virtual assistants to optimize their effectiveness. Regularly tracking performance ensures your chatbot remains aligned with your digital marketing goals.

Master of Code Global will work with you to define your marketing goals, identify your target audience, and create a chatbot plan. We’ll look at how your customers interact with your brand to make sure the bot is right for you. Once we have a plan, we’ll start building the virtual assistant.

We’ll create a bot persona that matches your brand and engaging content. Our company will adjust the development process for your specific needs. We will make sure your chatbot is top-notch and helps you achieve your goals.

Chatbot Marketing Examples

Sephora Marketing Bots

In the midst of a pandemic, Sephora stood out by using mobile chatbots in their stores. They started with Kik and later introduced the Sephora Reservation Assistant on Messenger. This smart move helped the company stay ahead of the competition and grow significantly, doubling its success.

Key Results:

• Generated 4 million visits to the Sephora app.
• Facilitated over 90 million shade try-on experiences.
• Increased foot traffic by 11% through the booking app.
• Achieved an average spend of $50 per in-store visit.

H&M’s Consulting Chatbot

H&M’s Kik Chatbot is a chatbot that uses AI to help customers find clothes, learn about fashion trends, and get styling advice. The virtual assistant asks customers a series of questions about their preferences. This allows it to recommend specific items of clothing and outfits. H&M’s bot is a good example of how marketing bots engage customers and promote products and services.

Key results:

• 86% engagement rate, 4-minute average interaction time;
• 8% click-through rate, which is 6% higher than rate for email marketing;
• 200% increased engagement and 70% higher revenue.

Luxury Escapes Booking Bot

Luxury Escapes uses a chatbot to make it easier to find and book luxury travel deals. Customers can tell the bot their travel preferences. Then, the virtual assistant uses AI to suggest personalized accommodations and experiences. This bot improves the user journey and makes luxury travel planning more accessible and enjoyable.

Key results:

• 4070+ deals viewed and 6200+ users engaged with the bot in 3 months since launch;
• $300,000 in revenue within its first 90 days;
• a reply rate of 89% for retargeting messages and a conversion rate of 52.63%;
• conversation rate of 12%, which is 3 times higher than the website’s.

Summary

Chatbot marketing is a powerful tool for automating interactions and enhancing sales. Businesses benefit from 24/7 customer service, data-driven personalization, and closer customer engagement. Successful examples from BloomsyBox’s, Domino’s, and Mountain Dew’s marketing campaigns demonstrate its effectiveness.

Marketing chatbots find applications in lead generation, booking, content distribution, surveys, and others. We can help with customized chatbot development. We can also assist with integrating Generative AI for marketing into your current chatbot. With our virtual assistants, you will be able to enjoy all the benefits of AI solutions repeating other brands’ achievements.

For example, Sephora achieved millions of app visits, shade try-ons, and increased traffic. H&M’s bot achieved high engagement and click-through rates. And Luxury Escapes simplified luxury travel bookings, generating substantial revenue.

Overall, chatbot marketing streamlines interactions, engages customers effectively, and drives revenue growth. Its versatile applications make it a valuable asset in modern marketing strategies.

Businesses increased in sales with chatbot implementation by 67%.

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Chatbot Marketing: The Catalyst for Business Growth was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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As per a recent Gartner poll, 45% of executive leaders have increased their AI investments due to the popularity of ChatGPT. 70% of these executives confirmed that their organizations are currently exploring Generative Artificial Intelligence. But what makes it so enticing to these decision-makers?

The statistics provide a compelling answer. For 68% of executives, the benefits of Generative AI far outweigh the associated risks. This belief underlines a growing confidence in its capabilities. Generative Artificial Intelligence investment goals are cost optimization (17%) and enhanced user experience (38%).

The trends don’t end here. The 2023 Global Trends in AI Report by S&P Global reveals that 69% of respondents pushed at least one AI deployment into production. The value derived from AI is undeniable. 70% of organizations cite revenue generation as their primary driver.

Moreover, 67.2% of enterprises plan the adoption of LLMs and Generative AI by year-end. And McKinsey & Company’s report on its economic potential projects astounding figures. The technology could contribute $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy.

75% of value created by AI falls within customer operations, marketing, sales, software engineering, and R&D. Industries like banking, high-tech, and life sciences will benefit from it the most. These numbers underline the transformative role of AI across various sectors. We will explore the benefits of Generative AI for business in detail further in the article.

Generative AI Overview

According to McKinsey, Generative AI is “a type of AI that can create new data (text, code, images, video) using patterns it has learned by training on extensive (public) data with machine learning (ML) techniques.” What makes it truly remarkable is its versatility.

It can automate, enhance, and expedite a wide range of tasks across various functions. This includes classifying data, creating content, summarizing information, and answering questions. In essence, it represents a transformative technology with immense potential for companies.

The Mechanics of Generative AI

Generative Artificial Intelligence is powered by neural networks. It analyzes existing data to discover patterns and generate new content. This technology employs different learning methods during training. These include unsupervised or semi-supervised learning.

Two Generative AI models are generative adversarial networks (GANs) and transformer-based models. GANs excel in creating visual and multimedia data. Transformer-based models, such as GPT, specialize in generating text. They can understand the context from internet data.

It relies on machine learning algorithms. ML allows the processing of large volumes of data, often collected from the internet. By learning from a lot of training data, it makes content that fits the patterns it has learned.

Common Generative AI Tools

Within Generative Artificial Intelligence, various powerful tools have emerged with different purposes. Let’s explore some widely used ones:

• ChatGPT: A large language model chatbot for 24/7 customer service and marketing content generation.
• Google Bard: An experimental AI chatbot. It is designed for research, report generation, educational messages creation, and coding tasks.
• Bing Chat: A conversational AI language model. It focuses on information retrieval, task automation, and content creation.
• Midjourney: An AI-powered text-to-image model creating captivating visuals. It can assist in product design and artistic messages.
• GitHub Copilot: An AI code assistant enhancing code writing efficiency. It can also reduce errors and aid in learning new programming languages.
• Dall-E 2: An AI model producing realistic images and art from text descriptions. It is ideal for logos, prototypes, and visual elements.

These diverse tools can reshape operations and consumer interactions. As they evolve, AI use cases promise to further impact innovation and productivity across industries.

Generative AI Benefits for Business

94% of leaders recognize the critical role of AI in the next five years. Generative AI holds immense potential for businesses. As per BCG, it increases productivity, personalized customer experiences, and accelerates R&D. Let’s delve into these benefits of implementing Generative AI further.

Automated Content Production

Generative AI is a powerful tool for enterprises seeking to create content efficiently. It can produce articles, marketing materials, and even code, saving both time and resources. For example, the most common use case for marketers (76%) and sales (82%) specialists is basic text pieces creation and copywriting.

Moreover, more than 50% of business leaders have adopted this new technology specifically for content marketing. By automating information generation, companies can maintain a consistent brand voice and style. Their human resources can focus on more strategic endeavors.

