š “Hey Alexa… find me the best copywriter to write my content.”
Move over humans because chatbots are here to mark their spot.
But have no fear copywriters. Get those pens ready.
These bots won’t take your job anytime soon.
The demand for writing for chatbots is growing. Those automated bots need you to write for them.
What about bot builders who write the script for chatbots?
Robots may be able to outsmart humans in many forms.
And robots do have a place in society.
But robots will never hold the skill of writers or master chatbot copywriting.
That’s right. Capital – N. E. V. E. R.
Why not?
Think about these points:
- Does human psychology exist in robots? …Not in a million years.
- Can robots understand irrational thoughts? …No way!
- Do robots have the ability to be empathetic? …Very unlikely.
- Can robots understand context? …Nada.
- Can robots execute creative problem-solving? …Ask an artist.
Humans are unstoppable by nature
The reality is – humans are egocentric creatures.
We want to dominate this world.
Thus humans don’t want robots to ever replace us.
Artificial intelligence-based robots depend on logic, mathematical algorithms, and programmed formulas. And nothing in the equation can we find human elements that fuel the world to keep on spinning.
If all roads lead to Rome…
The rise of chatbots may be the best thing that has ever happened in the advancement of technology. They are what businesses, marketers, and copywriters could ever ask for.
With that said – the world is your oyster when it comes to reaping the possibilities for chatbots.
So copywriters…
When opportunity knocks – you open that door.
Table of contents – Chatbot Copywriting
- What is a chatbot?
- Does my business need a chatbot?
- What is chatbot copywriting?
- Strategies on how to write for chatbots
- Concluding thoughts on writing for chatbots
What is a chatbot? š¤
A chatbot is a software application programmed with artificial intelligence technology. The program engages with real humans through conversation. Typical interactions with chatbots mirror human dialogue by their languages, behaviors, and processes.
This is where chatbot copywriting comes into play.
Think of them as a virtual companion at your service. They exist on websites, apps, or messaging programs to assist you. With the goal to bridge the gap between your userās problems and your solutions.
A study published in 2017 found fascinating reasons for what motivates chatbot usage.
- In the busy world we live in – humans are always looking for methods to improve their productivity.
- Entertainment purposes for brain stimulation as a time killer.
- Social interaction, relationships, and the value that artificial intelligence provides to us.
- Humans are curious about new technology, innovation, and how they impact us.
What’s the takeaway from this study?
This is powerful proof that shows a growing interest in uniting chatbots into our lives.
The hype surrounding the industry will only continue to flourish. Users see value in these smart software in improving businesses and our lives.
Writing for chatbots is an essential key to the advancement of humanity.
Does my business need a chatbot?
Chatbots are the best thing that could have ever happened in the world of digital marketing. And if you are wondering if you need to use one for your business is beyond question. AI chatbot technology is the second coming of Jesus Christ!
But wait. It gets more interesting.
Brace yourselves copywriters.
Because you have a bright future ahead writing for these machines.
Data shows the projected market share of the chatbot industry will reach USD $2,358,200,000 by 2027.
A staggering bump from USD $274,500,000 in 2019.
The market for companies using artificial intelligence-based bots is growing fast. š Companies like Starbucks, Google, and Facebook use them to provide a world-class user experience. This shows it’s not some trendy fad, AI technology is a necessity to thrive.
The growth of AI robots means demand for jobs and services writing for chatbots.
Compelling reasons your business needs a chatbot
If you are still not convinced why you need a chatbot or not – consider these factors:
- The ability to provide support to your customers and website visitors any hour of the day and time of the year.
- Scale the versatility of user experience and customer service. More happy customers!
- The expansion of international business support that provides multi-lingual aid.
- New sales channels with lead generation and direct sales.
- Effectiveness and productivity when visitors search for information and answers.
- Provide an all-inclusive user experience regardless of customer.
- The ability to allot salaries to other areas of the business by reducing costs and manpower.
Besides – in the digitally-driven world that we live in, humans love to text on their mobile devices. Billions of people use Facebook and their messaging platform daily.
Chatbots are here to make their mark and aren’t going anywhere.
What is chatbot copywriting?
The process of writing a conversational script for AI-based chatbot software.
