Content marketing via chatbot

Someone senior at a very well-known British institution recently said (privately) that they regarded websites as dead. The future, they maintained, is apps.

But reports of the website’s demise are greatly exaggerated… indeed chatbots could inject new life into the sector.

Things are certainly changing and everyone knows mobile is the way to go. Yet the fact is that people are downloading fewer apps these days. Where once some enthusiasts did so almost daily, according to this research the average is now less than one a month.

Chatbots

Part of the reason is fatigue. Another comes down to websites incorporating responsive design frameworks such as Twitter, Bootstrap and Foundation.

A further explanation might be low user expectation. Put another way, most apps deliver what people want.

Customers expect more and chatbots have become sufficiently sophisticated to fill that niche.

On Spotify, a bot will create a custom mix for you. HubSpot has Growthbot, designed to help content marketers. For example, ask it “how many PPC keywords is competitor X buying?” and it will bring up the information.

Consumer bots include WeChat, which hosts Nike and Burberry among others, and Facebook Messenger, which hosts Uber.

NIKE FOS WECHAT CASE STUDY from Johan Vakidis on Vimeo.

It’s easy to see why people find interaction of this sort so attractive. As it gets easier to build, it could prove a viable other channel. Not the channel, but definitely another way.

Neither apps or websites are dead. Simply, they are not the rage any more. Maybe chatbots is where the content marketing action is now headed.

Content marketing via chatbot is part of Content24, the blog for London content marketing agency FirstWord.