Cost Reduction and Time Savings

One of the most significant Generative AI benefits is its ability to reduce operational costs and save time. By automating repetitive tasks, companies can reallocate resources to more critical areas. This allows to increase efficiency and maintain a competitive edge in the market. According to Deloitte, 82% of leaders believe that AI will improve their employees’ performance.

On average, employees utilizing Generative AI save 1.75 hours daily, a full workday each week. 1/3 of survey respondents report saving 30 minutes to an hour daily with Generative AI-based tools. In a survey of financial services professionals, 36% reported reducing annual costs by over 10%.

Personalization

Generative AI enables enterprises to offer highly personalized experiences to their customers. It powers recommendation engines that suggest products as per individual preferences. This leads to higher sales and clients satisfaction. Additionally, it drives the development of voice assistants enhancing user engagement.

Read also: Exploring the Transformational Potential of Voice Assistants Within an Enterprise

Remarkably, statistics show that 73% of consumers anticipate enhanced personalization. Furthermore, over 75% believe that Generative AI-based applications will elevate their interactions with companies. Additionally, nearly 70% of those who’ve used it are more inclined to buy from companies adopting it.

Routine Task Automation

Generative AI’s automation capabilities extend to routine tasks, liberating employees from these responsibilities. Modern AI can automate tasks that currently take up to 60 to 70% of employees’ time. This, in turn, increases overall productivity and allows staff to focus on higher-value activities. As a result, businesses get a more dynamic and innovative workplace.

Data Analysis and Insights

Generative AI excels in data analysis. So it is especially valuable for companies working with large datasets. It can identify trends, patterns, and anomalies. Such data enables data-driven decision-making and a deeper understanding of operations, customer behavior, and market dynamics.

Customization

AI offers the flexibility to train models on a company’s proprietary data. This ensures that the LLM solutions for business align perfectly with the organization’s specific needs and goals. Therefore, it can be used in various industries and applications.

Improved Customer Experience

Generative AI plays a crucial role in improving the clients experience. It helps to provide quick, accurate, and personalized responses to inquiries. Such features lead to higher levels of consumer satisfaction and loyalty. This enhanced user experience can translate into increased revenue for enterprises.

In a company with 5,000 customer service agents, employing Generative AI-powered solutions raised issue resolution by 14% per hour. It has also reduced issue-handling time by 9% and cut agent attrition and manager requests by 25%. AI in customer care could boost productivity by 30 to 45% of current function costs.

Generative AI vs Conversational AI: Differences in Application

Conversational AI vs Generative AI: these two differ in several ways. These differences include their purpose, interaction style, evaluation metrics, and other characteristics.

Conversational AI is a cutting-edge technology that enables human-like conversations through dialogue-style interactions. It excels at maintaining conversation context. This ensures relevance, satisfaction, and a seamless flow of dialogue. Its adaptability to language, style, and user preferences makes Conversational AI ideal for real-time interactions. It provides users with a natural and engaging experience.

In contrast, Generative AI focuses on creating original content without direct user input. It operates in a one-way communication style, relying less on conversational data and considering a wide range of inputs. This technology prioritizes metrics like perplexity, diversity, novelty, and alignment. This is needed for the generation of high-quality, creative information. However, its predefined patterns and offline nature limit its suitability for real-time interactions.

Maximizing Business Benefits with Generative AI Integration

Benefits of using Generative AI in business contexts hold significant promise. Yet, there are LLM limitations that make it less than ideal for direct use. These include a lack of domain-specific knowledge, privacy and security concerns, LLM hallucinations, etc. One of the solutions to this problem lies in integrating Generative AI with Conversational AI or other existing applications.

Master of Code Global offers Generative AI integration solutions for your specific needs. Our expert team integrates AI into your chosen platforms and applications. We provide integration with your specific data, knowledge base, and backend systems via API connection. The updated systems will create personalized text pieces, summarize information, and elevate user experiences across your ecosystem. Here are two examples of our projects:

• BloomsyBox Chatbot by Master of Code Global and Infobip, integrated Generative AI and Conversational AI, improving the customer experience. During a Mother’s Day campaign, it achieved a 60% quiz completion rate, with 28% of users winning a bouquet. It introduced personalized greeting cards, and 38% chose LLM to generate messages.
• Generative AI Slack Chatbot streamlines knowledge base navigation in a tech company, used by half the staff. It enhances information access, product understanding, and workflows. This boosts team efficiency and knowledge base use.

In summary, Generative AI has its limitations for direct business use. Integrating it into an existing conversational system can unlock its full potential. At Master of Code Global, we have the expertise and innovative solutions to integrate the new technology. This allows companies to enhance conversational interactions and deliver personalized experiences.

Future of Generative AI in Business

To sum it up, Generative AI benefits can transform the economic landscape, paving the way for an exciting future:

• Accenture estimates as much as 40% of all working hours will be supported or augmented by language-based AI;
• Between 2030 and 2060, 50% of today’s work activities could be automated by Generative AI;
• AI is expected to reduce workload by 60% to 70%;
• It can also enable labor productivity growth of 0.1 to 0.6 percent annually through 2040;
• By 2025, it’s projected that 30% of outbound marketing messages from large organizations will be AI-generated, up from less than 2% in 2022;
• Generative AI will enable individuals to have their own personalized AI voice assistant in the coming years;
• Generative AI-powered chatbots are expected to reach human-level performance by 2030. It will have a major impact on knowledge work, benefiting marketing and sales functions across all industries.

Potential benefits of Generative AI include enhanced decision-making, increased productivity, and a transformation of knowledge work. The advancement in AI will undoubtedly reshape the business field in ways we can only begin to imagine.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see how Generative AI can revolutionize your customer support and boost your company’s efficiency.

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Benefits of Generative AI for Business: Unlocking Infinite Possibilities was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

 

Enhancing Customer Support on WhatsApp: Building a WhatsApp Chatbot with Human Handover using Dialogflow

In today’s digital age, WhatsApp has become a preferred communication channel for businesses and customers. WhatsApp Business API once limited to a select few, is now within reach of a broader range of businesses, offering new opportunities for providing exceptional customer support and addressing user queries.

One innovative way to leverage the power of WhatsApp API is by integrating it with Dialogflow, a robust natural language processing platform. This integration enables businesses to create a WhatsApp chatbot that can efficiently handle a wide array of customer queries. It is a valuable tool for e-commerce and small-scale businesses seeking to enhance their customer support capabilities.

Real-World Example

To better illustrate the potential of this integration, let’s explore a real-world scenario:

Imagine you run an e-commerce store that sells a variety of electronic gadgets, and you’ve integrated the WhatsApp Business API with Dialogflow to create a sophisticated chatbot.