Thatās right – those brainless robots rely on you. The copywriter.
Those bots need your help in supporting them with a touch of life with your fabulous writing skills.
Effective chatbot copywriting plays an important segment in executing your messenger-based marketing campaign.
Strategies on how to write for chatbots
When writing for chatbots – the goal is to have your script conversational as much as possible. Your script shouldn’t sound robotic nor boring to put your readers asleep.
Remember – you’re building a connection with humans. So add a human touch to it.
Let’s dive into the top strategies on how to write for chatbots!
1. Determine what kind of chatbot you want to write your script for
Not all chatbots are equal. Nor do they have the same intended complexities, objectives, or capabilities.
There is a variety of them.
More than you think!
It would not be a surprise if new ones begin to emerge in the upcoming years.
Let’s take a look into what types of chatbots exist to write a script for.
Menu/button bots
Designed with the most basic functionalities and capabilities. These bots provide users with answers in the form of buttons. They don’t carry much contextual awareness, so they provide minimal value to users.
Examples:
- FAQ bots
- Menu bots
- Quiz bots
- Scripted bots
Conversational bots
Bots that are designed to have a conversation with the user, whether through voice or text.
Examples:
- Social media bots
- Instant messaging application bots
- Quick reply bots
- Entertainment bots
Informational gathering bots
These bots prompt visitors to provide details to gather by directing users to a solution.
Examples:
- Telephone bots
- Support bots
Support bots: Implemented to solve a userās problem. These bots entail a high level of contextual awareness.
Examples:
- Virtual assistant bots
- News bots
- Weather bots
- Retail support bots
- Customer service bots
- Food ordering bots
- Banking bots
Transactional bots: Designed on the basis to assist users in performing transnational actions.
Examples:
- Payment bots
- Ordering bots
- Reservation bots
- Appointment/booking bots
Voice-enabled bots: Bots that communicate through voice as opposed to text. These bots are capable of interpreting directions through oral or written form. They reply to users through a voice-enabled speaker.
Examples:
- Speech recognition bots
- Siri
- Alexa
- Echo Dot
- Apple HomePod
- Google Home
2. Know your audience
Your audience for your chatbot copywriting script is humans. š§ So speak their language. Your script shouldn’t make your readers think they are interacting with a wall.
Talk like a human by simple conversational script.
How?
Envision yourself speaking to another person face-to-face.
Tip to remember: casual language is not an excuse to have grammar and spelling errors.
Implementing an informal and conversational script has many benefits:
- Builds a welcoming environment for users.
- Makes your users feel they are talking to a real person.
- Limits the use of technical language that confuses your readers.
- Encourage the exchange of concerns or thoughts.
- Creates clear dialogue.
The aim is to have your audience’s user experience as smooth as possible.
Keep these points in mind when writing for chatbots:
- Address your audience by their name or username.
- Write your script in an active voice. Avoid writing in the passive voice as much as possible.
- Bots aren’t 100% perfect. Back down and show modesty when asking your users to simplify or repeat their dialogue.
- Avoid blasting your customers with many messages at a time.
- Apply emojis, emoticons, or stickers on a spare basis to lighten up the mood.
- Create new variations of the same answers so the conversation is not one-dimensional.
- Take out formal dialogue.
- Use the time to reply to your visitors, not immediately. Your users will not appreciate a rushed conversation.
3. Make it personal
Give personality to your chatbot copywriting script
Giving personality to your script inclines users to engage more during the dialogue.
At the same time – think about your brand image. And how you want to portray your organization.
When writing for chatbots – it is important to align the tone of your botās communication style. This means your brandās guidelines need to be consistent in your script.
Does your brand resemble a fun, positive, upbeat impression to visitors?
Or does your brand convey its purpose the way it speaks?
Regardless – ensure the tone of voice is in harmony with your branding guidelines.
The last thing you would want is an awkward conversation with a user who feels they are out of place.
Name your chatbot
Of course, your fun little friend needs a name. How else can your users remember your friendly bot?
Check out Peter the Anteater chatbot from the University of California, Irvine. He writes using emojis, has a handsome profile picture, and has a name that rhymes.
