This week on #bufferchat, our community talked all about chat bots — what they are, how they can be used, how to build one, and everything in between.
Read on to discover all of the awesome insights shared during the chat!
Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join in to whichever chat time works best for you!
4 pm AEDT (Sydney time)
9 am PT (San Francisco time)
This week’s stats:
Bufferchat #1 (4 pm AEDT): 15 participants; reach of 1,044,741
Bufferchat #2 (9 am PT): 68 participants; reach of 1,261,439
Q1: What are chat bots and how do they work?
From the community:
A1: Chat bots are Simple AI programs that can process and respond simple queries from your audience like an interactive FAQ#bufferchat
— J. Pablo H3 (@HinoIII) October 11, 2017
A1 Chat bots are AI following a set of predefined rules, useful for answering fairly basic questions automatically #bufferchat ?
— Becca (@beccasocial) October 11, 2017
1: They’re automated conversation assistants. #bufferchat
— Mehul ? (@mehulgohil) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 1 here!
Q2: Where might you find chat bots in action? What platforms do they live on?
From the community:
A2: Chatbots can practically live in every communication platform, like @messenger, @telegram, @SlackHQ, @Drift, etc. #bufferchat
— Krist Çunga (@kristicunga) October 11, 2017
A2: Popular chatbots platforms are Facebook Messenger, Slack, and WeChat. But they can even be deployed on plain web sites. #bufferchat
— Antonio Cangiano (@acangiano) October 11, 2017
A2: Most commonly inhabiting Facebook Messenger, the wild Chat Bot can grow & flourish across all digital landscapes. #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/RFhR5UBZlR
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 2 here!
Q3: What are some examples of what a chat bot can help with? What are some of their purposes?
From the community:
A3. @duolingo uses chatbots in app to teach language/simulate text exchanges. Fun experience and great application of bots
— Karen McClellan (@karenmmcc) October 11, 2017
A3.
I love @ask_trim bc he monitors my money!
Updates on spending,
cash back on groceries + dining,
reminds me when rent is due!#bufferchat pic.twitter.com/hCAgHBXAX2
— Tori Dunlap ✈️??? (@victori_media) October 11, 2017
Q3) customer service, product info, scoring/feedback systems, travel bookings, audio accessible systems #toomanytolist #bufferchat
— Ian Massingham (@IanMmmm) October 11, 2017
A3 … Customer service , anything processy that can be automated , simple FAQ answering , registering for stuff etc #bufferchat
— Tim Elliott (@TimElliottUK) October 11, 2017
A3 Their fabulous at directing customers in the right direction for purchase. I think they need human intervention at some stage #bufferchat https://t.co/Hzzy2zw171
— Amanda Webb (@Spiderworking) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 3 here!
Q4: What tools/platforms are out there to help build a chat bot?
From the community:
A4. @flowxo is my favorite DIY, however, @messenger‘s own SDK is very comprehensive if custom is an option. #bufferchat
— Rishi R. (@Rishi) October 11, 2017
A4.) I believe there are interesting tools like @OctaneAI, @chatfuel, and @ManyChatHQ that can help create bots #bufferchat
— Joseph Alongi (@jdalongi) October 11, 2017
A4 : I think this link can help you https://t.co/EbC8kMRrKl #bufferchat
— Vartika (@kashyapvartika) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 4 here!
Q5: Have you come across any great chat bots? If so, tell us more about them!
From the community:
A5. https://t.co/qeL97FjpjQ is god-level! Perfect flow of conversation and an intuitive interface. #bufferchat
— Rishi R. (@Rishi) October 11, 2017
The only chat bot I have really used is @StPanda_ in Facebook messenger. #BufferChat A5
— Dannon Loveland (@DannonL) October 11, 2017
A5: @dharmesh‘s @AskGrowthBot is a fantastic slackbot. I have chats with it when my colleagues aren’t replying to me…
— James McKinven (@jmckinven) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 5 here!
Q6: In your opinion, are chat bots a fleeting trend or the future of communication? Or something in between?
From the community:
A6: Imo, they won’t last. I don’t think AI can be built-in to chat bots at a higher enough level to make them future proof… #bufferchat
— Jason Denny (@JasonJBDenny) October 11, 2017
A6: I think of #chatbots as a new user interface, much like web or mobile. They are here to stay, especially voice-based ones. #bufferchat
— Antonio Cangiano (@acangiano) October 11, 2017
A6) Like most big impact changes, we probably overestimate the short term impact & underestimate the long term impact. #bufferchat
— Ian Massingham (@IanMmmm) October 11, 2017
A6: I think we need to find more intelligent ways to use it benefit us or it will be a trend. So I’ll go with in between #bufferchat
— Alissia Haggard (@alissiahaggard) October 11, 2017
A6 100% the future of customer service, no doubt. Supplementary and complimentary tho, not replacing humans. @buffer #bufferchat
— Ludo De Angelis ? (@ludop0lis) October 11, 2017
A6. Future. Slowly will be implemented across all FB pages since the whole one-on-one element is key. They’ll get smarter. #bufferchat
— Geoffrey Blosat (@GeoffTBlosat) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 6 here!
Q7: Where can you discover cool chat bots and/or more resources about them?
From the community:
A7: Here is a #Chatbot landscape built by @keyreply: https://t.co/IWokcPEZf6 #bufferchat
— Dannon Loveland (@DannonL) October 11, 2017
A7: This place right here everyone! ?? https://t.co/cgrjRYglFT ??? @buffer #bufferchat
— Ludo De Angelis ? (@ludop0lis) October 11, 2017
A7: @chatbotsmag https://t.co/13IN5lu811
great read! #Bufferchat
— J. Pablo H3 (@HinoIII) October 11, 2017
A7. Here is a great directory of chatbots to choose from – https://t.co/2q8s1zBCDj Enjoy! #bufferchat
— Digital Polo (@digitalpolocom) October 11, 2017
See all the great answers to question 7 here!
Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!
Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!
Image sources: UnSplash
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