A customer named Sarah contacted you on WhatsApp business account, inquiring about the availability of the latest smartphone model. The chatbot, powered by Dialogflow, understands her query and provides information about the smartphone’s availability, specifications, and price. It even offers to assist with placing an order.

However, Sarah has specific questions about the smartphone’s camera capabilities and whether it’s compatible with her existing accessories. These queries fall into a more complex category and necessitate a more personalized touch. This is where the power of human intervention comes into play.

Recognizing the complexity of Sarah’s questions, the chatbot seamlessly transfers the conversation to a live human customer support agent, who is also accessible through WhatsApp. The support agent picks up the conversation right where the chatbot left off, addressing Sarah’s concerns in a friendly and knowledgeable manner.

Key Benefits

• The integration of WhatsApp Business API with Dialogflow not only enables businesses to provide automated responses but also ensures a smooth transition to human agents when needed.
• This dynamic interaction enhances the customer experience, instilling confidence in your brand’s commitment to providing excellent service.
• By combining the capabilities of a chatbot with the expertise of human agents, you can meet the diverse needs of your customers efficiently and effectively. This level of responsiveness and personalization sets businesses apart in the competitive landscape of modern customer service.

As we explore the integration of WhatsApp Business API and Dialogflow, we’ll delve deeper into the technical aspects of creating a chatbot with human handover, providing practical insights and steps to empower your business with this powerful tool.

Prerequisite Tutorials

Before you begin this tutorial, it’s essential to review the following prerequisite tutorials:

1. Explore a WhatsApp Business API: Click for Tutorial
2. Learn How to Integrate Dialogflow API: Click for Tutorial

These tutorials provide the foundational knowledge required for successfully implementing the integration discussed in this tutorial.

Technical Implementation

Ensure you have followed the WhatsApp bot tutorial and Dialogflow API integration tutorial. We retrieve user messages from the WhatsApp bot and transmit them to the Dialogflow API. This process involves several key steps.

Step 1: Let’s start by replacing the code with the one specified in Step 17 of the WhatsApp bot tutorial. This code will help you set up the integration seamlessly:

from flask import Flask, request
import requests
import os
import json
from google.cloud import dialogflow
from google.protobuf.json_format import MessageToDict
import datetime
app = Flask(__name__)

os.environ["GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS"]="<Service_account_key_File_path>"

# Credential Details
MOBILE_NUMBER = '<User_phonenumber>'
ADMIN_NUMBER = '<Admin_number>'
PROJECT_ID="<Project_id>"
language_code="<en-US>"

# Connect with Dialogflow Api and and send response to user
def detect_intent_texts(project_id, session_id, texts, language_code):
    
    session_client = dialogflow.SessionsClient()
    session = session_client.session_path(project_id, session_id)
    print("Session path: {}n".format(session))
    text_input = dialogflow.TextInput(text=texts,   language_code=language_code)
    query_input = dialogflow.QueryInput(text=text_input)
    response = session_client.detect_intent(
       request={"session": session, "query_input": query_input} )

    print("=" * 20)
    final_response = MessageToDict(response._pb)
    print(final_response)
    print("=" * 20)
    final_text =       final_response['queryResult']['fulfillmentMessages'][0]['text']['text'][0]
    intent = final_response['queryResult']['intent']
    action = final_response['queryResult']['action']
    return final_text,action,intent

# connect with the admin and admin direct messages to user
def send_msg_admin(msg):
    headers = {
       'Authorization': f'Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}',
   }
    json_data = {
        'messaging_product': 'whatsapp',
        'to': ADMIN_NUMBER ,
        'type': 'text',
        "text": {
            "body": msg
        }
    }
    response=requests.post(f'https://graph.facebook.com/v17.0/{PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages', headers=headers, json=json_data)
    return response.text

# store all details in json file
def writedata(human_phone,user_phone,human_interface):
    current_time = datetime.datetime.now()
    dict_data = {'human_phone': [human_phone], 'user_phone': [user_phone],       'human_interface':[human_interface], 'last_updated': [str(current_time)]}
    with open('data.json','w') as json_data:
      json.dump(dict_data,json_data)

#  bot connect with the user send msg
def send_msg(msg,phonenumber):
    headers = {
       'Authorization': f'Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}',
   }
    json_data = {
        'messaging_product': 'whatsapp',
        'to': phonenumber,
        'type': 'text',
        "text": {
            "body": msg
        }
    }
    response=requests.post(f'https://graph.facebook.com/v17.0/{PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages', headers=headers, json=json_data)
    return response.text 

# Admin  can Send images
def send_image(id,phonenumber):
    headers = {
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}',
    }
    json_data = {
        'messaging_product': 'whatsapp',
        'to': phonenumber,           # example 91<your number>
        'type': 'image',  # Set the message type to 'image'
        "image": {
           "id":id
        }
    }
    response = requests.post(
        f'https://graph.facebook.com/v17.0/{PHONE_NUMBER_ID}/messages', headers=headers, json=json_data)
    print(response.text)



@app.route('/receive_msg', methods=['POST','GET'])
def webhook():
    res = request.get_json()
    print(res)
   
    try:
        ADMIN_NUMBER = "<Admin Number>"
        if res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['id']:
            language_code="en"
            session_id = res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['from']
            
            if res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['from'] == ADMIN_NUMBER:
                with open('data.json','r') as json_data:
                     filtered_rows = json.load(json_data)
                     user_phone = filtered_rows['user_phone'][0]
                try:
                        msg = res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['text']['body']
                        send_msg(msg,MOBILE_NUMBER)
                        print(msg)
                        if str(msg).lower() == "bye":
                           human_interface = "False"
                                 writedata(ADMIN_NUMBER,MOBILE_NUMBER,human_interface)
                           msg = "Thank you for connecting with us. We appreciate your time and value your input. If you have any further questions or need assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to reach out. Have a wonderful day ahead!"
                        
                except:
                      img_id=res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['image']['id']
                      send_image(img_id,MOBILE_NUMBER)
            else:
                human_phone = ADMIN_NUMBER
                user_phone = session_id
                            
                msg = res['entry'][0]['changes'][0]['value']['messages'][0]['text']['body']
                if not os.path.exists('data.json'):
                    human_interface = 'False'
                    writedata(human_phone,user_phone,human_interface)

                with open('data.json','r') as json_data:
                    filtered_rows = json.load(json_data)
                    
                if filtered_rows['human_interface'][0] == 'False':
                    session_id_1 = f"session_id{session_id}"
                    response, action,intent = detect_intent_texts(PROJECT_ID, session_id_1, msg, language_code)
                  
                    if action== "human_transfer" or "input.unknown":
                        message = f"Request To connect With you and the user number is {session_id}"
                        send_msg_admin(message)
                        print("Send to Admin msg")
                        human_interface = "True"
                        writedata(human_phone,user_phone,human_interface)
                    else:
                        human_interface = "False"
                        writedata(human_phone,user_phone,human_interface)
                        send_msg(response,session_id)
           
                else:
                    send_msg_admin(msg)
                      
    except:
        pass
    return '200 OK HTTPS.'