Extra ants for Peter the Anteater! šš“
Keep these factors in mind when naming your chatbot:
- Your chatbot resembles a human, hence needs a human-like sounding name. Having a human-like name gives the impression your readers are talking to a real service rep.
- Don’t be afraid to get creative. Try naming using acronyms or statements. The robot “EVE” from the movie WALL-E stands for “Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator.”
- Make the name simple and easy to remember. Use a few words and characters as much as possible. But still make it catchy.
- Associate your chatbot’s name with what your business does.
- The name you decide needs to mirror your brand’s style and tone.
Donāt be afraid to give your chatbot copywriting script life by using human-like traits.
A little joke never hurt anyone either.
In fact – couldnāt anyone else agree anymore that humor is the sexiest trait ever?
When writing for chatbots, your script must embody human-like traits. It can mean the difference between a conversion and a disgruntled customer.
4. Construct conversation flowcharts with user goals
Your users will ask anything that pops up in their minds. That means an infinite amount of possible questions.
Not every customer has the same intention or motive as to why they are on your platform. And because of that, human behavior is unpredictable.
Thus it is important to keep user goals in mind when writing for chatbots.
Whatever goal or intent your users have, write a script to achieve a tangible goal for their actions.
Examples include:
- Making a payment
- Requesting an upgrade
- Canceling subscription
- Upgrading their service
- Having a concern alleviated
Flowcharts of possible dialogue provide users the path they need to take to achieve a goal.
You can create your script using flowcharts in a variety of ways:
- Using software or apps with pre-written templates
- Constructing diagrams of user pathways
- Jotting down lists with pencil and paper
- Creating spreadsheets to organize by category
- Using cluster decision trees to build connections
First things first, jot down a list of main categories or potential goals your users have. From there, make sub-categories of related conversations and questions under the main categories. Keep everything grouped in batches separated by topics and see where connections exist.
The goal of effective chatbot copywriting is to have unique dialogue as much as possible. Your script shouldn’t sound robotic after all.
By guiding your users on getting them onto the right track ensures a happy customer.
Bonus tip: Limit open-ended questions.
This ensures your users don’t have a difficult time trying to find their answers. Open-ended questions prompt your users to receive a detailed response. Close-ended questions give a direct answer such as a list of answers for your users to choose from.
5. K.I.S.S. – Keep it super simple
Like most effective writing methods, less is more when it comes to writing for chatbots.
A user engaging with a chatbot more than likely needs help. So throwing a script that provides no value would frustrate them even more. š¤ The last thing you would want is to turn down an angry customer.
What is customer service when a customer leaves empty-handed in disappointment?
Think about the time when you didn’t receive help from customer service when you needed it most.
Your users want only one thing, a solution.
So, break down those responses into broken-form responses to ensure a positive user experience. At the same time, you don’t want to be too vague when assisting your users. Make sure to find the middle ground in getting an effective, yet concise form an answer to the other party.
Here are more effective tips in ensuring a simple script for chatbot copywriting:
- Speak in a language anyone can understand.
- Limit each message to no more than one sentence.
- Limit up to three consecutive messages before your user replies to your script.
- Avoid using fancy wording or complex language.
- Strive to condense all words and sentences concise as possible. Though your script should still sound conversational.
The goal of writing for chatbots guides your users one step closer to solving their needs.
6. Throw an irresistible offer
So, your visitor is interacting and engaging with your script. Awesome!
Why not take advantage to lead them deeper into your sales funnel? A little something special like an offer never hurt anyone.
After all, you didn’t have to work for your visitor to come and use your platform. Rather they took the initiative to come to you.
This is the opportunity for you to dangle a special offer or some kind of incentive that prompts a sale. Thank them for their visit by valuing their presence and loyalty.
When writing for chatbots, try these irresistible offer techniques:
Sales – Present a gift, discount code, free shipping offer. Or show them your latest promotions that are going on. Your users love free things that excite them.
Social following – Show your social media accounts at the end of a successful session.
Lead generation – Visitors who input their contact details can stay tuned for updates.
Feedback surveys – Having your visitors conduct a satisfaction exit survey is beneficial. This not only helps you analyze your metrics and testing, but you end up with a value-added customer.
