Why 2019 might, finally, be the year of messenger bots

Why is it that one of the most promising technologies of recent years keeps failing to truly take off? As ever, it’s because of people, not machines.

We’ve taught our technology to speak, and given it nothing useful to say.

Let’s rewind a little. Messenger bots aren’t new. They’ve been around and in the public eye since 2016, and were one of Facebook’s bigger innovations of late.

The idea that you don’t have to learn the exact language of a computer (or a coder’s interpretation) and could, instead, just type naturally and have it understand and, wonderfully, respond with something useful is, in theory, as big a leap forwards in digital interactions as voice assistants or Amazon’s recipe-sharing Alexa wiretaps.

So why aren’t they a huge success for car dealers already?

So the technology is good, and you can even get started for free. Wow. So why aren’t they a huge success? It comes down to a number of reasons.

1) No analytics

There were no analytics. Facebook is amazing at giving you metrics on every aspect of your performance with all its tools. Except, weirdly, messenger bots. Did people spend more money after interacting? Did millenials love it? Did it save you time? Literally no way to know.

2) Too many options

When Slack, Facebook, Microsoft, Kik, Google et al all have an alternative, which do you pick? Or do you sensibly wait to see who comes out as the market leader so you don’t have to build eleven bots in parallel? And then you see them fail to take off… so you don’t bother.

3) Fragmentation of communication

Conversations (especially with brands) aren’t linear, and they often span multiple devices. If your customer service team get your emails but your PR agency on Facebook only reply there… how are you ever going to have a 21st-century conversation? That single customer view is as elusive as ever.

4) Computer says no

And finally… we just didn’t give them enough to say. Most responses still trigger a ‘let me get a human for you’ response. Because you can’t programme every single option for a conversation into an algorithm, and even if you could, would you trust a set of byzantine rules to manage your customer service interactions in the age of OMG look at these guys, Twitter outrage culture?

So why might 2019 be the year for car dealership chatbots?

Okay so that’s why chatbots failed in 2016 onwards, thanks for coming to our TED Talk.

Oh, right, yes, so why is 2019 the year they might actually, finally, live up to their promise? Here’s the 8Cats Automotive angle.

AI and machine learning is getting really, scarily good. Suddenly, you can pipe in data and actually teach these algorithms what to do. No more sitting in front of a flow chart and trying to work out which Bandersnatch route to send the conversation, instead you can actually have a learning, self-improving messenger bot.

The technology, again, just got so much better. But this time it’s eliminating the human element. In that we don’t have to sit and prune the decision trees and tell it what to expect. Instead, we set parameters and give desired outcomes.

Make no mistake, this is a quantum leap in technology. And yes, you can use it to sell cars, mobile phones, ham or helicopters. Probably. This write-up from Diginomica covers it pretty well.

There’s also big steps forward, like the Facebook Messener Persona API, which lets you have different styles and rules for different users, so millenials get GIFs and grandparents get simple, clean instructions.

So, is 2019 the time to dip your toe in the water for your car dealership?

Absolutely.

What should you do? Firstly, read the links in this article, because they’re great explanations.

Then what?

Sign up with a free service or trial like Botsify, Snatchbot or Chatfuel (this was where we built ours back in the distant year of 2017. It was to sell cars. We started off making a mock up but one of our techies got carried away and came back with a GDPR-compliant one that could essentially book you a test drive and plan a route… possibly too much coffee was had.

And from there? Go browse some examples of the best chatbots. See what they’re doing and decide whether you’d like to spend less human hours on that repetitive task and instead, do something that would better benefit your business.

If you’d like some help with your chatbot strategy, for any marketing automation or mar-tech consultancy, get in touch with 8Cats Automotive. We’re here to help.