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run()

Step 2: Ensure that you have created the PROJECT_ID as specified in the Dialogflow API Integration Tutorial, which you will need to replace in the provided code.

Step 3: To get GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS, follow the instructions at this link: https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/keys-create-delete to generate a JSON service account key. Save the JSON file in the same directory as your Python script.

Step 4: Input values for MOBILE_NUMBER and ADMIN_NUMBER, and ensure that they are different. You can also replace “language_code” as per your requirements, but it should be set to “en” by default.

Now, let’s understand the key functions and their roles in the WhatsApp bot script:

1. detect_intent_texts
   This function demonstrates how Dialogflow sends a request and receives a response via WhatsApp. It sends a specific action to trigger a response, and then it forwards that response back to the user.
2. send_msg_admin
   In this function, When a user wants to connect with a human, this function sends a message to the admin number. The admin directly responds to the user’s request.
3. writedata
   In this function, we store information about the admin number, user number, user’s last update time, and a human interface. Initially, we set the human interface as “false”.
4. send_msg
   In this function, we establish a connection between the bot and the user, and subsequently, we send a response back to the user.
5. send_image
   In this function, when a user inquires about sending images, the admin quickly responds to the user and simplifies the process of sharing images.

When we send messages on WhatsApp we get a response from the dialog flow bot.

In the Flask server terminal, we receive feedback on the sent, read, and delivered messages, allowing us to monitor the status and progress of our message transmissions.

When a user initiates contact with a human agent or bot that doesn’t understand the user query, the Dialogflow action is activated and forwarded to the admin. The admin directly responds to the user’s queries. the Flask app server provides us with responses and updates throughout this communication process.

Here is the Flask app server’s response to initiate a connection with the human agent:

Here is the conversation of the admin directly connecting with the user and responding to the user’s queries.

We also receive responses in the Flask app terminal from the admin during the conversation between the admin and the user. These responses include status updates on sent, read, and delivered messages.

Here is the conversation between the user and the admin when the user asks about the image-related queries.

Admin Send the image to the user:

We can end the conversation with a closing message, like “bye”, or any custom message you’ve chosen to use for concluding the conversation with the admin.

We have the capability to configure a wide range of responses supported by WhatsApp. For more details, please visit: WhatsApp Business API Automation with Flask

We hope that you’ve effectively created a WhatsApp Chatbot using Dialogflow and having fun using it.

Originally published at Enhancing Customer Support On WhatsApp: Building A WhatsApp Chatbot With Human Handover Using Dialogflow on November 9, 2023.

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Enhancing Customer Support on WhatsApp: Building a WhatsApp Chatbot with Human Handover using… was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In recent years, as per chatbot statistics the market has experienced remarkable growth. It is fueled by the increasing demand for 24×7 customer services and operational cost reduction. Moreover, there is a rising preference for self-service operations. Businesses are automating sales and support services, enabling timely services at reduced costs. This evolution is underscored by significant chatbot and AI statistics:

• The chatbot market is set to expand at a remarkable 23.3% annually, reaching $15.5 billion by 2028.
• 87.2% of consumers rate their interactions with bots as either neutral or positive.
• 62% of respondents prefer engaging with customer service digital assistants rather than waiting for human agents.
• Chatbots have the potential to automate 30% of tasks performed by today’s contact center staff. This can lead to potential savings of $23 billion in the U.S.
• Bots can manage 30% of live chat communications and 80% of routine tasks.
• Chatbots have remarkably accelerated response times, delivering answers three times faster on average.
• Digital assistants are most frequently employed in sales (41%) and client services (37%). Marketing (17%) is the third most common application.

Now, let’s explore the impact of bots across various industries and their benefits analyzing available chatbot statistics.

MOCG Top Picks

Chatbots User Engagement and Expectations:

• 80% of users have had prior interactions with chatbots.
• Only 9% of consumers oppose companies using digital assistants.
• 73% of users expect websites to feature chatbots for convenient interactions.
• 35% of individuals turn to digital assistants to address complaints or obtain detailed information.
• 74% of internet users prefer using chatbots for simple questions.

Chatbots Business Integration and Benefits:

• 58% of B2B companies integrate chatbots into their websites, compared to 42% in B2C settings.
• Approximately 2/3 of companies express contentment with their bot implementations.
• Digital assistants resolve 58% of returns and cancellations.
• 90% of businesses witnessed faster complaint resolution due to bots.
• 61% of respondents believed chatbots could boost productivity by automating task follow-ups.
• 55% of companies using digital assistants experience an increase in high-quality leads.
• In specific industries, chatbots achieve conversion rates as high as 70%.
• Business leaders have reported a 67% increase in sales through chatbots. Furthermore, 26% of all sales transactions initiate from a bot interaction. Additionally, 35% of business leaders credit digital assistants for closing deals.

Chatbots Industry Impact:

• B2C companies report twice as much satisfaction with chatbots as B2B companies, due to simpler queries. The most content industries include tech (73%), retail (67%), manufacturing (57%), and healthcare (56%).
• Certain industries profit notably from digital assistants, led by real estate (28%), travel (16%), education (14%), healthcare (10%), and finance (5%).

Chatbots Latest Insights

These are the projections for 2023 made in the past that we are yet to evaluate and analyze:

• By 2023, businesses were expected to have saved up to 2.5 billion hours of work.
• Chatbot transactions in eCommerce were anticipated to reach $112 billion by 2023.
• The income generated by the chatbot sector was estimated to be roughly $137.6 million as of 2023.
• 75% of queries would be resolved by chatbots in 2023.
• By 2023, 70% of white-collar workers could have engaged with bots daily.
• The banking industry was projected to witness a success rate of bot interactions reaching over 90% in 2023.
• Artificial intelligence could automate up to 73% of healthcare admin tasks by 2023.
• By 2023, chatbots were expected to save the banking, healthcare, and retail sectors up to $11 billion annually.
• It was predicted that in 2023, the number of voice bots would rise to over 8 billion.
• Another trend for 2023 included the rise of AI-powered GTP-3 digital assistants.
• In 2023, as many as 75% of HR queries globally occurred through HR digital assistants.
• By 2023, over 70% of chatbot conversations were anticipated to be with retail bots.

Chatbot Market Size & Revenue Growth

The global chatbot market experienced remarkable growth in 2022 reaching $4.7 billion. Additionally, it is poised for a robust 23.3% annual expansion from 2023 to 2028, reaching $15.5 billion. In-house bot solutions made up 62.0% of the market. Sales and marketing drove user engagement and held a 39.5% market share.

The finance sector is set for 24.0% growth, reducing costs with chatbots. Retail & e-commerce led with a 30.34% share, followed closely by BFSI in revenue. North America dominated with a 30.72% market share, driven by startups. Asia Pacific followed, boosted by its thriving services industry. This shows the global growth of digital assistants in various sectors and regions.