7. Test and update your chatbot copywriting script
How else would you know if your copy is performing and driving results?
Analyzing metrics to see what’s driving your profits!
The same rule applies to when writing for chatbots.
By testing what works provide insight into your chatbot copywriting scriptās success.
Some motives to encourage you to test and update your script regularly include:
- The changing needs and goals of your visitors.
- The changing landscape of your business. You will add new products, services, features over time.
- Ineffectiveness of script that is not solving your visitors’ problems and needs.
- Lack of optimization that does not convert visitors or goal completion rates.
Below are key metrics you need to track for your chatbot copywriting effectiveness.
Bounce Rate: The rate of abandoned conversations. Caused by users with no form of successful response rate which ends the session.
Conversation Length: The amount of time a session lasts with your visitor.
The meaning of conversation length varies when analyzed side-by-side with other key metrics. A long conversation does not always mean high satisfaction of a user session. Rather, long conversation lengths can mean irate users with an unsolved problem. It can also mean users having a hard time reading the chatbot copywriting script.
After all, the goal of customer service is to solve customer issues in a prompt manner.
Goal Completion Rate: One of the most important key metrics for chatbot copywriting. This metric indicates the success of user and script goal completion. It is also important to not ignore the failed completion rate. When comparing both metrics, signify script effectiveness.
Message Rate: The average amount of messages exchanged during a session over time. This benchmark is influential and critical in analyzing script performance.
Low message rates can mean an unsuccessful user session. In contrast, can also mean a quick fix for your visitorās problem. Whereas, high message rates depend on other key metrics like conversation length. This can imply unsatisfactory sessions.
No Response Rate: The rate your software drops a conversation with a visitor. This happens due to a lack of content within the chatbot copywriting script.
Response Rate: The rate of successful sessions with visitor questions left unanswered. This metric is contrary to the ‘no response rate’ indicator.
Retention Rate: The metric of retaining your customers. It analyzes the rate of previous visitors your software has conversed with.
This indicator can mean one of two things, as it is dependent on other key metrics.
For example, consider retention rates in contrast to conversation lengths or response rates. A high retention rate can generally mean a positive output for your users. Rather, can also mean unhappy users, but doesn’t reflect your script effectiveness.
The concern may be a problem elsewhere in your business. What if the problem lies in a faulty product, leaving users unhappy.
This criterion is dependent on other factors when assessing impact. When testing your findings, retention rate plays an important role when targeting goals.
User Satisfaction: This qualitative metric encompasses your user’s experience. Giving your users the ability to provide feedback allows them to rate their sessions. You can use departure surveys after a completed session.
8. Keep at it š¦¾
Writing for chatbots doesn’t stop here.
In essence – the fun is getting started.
As technology and artificial intelligence evolve, that means your script changes too.
It’s a never-ending process that will get better in time.
Alongside this, the needs of your business and users will change. You will get new products and services. You will have new markets and sorts of customers. And, your customers for certain donāt want to hear the same chatbot copywriting script.
This means closing old doors that donāt work anymore on a regular basis.
By doing so, you create the best user experience possible.
Don’t be afraid to revisit and change things up.
Treat writing for chatbots like caring for a real human being. Watch it grow and tend to it. You’ll reap the rewards of growing your business as time goes on.
Concluding thoughts on writing for chatbots
Chatbots are the face of your business when clients canāt reach you outside usual business hours. Who else will leave an impactful impression on visitors when no one is around?
They have the power to scale and leverage your business through:
- Retaining your customers
- Enhancing user experience
- Optimizing your profit margins
- Leaving a healthy impression of your brand at all times
It’s clear – writing for chatbots is vital to your business’ success.
Recapping tips to remember when writing for chatbots:
- Think of your users firsthand in understanding their needs. This involves an easy-to-read, concise, and human-like script that solves their problems.
- Cultivate the craft of improving your script on a regular basis. It never ends.
- Know your audience and the approach you will take to solve their needs.
- Brainstorming various script scenarios is a must.
- Keep on testing your script’s performance.
Chatbots are a line of defense to give visitors one more compelling reason to do business with you. So you could sleep like a baby at 2 AM not worrying about angry customers. š“