Chatbot Usage Statistics

Chatbot Adoption Stats:

• There are over 300,000 chatbots in use on Facebook Messenger.
• 1.4 billion people actively use messaging apps. In fact, chatbots experienced a remarkable 92% increase in usage since 2019.
• In 2022, 88% of users engaged in at least one conversation with a chatbot.
• Only 9% of consumers oppose companies using bots.
• 40% of millennials engage with digital assistants daily.
• On average, users pose 4 inquiries to chatbots within one chat session.
• 73% of buyers expect websites to feature digital assistants for convenient interactions.
• Bots contribute to 39% of all chats between businesses and consumers.

Business Integration and Implementation:

• 56% of businesses cite chatbot technology as a transformative force.
• 58% of B2B companies integrate bots into their websites, compared to 42% in B2C settings.
• Small companies (fewer than 250 employees) constitute around 40% of all chatbot-using businesses.
• Among companies utilizing AI bots, 46% employ them for voice-to-text dictation. 26% use them for team collaboration and 24% for employee calendar management. Additionally, 14% use digital assistants for service support, and 13% for IT help desk management.
• 50% of organizations refrain from implementing chatbots due to a lack of applicable use cases. 29% express concerns about security and privacy, and 25% are deterred by cost.
• Approximately 2/3 of companies express contentment with their bot implementations.
• Within companies, 53% utilize AI digital assistants in their IT departments. 23% employ them for administrative tasks.
• Chatbots are most frequently employed in sales (41%) and customer support (37%). marketing (17%) is the third most common application.

Chatbot Customer Use Cases:

• 35% of individuals turn to chatbots to resolve complaints or get detailed information.
• Chatbot usage doubles for tasks like making purchases, scheduling meetings, and signing up for mailing lists.
• 41.3% of buyers turned to digital assistants in 2020 for purchases.
• When seeking information, 54% of respondents would inquire about products via digital assistants. 30% would utilize them for bill payments. Only 23% are willing to delegate dispute resolution to bots.
• 74% of internet users prefer using chatbots for simple questions.
• Digital assistants resolve 58% of returns and cancellations, but only 18% of change in product/service and 17% of billing disputes.

Consumer Preferences and Perceptions:

• 87.2% of consumers rate their interactions with bots as either neutral or positive.
• 62% of respondents prefer engaging with client service digital assistants rather than waiting for human agents.
• 65% of users feel comfortable resolving issues without human intervention.
• 69% of users appreciate digital assistants’ quick reply times. In fact, 59% anticipate a chatbot reply within 5 seconds.
• 48% prioritize bots’ issue-solving abilities over their personalities.
• Globally, 38% of consumers hold a positive view of digital assistants.

Chatbot Benefits for Business

• According to available data, chatbots have the potential to automate 30% of tasks performed by today’s contact center staff. This could lead to potential savings of $23 billion in the U.S.
• Response rates for digital assistants vary between 35–40% for less favorable and 80–90% for the most engaging experiences.
• Approximately 64% of internet users consider 24-hour service a key feature of bots. In fact, 29% of bot interactions occurred outside regular store hours.
• 90% of businesses witnessed faster complaint resolution due to the implementation of digital assistants.
• Chatbots can manage 30% of live chat communications. They can also efficiently handle 80% of routine tasks and client inquiries.
• According to a survey, 61% of respondents believed bots could boost productivity by automating task follow-ups. 57% considered they could facilitate more effective communication within the organization.

Chatbot Stats by Business Function

AI chatbots and assistants are employed across various departments. 53% are utilized in IT, 23% in administration, and 20% in customer care. Additionally, 16% of organizations leverage these technologies in sales and marketing.

Customer Service

• 27% of users were uncertain whether their last client support interaction was with a human or a chatbot. Meanwhile, 62% believed AI could speed up responses while catering to their specific preferences.
• 34% of retail clients expressed comfort in conversing with AI chatbots for service support. Additionally, 64% of businesses anticipated digital assistants enhancing personalized support experiences.
• 67% of individuals utilized bots for client support in the preceding year.
• AI chatbots for business enable organizations to shift 64% of agents’ focus to solving complex issues, compared to 50% without AI.
• Virtual assistants reduce inquiries by 70% across calls, chats, and emails.
• 23% of client service organizations rely on AI digital assistants as their main communication channel.
• Chatbots have remarkably accelerated response times, delivering answers three times faster on average.
• Digital assistants led to a 24% increase in support satisfaction scores.
• According to Statista, 1/3 of consumers found bots ‘very effective’ in resolving queries. 54% deemed them ‘somewhat effective,’ while only 13% considered them ‘not at all effective.’
• 80% of sales and marketing leaders implemented or planned bots integration into customer experience (CX).
• 23% of client service companies actively utilized AI chatbots.
• 70% of consumers in 2020 expressed interest in using digital assistants for basic customer service needs.

Marketing

• 55% of companies using chatbots for marketing experience an increase in high-quality leads.
• In specific industries, chatbots achieve conversion rates as high as 70%.
• Stores see annual revenue surge by 7 to 25% when effectively utilizing bots.
• Digital assistants contribute to upselling in 20% of cases, boosting sales opportunities.
• 53% of buyers are more likely to shop with businesses offering messaging services.
• Chatbots excel in traffic segmentation and targeted product ads, driving 77% of a company’s ROI.
• 36% of companies enhance lead generation using digital assistants, with 62.5% using them for lead qualification.

Sales

• Business leaders have reported a 67% increase in sales through the assistance of chatbots. Furthermore, 26% of all sales transactions initiate from a bot interaction. 35% of business leaders credit digital assistants for closing deals.
• Sales purposes drive 41% of all business chatbot applications.
• 35% of business leaders noted that virtual agents have simplified sales processes.
• 25% of companies utilize bots to recommend products, enhancing personalized user interactions.
• Post-sales and customer service operations benefit from digital assistants. 77% actively engaged in assisting clients after their purchase.
• Upselling opportunities are leveraged in approximately 20% of cases.
• CX profoundly influences buying decisions, with 73% of customers emphasizing its importance. Moreover, 86% of clients are willing to pay a premium of 13%-18% for an enhanced CX.
• 56% of companies recognize conversational bots as industry disruptors. And 43% report competitors’ adoption. Additionally, 57% of businesses recognize chatbots’ substantial ROI and minimal effort requirements.
• 23.7% of inquiries convert into sales without human intervention.
• Sales digital assistants turn over 28% of website visitors into leads.

Chatbot Stats Landscape: Key Industry Statistics

In different sectors, satisfaction with chatbots varies. B2C companies, dealing with simpler queries, tend to be twice as satisfied as B2B companies. The most content industries include tech (73%), retail (67%), manufacturing (57%), and healthcare (56%).

Certain industries profit notably from chatbots. Real estate (28%), travel (16%), education (14%), healthcare (10%), and finance (5%) lead in this regard. When it comes to informational bots, health (64%), communications (59%), and banking (50%) industries embrace them the most.

eCommerce & Retail

• An estimated 70% of bots were projected to be retail-based by 2023. This trend was expected to drive eCommerce transactions via digital assistants, reaching $112 billion by 2023.
• 33% of consumers express a desire to use chatbots to make reservations at hotels or restaurants.
• The willingness to use digital assistants for purchases surged from 17.1% to 41.3% between 2019 and 2020.
• eCommerce stores adopting Facebook Messenger, coupled with abandoned cart chatbots, have boosted revenue by 7–25%.
• The acceptance rate of bots among clients in retail is 34%.
• Predictions for 2024 suggest global consumer retail spending via digital assistants will reach $142 billion.
• Nearly 40% of internet users worldwide prefer chatbot interactions over interactions with virtual agents.
• A significant 47% of consumers are open to making purchases using bots. 71% of Gen Z individuals actively seek products through bot interactions.
• 40% of U.S. consumers have utilized retail digital assistants.
• Among online retailers surveyed, 76% have either implemented or are planning to integrate chatbots into their CX strategies.

Finance & Banking

• 54% of customers favor using a finance chatbot for payment transactions.
• In the finance sector, bots are accepted at a rate of 20%.
• In 2022, over 98 million users (about 37% of the U.S. population) interacted with a bank’s bot. This number is expected to grow to 110.9 million users by 2026.
• All of the top 10 largest commercial banks have integrated digital assistants into their client service strategies.
• Chatbots can improve first-call resolution rates by 20%, increasing it from 50% to 70%, enhancing user satisfaction.
• By 2023, digital assistants were estimated to save banks between $0.50 and $0.70 per interaction, totaling around $7.30 billion in global savings.
• Financial service companies can save more than 4 minutes per inquiry by utilizing chatbots.
• Banks have the potential to automate up to 90% of their customer interactions using digital assistants.
• 80% of financial institutions view bots as a valuable opportunity to enhance their client service.
• Over 43% of customers in the USA prefer using chatbots to resolve their banking issues.
• Banks incorporating digital assistants into their client service can boost their revenue by up to 25%.

Insurance

• The insurance chatbot market’s value is expected to reach $4.5 billion by 2032, displaying rapid growth at a CAGR of 25.6% from 2023 to 2032.
• Within the insurance industry, 83% of customers express satisfaction with chatbot interactions. However, the acceptance rate for digital assistants in insurance remains at 13%.
• In 2018, only 5% of insurance companies utilized AI in the claims submission review process. 70% showed no consideration for its implementation at that time.
• 44% of clients find bots suitable for claims processing. 43% prefer them for insurance applications.
• AI bots can handle over 95% of users’ conversations, reshaping communication in insurance.
• Insurance chatbots can manage 80% of inbound inquiries. Additionally, they redirect the remaining 20% to human agents.

Telecom

• In the telecommunications industry, the acceptance rate for chatbots stands at 25%.
• The IT and telecommunications sectors are at the forefront of machine learning (ML) utilization. 52% of companies extensively employ digital assistants for various purposes.
• Call center chatbots enable 82% of users to access services without enduring long queues.
• AI in the telecommunication market is projected to reach $10 billion by 2028, expanding at a robust CAGR of 37.4%.
• Currently, 63.5% of telecom companies are integrating AI to enhance their network infrastructure.
• 56% of telecom customers opt for self-service to select the best plan. Additionally, 77% of consumers choose self-service channels for bill payments and account recharges.
• Personalization drives significant revenue growth, ranging between 5% and 15% for telecom companies. And digital assistants facilitate personalized interactions.

Healthcare

• The healthcare chatbot market is set to reach $431.47 million by 2028, growing at a rate of 15.20%.
• AI aid bot technology can automate over 70% of administrative tasks in the healthcare industry.
• Currently, 68% of healthcare organizations are incorporating AI.
• Bot interactions in the healthcare sector currently have a success rate of just 12%. However, it’s expected to improve significantly, potentially handling up to 75% of human healthcare queries.
• A national survey in 2021 revealed that 22% of adults had utilized a mental health chatbot, and 47% expressed interest in using it if needed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 60% of users started utilizing mental health chatbots. 44% exclusively relied on digital assistants without seeking human therapy.
• Consumers acknowledged the benefits of mental healthcare bots (65%) and their importance (74%). However, 86% felt digital assistants lacked understanding or display of human emotions.
• Physicians believe chatbots would be helpful for scheduling doctor appointments (78%), locating health clinics (76%), and providing medication information (71%).

Travel

• 25% of travel and hospitality companies use digital assistants for general inquiries and bookings.
• In restaurants, hotels, and guesthouses, 33% of consumers are embracing web tools powered by chatbots.
• Among the top 5 industries benefiting from bot adoption, the travel sector comprises 16%.
• A significant 33% of users express the desire to use digital assistants for making reservations at hotels or restaurants.
• Two-thirds of respondents find chatbots useful (40%) or very useful (26%) for managing their business and travel arrangements.
• For travel plans and booking comparisons, 37% of users prefer intelligent bots.
• A high demand for digital assistants that save time and money is evident. 87% of users expressed willingness to interact with a travel chatbot offering these benefits.
• 79% of users expressed willingness to ask for help from a bot if it can function as a concierge.
• In late 2017, SITA reported low adoption rates, with only 14% of airlines and 9% of airports utilizing chatbot technology. However, 68% of airlines plan to adopt airline chatbot services in the near future as well as 42% of airports.

Voice Assistants Statistics

• Industry reports show a sharp rise in voice-enabled interfaces, reaching 8.4 billion by 2024.
• 72% of US consumers have interacted with voice interfaces in business settings.
• The voice assistant market is set to grow from USD 4.59 Billion in 2022 to USD 30.72 billion by 2030, with a 31.2% CAGR.
• Over 90% of people aged 18–64 seek information about voice technology, and more than 70% use it at least once.
• 93% of consumers are satisfied with their voice assistants; 50% are very satisfied.
• 80% of buyers shopping via voice assistant are satisfied, and 50% have made purchases.
• 74% of clients use mobile voice assistants at home, with 71% preferring voice queries over typing.
• 51% of voice shoppers research products, 22% make direct purchases, and 17% reorder items. Additionally, 30% track packages, and 20% leave reviews.
• 71% of consumers are satisfied with voice assistants on their mobile devices.
• Food (56%), banking (44%), and retail (35%) are the most popular industries for voice assistant use.

Future of Chatbots Stats

• Larger companies have embraced chatbots at a faster pace, holding over a 46% share in the market. And this trend is expected to continue, with their share growing by 2027.
• Capgemini predicts 70% of consumers will replace physical visits to shops or banks with voice assistants in the next three years.
• Retail consumers are anticipated to spend over $142 billion via bots by 2024. It’s a significant increase from $2.8 billion in 2019, as reported by Insider Intelligence.
• Gartner predicts that by 2027, digital assistants will become the primary channel for client service in 25% of all businesses.
• 1/3 of AI startup founders believe that digital assistants will be the most popular customer technology in the next five years.
• It is projected that AI bots will power 95% of all customer service interactions by 2025.
• With advancements in ML, AI, and natural language processing, chatbots are expected to become more human-like. This is facilitated by the ChatGPT adoption and the development of new AI programs.

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Chatbot Statistics: What Businesses Need to Know About Digital Assistants was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Generative AI is an extremely versatile tool that has found its application in various fields. Therefore, it has the potential to become “general-purpose technology.” Moreover, researchers hope to build artificial general intelligence (AGI). Thus, it can turn into a machine that can perform any task that a human can.

Let’s explore executives’ anticipations about Generative AI trends for 2024 and beyond:

• 77% of businesses expect the largest impact from Generative AI among emerging technologies;
• Over 60% of respondents see it as a chance to gain a competitive edge;
• 73% believe new technology will boost workforce productivity;
• 71% plan to implement it within two years. IT/tech (56%) and operations (56%) are priority areas. They are followed by marketing and sales (42%), and customer service (40%);
• 64% expect it to confer a competitive advantage;
• By 2026, companies focusing on responsible AI could enhance business goal achievement and user acceptance by 50%;
• Artificial intelligence disruption may increase global labor productivity by 1.5%-3.0% annually over the next decade.

In this transformative era, several key trends are shaping the Generative AI landscape:

• AI-driven creativity shaping diverse art forms and cultural expressions;
• Personalized interactions and experiences for heightened engagement;
• Edge computing enabling rapid real-time data processing;
• Intuitive interfaces for seamless human-AI collaboration;
• Multimodal artificial intelligence integrating diverse data types for comprehensive understanding;
• Web3-enabled Generative artificial intelligence for decentralized and secure applications;
• AI-as-a-service providing scalable and accessible solutions;
• Environmentally conscious artificial intelligence promoting sustainable practices;
• Ethical guidelines ensuring responsible and trustworthy deployment.

As businesses navigate new technologies, they face diverse scenarios for Generative AI’s future. It can be a utopian integration into everyday life. Or it can turn to a scenario where regulation hampers progress or public skepticism hinders adoption. The path forward for this technology is both promising and challenging.

Let’s now explore each Generative AI trend in depth, discovering their multifaceted impact.

Generative AI Trends Reshaping Business Landscapes

Text, Image & Video Generation

Generative artificial intelligence tools can produce diverse forms of content. These include written, image, video, audio, and coded materials. Businesses are actively exploring applications across these domains. Specialized applications customized for specific functions will offer greater value than generalized ones.

The trends in the landscape of Generative AI for text generation include:

• Models understanding human psychology and creative processes, leading to better connections with users;
• Creation of emotionally resonant and deeply engaging written content;
• Artificial intelligence adapts content to individual preferences, improving user interactions;
• Autonomy in undertaking complex tasks, in fields such as research and creative brainstorming;
• Use of AI-powered writing assistants for task automation.

In Generative AI for image creation, significant advancements are shaping the industry:

• Move towards realism and creativity, with highly detailed and lifelike images;
• Blurring boundaries between natural and synthetic visuals, transforming design;
• Higher adoption in entertainment and virtual reality industries;
• Empowering designers with tools to prototype and create diverse products.

Generative AI in video generation is poised to transform content creation and consumption:

• Production of high-quality, personalized videos for diverse purposes;
• Integration of AI video generators into existing workflows, targeting specific audiences;
• Higher accuracy of AI algorithms for generation of targeted videos;
• Reduction of time and costs associated with traditional video production methods.

As these trends unfold, innovation continues to push boundaries. It offers unprecedented possibilities for content creation and innovation across various industries.

Music Generation

Generative AI is revolutionizing music creation. These AI models can mimic human voices and generate music. This offers endless possibilities for musicians and composers. In the music world, this new intelligence is becoming a go-to tool for songwriters.

They provide fresh compositions that inspire creativity. It’s not just about creating new music; AI is also shaping the way we experience it. Soon, we might have adaptive soundtracks in video games and live events. This will improve our audiovisual experiences in real time.

AI is on the verge of mastering human-like expression and emotion in voice synthesis. This advancement will open doors to real-time translation, audio dubbing, and automated voice overs. Musicians and audiences expect a future where music becomes an even more immersive and dynamic art form.

NLP Technology and Multimodal AI

Generative AI is also enhancing Natural Language Processing (NLP). Artificial intelligence will become better at understanding texts, speeches, and sentiments with greater depth. This advancement is pivotal for human-like interactions in voice assistants and chatbots. This allows companies to make user experiences more natural and smooth.

Traditionally, such models processed information from single modalities, limiting insights. However, multimodal deep learning allows models to discern relationships between different modalities. They can now translate text to images, images to videos, and vice versa.

This fusion proves highly effective, especially in complex fields like medicine. In healthcare, AI combines textual and visual data for more accurate assessments. In NLP, multimodal models help with language translation, sentiment analysis, and chatbot development.

Generative AI-Powered Chatbots

Generative AI improves conversational abilities and enables personalization and context-awareness. Chatbots powered by Generative AI can continuously learn from user interactions. Such an approach boosts their performance and understanding of consumer needs over time. Advancements in machine learning algorithms are equipping chatbots with emotional intelligence. This way bots can detect and respond to human emotions.

As a result, they provide more compassionate and personalized customer support. Generative AI-powered chatbots will integrate into Virtual and Augmented Reality experiences. This integration will enable users to engage with lifelike virtual characters. This will ensure highly immersive and interactive client interactions. The future holds realistic and engaging virtual environments powered by AI-based technology.

Thinking of incorporating Generative AI into your existing chatbot? Validate your idea with a Proof of Concept before launching. At Master of Code Global, we can seamlessly integrate Generative AI into your current chatbot, train it, and have it ready for you in just two weeks.

Key Trends in Generative AI across Different Functions

According to McKinsey, Generative AI holds immense potential. 75% of its value is concentrated in a few areas. These include customer operations, marketing & sales, and software engineering.

Customer Service

Generative AI in customer service is set to transform operations in the near future. Here are the key trends to be observed:

• Conversational search supporting instant, accurate responses from company knowledge bases;
• Agent assistance through search and summarization, improving conversation quality and trend categorization;
• Call center operational and data optimization. For example, automation of repetitive tasks, summarizing call center data for insights;
• Personalized recommendations through the analysis of the interactions. The result is customized content in preferred formats and tones.

This technology will significantly boost client experience, reducing response time, and increasing sales. Automation of consumer interactions will decrease human-serviced contacts by up to 50%. Such a method will boost productivity and lead to cost savings ranging from 30 to 45% as per recent AI statistics.

Marketing and Sales

Generative AI is transforming marketing and sales operations with the key trends being:

• Hyper-quick sales and marketing content creation;
• Automated repetitive tasks, like keyword research, administrative work, content formatting, and data analysis;
• Sales enablement and custom materials. For example, analyzing client’s profiles and creating tailored materials for enhanced sales success;
• Omnichannel strategy optimization to improve engagement;
• Customer insights with crm data through detection of patterns in user behaviors;
• Adjust training programs with custom training materials, role-play scenarios, and product knowledge sheets.

In sales, AI will identify leads, improve client engagement, and facilitate effective outreach. Such innovations can increase sales productivity by an estimated 3 to 5%. Moreover, Generative AI for marketing will act as a virtual collaborator, accelerating productivity. It will offer insights for knowledge work so the focus is on higher-impact tasks.

Software Engineering

Generative AI can revolutionize software engineering processes. Here is what it can help with:

• Streamline requirements gathering, aligning analyst-customer understanding and minimizing miscommunication risks through quick prototypes;
• Aid in UI template creation and ensure designs meet standards, enhancing application compliance;
• Generate code snippets in various languages. This boosts developer productivity and software quality without extensive programming knowledge;
• Craft diverse test cases and supports Dynamic Code Analysis (DCA) and chaos testing;
• Handle basic client queries, reducing issue resolution times and pressure on service personnel.

This shift will treat programming languages akin to natural languages. This enables its integration into pair programming and augmented coding. The potential impact on software engineering productivity could range from 20 to 45% as per recent Generative AI statistics. As a result, it reduces time spent on activities such as initial code drafts and corrections. Generative artificial intelligence can become a cornerstone of innovation in software engineering.

Generative AI Industries Trends

Retail and eCommerce

Retail and eCommerce are experiencing a surge in Generative AI-powered applications. The innovation transforms customer experiences and operational strategies.

Some of the current and future Generative AI in eCommerce and retail trends include:

• Accelerating consumer research and targeting with synthetic clients and scenario testing;
• Enabling real-time updates on products and preferences through Augmented Reality Support;
• Optimizing inventory management and trend analysis with AI insights;
• Enhancing consumer experience with AI-driven virtual try-ons;
• Streamlining marketing content creation through AI-generated drafts;
• Revolutionizing procurement operations with AI-assisted negotiation playbooks.

Executives’ expectations for Generative AI in retail:

• 66% for customer data analysis;
• 64% for inventory management;
• 62% focus on content generation to upgrade marketing and communication.

Examples:

• Shopify Sidekick bot aiding online store management;
• Stitch Fix’s AI-Based Ads;
• BloomsyBox eCommerce Chatbot;
• Amazon’s recommendation engine;
• Virtual Try On from Google;
• Walmart Vendor Negotiations chatbot;
• Mercari’s Virtual Shopping Assistant Merchat AI.

Healthcare

Healthcare is at the forefront of AI innovation. The areas benefiting the most are drug development, patient monitoring, and telemedicine.

Key trends in Generative AI for healthcare include:

• Streamlining the selection of proteins and molecules for new drug formulation;
• Generating medication instructions, risk notices, and commercial content;
• Preparing scripts for physician interactions;
• Drafting legal documents incorporating specific regulatory requirements;
• Enhancing medical training;
• AI-assisted clinical decision-making.

Executives’ expectations for Generative AI in healthcare:

• 72% for medical records review;
• 70% for medical chatbots;
• 50% focus on image processing applications for surgeries.

Examples:

• Insilico Medicine leading the first Phase II trials for a Generative AI-developed drug with the help of Chemistry42, the Generative AI chemistry engine;
• DiagnaMed’s Brain Health AI Platform CERVAI™;
• Absci’s ML Models for In-Silico Antibody Design.

Financial Services and Banking

Financial services and banking are undergoing transformative changes through AI integration. The areas are fraud detection, risk management, and customer service automation.

Notable Generative AI market trends for financial industry encompass:

• Enhancing fraud detection and security protocols with AI;
• Implementing robust risk management solutions using AI-driven tools;
• Elevating customer service with chatbots and virtual assistants;
• Optimizing legacy code migration with natural-language translation;
• Automating customer emergency responses (e.g., credit card losses) with AI-driven IVR;
• Tailoring retail banking offers with personalized marketing content and A/B testing;
• Ensuring compliance with comprehensive risk model documentation;
• Implementing personalized investment options, fraud detection, and financial recommendations through AI solutions.

Executives’ expectations for Generative AI in banking and financial services:

• 76% for fraud detection;
• 68% for risk management;
• 66% focus on implementing chatbots and virtual assistants.

Examples:

• Morgan Stanley’s Chatbot for financial advisors to manage data;
• ChatGPT-Style CFO Tool from Brex for instant answer for financial questions;
• JPMorgan Chase’s AI Assistant IndexGPT for investment decision-making.

Cybersecurity & Generative AI

Using the power of Generative AI, cybersecurity can enter a new era of heightened defense. AI is capable of:

• Enhancing cybersecurity through AI-driven threat analysis and predictive modeling;
• Improving code security with AI-assisted code reviews and vulnerability assessments;
• Streamlining incident response by automating threat identification and mitigation;
• Enhancing phishing detection and prevention using AI-powered email security solutions;
• Utilizing it for real-time monitoring and analysis of user behavior patterns;
• Enhancing network security with AI-driven intrusion detection and prevention systems;
• Automating malware analysis and simulation for proactive defense strategies;
• Integrating AI into security information and event management for advanced threat intelligence;
• Enabling AI-driven security awareness training for employees to mitigate social engineering threats;
• Utilizing new tools for adaptive and context-aware access control systems.

These advancements can bolster security measures and create a safer digital environment. Therefore, AI-powered tools ensure businesses and individuals stay protected against evolving threats.

Ethics in Generative AI Application

The landscape of Generative AI ethics is evolving rapidly. Intellectual property protection stands as a cornerstone, demanding clear regulations. These include patents and copyrights to safeguard AI-generated creations to avoid legal complications. Simultaneously, the call for robust ethical guidelines grows louder.

The emphasis is on transparency, accountability, fairness, and privacy protection in AI development. This is needed to foster responsible and trustworthy AI deployment. We can expect a surge in AI regulations driven by concerns over deepfakes and misinformation.

Globally, initiatives are underway, with major geopolitical players actively engaging in regulatory discussions. As machine intelligence accelerates, the urgency to address ethical implications mounts. Therefore, we have to face ongoing public debates on the responsible use of innovative tools.

Conclusion

Generative AI is at the forefront of innovation, promising significant advancements for businesses. With its capability, it can revolutionize operations, marketing, sales, and other sectors. Generative AI trends in 2023 and beyond show how powerful and impactful the technology is.

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Generative AI Trends: Transforming Business and Shaping Future was originally published in Chatbots Life on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.