Today's customers need speed. They don't want you to waste their time, so if you make them wait, you risk losing them.
Contacting your leads within the first minute can boost your lead conversions by a whopping 391%. As you delay, the results get delayed—the chances of qualifying a lead drop by 80% after the first five minutes.
Instant availability helps you generate more leads. It's safe to say chatbots are a business's safety net to reach potential leads instantly. A majority of customers would use an online chatbot instead of waiting for a human agent to save their time.
Lead generation remains urgent and critical for 81% of B2B marketers; however, almost half of them report not having enough leads. Marketers can bridge this significant gap between market expectations and pipeline goals by deploying AI-powered chatbots.
But what does this mean for businesses, especially those still contemplating their decision to adopt chatbots in their marketing strategy?
Let's find out!
What is a lead generation chatbot?
Chatbots are virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence that can initiate conversations with website visitors. They can be thought of as helpful customer service representatives available around the clock, ready to assist with any inquiries.
Now, coming to lead generation. It's the art of capturing the interest of potential and turning them into leads–those who visit your website, click through social media ads, or have shown interest in your products or services. But, let's face it, acquiring leads is pretty challenging.
That's where lead generation chatbots come in. A lead generation chatbot is an AI-powered chatbot that engages potential customers, captures their information, and qualifies them as leads in real-time. Unlike static conversations, it uses human-like conversations to easily obtain information relevant to lead generation.
Lead gen chatbots can:
- Qualify intent
- Ask tailored questions to identify potential customers
- Direct prospects to the right resources or sales reps
These led-generation chatbots can schedule appointments, answer frequently asked questions, and qualify leads based on predefined criteria.
How do chatbots enhance lead generation efforts
When a new or returning visitor enters your website, a lead generation chatbot can be triggered to welcome visitors to the site.
To initiate a conversation, lead generation chatbot can appear to offer a discount or promote a company newsletter subscription.
Once a person agrees to provide their information, lead generation chatbot helps qualify those leads by according to the collected information.
This information will help determine the sales team how far the lead is in their customer journey. These questions are usually specific according to MQL and SQL definitions.
Based on the answer to those questions, the lead generation chatbot takes its next step, whether to pass on the lead to a human agent, further engage the lead into resources or showcase products or services.
Here are some alternative ways to phrase those chatbot capabilities for your website:
- Greet and onboard: Automatically welcome website visitors and guide them to key information.
- Product/service explanations: Offer detailed explanations of your offerings and their benefits.
- Highlight promotions: Announce special offers, free trials, and relevant content.
- Lead capture: Gather visitor contact information for follow-up.
- Answer FAQs: Provide instant answers to common customer questions.
- Website navigation: Help visitors easily find what they're looking for on your site.
- Collect visitor insights: Gather data on visitor preferences and needs.
- Connect to live agents: Seamlessly transfer promising leads to your sales team.
This data collected by the bot further helps the sales understand the target audience better and gain insight into what your customers are looking for.
Key benefits of using chatbots for lead generation
Chatbots are rapidly spreading beyond customer support to drive growth at all stages of the customer journey. In fact, sales is one of the top use cases of chatbots, followed by customer support and marketing.
Chatbots in sales can be used for a wide range of automated tasks, from booking product demos to routing visitors' questions to the right team and qualifying sales opportunities.
Compared to other lead generation strategies, lead generation bots offer a number of advantages.
- Higher conversion rates
Many businesses use multiple channels to capture leads from their website through social media and paid ads. While a landing page or ads can be very effective in capturing a lead, many businesses still miss out on opportunities by taking too long to respond or engage those leads.
Therefore, generating leads or any kind of conversion can be really challenging. In fact, the average website conversion rate is just 3.3%,which is not great news, especially for businesses looking to use their website as a key part of their marketing strategy.
On average, a well-designed chatbot experiences an 80-90% response rate, and even the less favorable conversational experiences are in the 35-40% response rate. Seamless switched to an AI chatbot to answer clients' FAQs after automatic lead qualification increased conversion into a sale.
Customers engage most with chatbots about product availability, specifications, and compatibility. The data collected can be further used to identify pain points and trends, enabling businesses to make informed decisions and ultimately achieve higher conversions.
- Better Experience and Increased Lead Engagement
One of the biggest headaches for any business is engaging new customers and making sure they stick around long enough to enable you to cross-sell. So, how do you build a healthy pipeline of new customer leads when the average time spent on a webpage across all industries is just 54 seconds?
Lead-generation chatbots can transform your visitors' experience on the website. Instead of expecting visitors to read paragraphs of text and skim to find relevant details, chatbots deliver relevant information to prospects in a matter of seconds through a simple conversational exchange.
Thanks to its humanized approach, chatbots can intelligently and efficiently:
- Introduce new products and services.
- Share additional details about products or shipping.
- Enhance customer knowledge by curating relevant content.
- Offer personalized recommendations.
- Provide exclusive discount codes.
- Implement upselling and cross-selling opportunities during checkout.
Further, chatbots are highly capable of collecting visitor information and can provide detailed, actionable information about customer pain points. This helps businesses improve their services and prepare more personalized and highly targeted campaigns for their customers.
- Lower Cost Per Lead
One of the most attractive benefits of chatbots for businesses is cost savings. Chatbots improve customer support results by answering mundane and repetitive questions, which usually account for 70% of customer queries.
If we look at the numbers, the Global AI chatbot market size is $1.34 billion (for 2024), which looks truly incredible. The average ROI for chatbots is about 1275%,and they can save businesses 30% of their costs on customer support alone.
Chatbots don't just save money–they can also help you earn it. Websites that use chatbots see an increase of 20% in their median order value compared to websites that don't. And that's after only the first 7 days of using them.
Types of lead generation chatbot
Depending on your business and where your leads come from, you’ll have to build a lead generation chatbot that’s built for the job.
- Inbound marketing chatbots (for turning website visitors into leads)
If your business gets traffic from blog posts, organic search or SEO, then an inbound marketing chatbot is a great choice.
Instead of letting visitors leave without taking action, this lead generation chatbot will pop up at the right time and encourage them to sign up for a website, grab a free resource, or book a call.
For instance, when searching for inbound marketing courses on Hubspot. A chatbot pops up with all relevant questions that you might have starting with a course.
- Chatbots for lead capture from paid ads (PPC chatbots)
Are you running ads on Google ads, Linkedin ads or Facebook ads? A PPC chatbot will help you convert ad clicks into leads. Whether they buy or not, an interesting, value-intrigued offer always encourages users to give their information.
For instance, a protein powder company running ads encourages users to give their email addresses in exchange for a 10% discount. So, even though users won’t buy today, they would be willing to give their email information for a discount.
- Social media chatbots
Social media isn’t just for engagement. These bots automatically respond to DMS inquiries and comments. They guide the users in booking a call, signing up for a service, or making a purchase. It’s just limited to ads; you can also use it with normal posts to attract people’s engagement.
For example, someone comments, “I’m interested,” on a post that provides some free resources. Instead of manually messaging them the resource, the chatbot instantly sends a message with the resource material.
Most chatbots are versatile and can handle multiple functions, such as capturing leads, qualifying them, and even following up. The key is to find a chatbot that aligns with your specific needs.
How to use chatbots for lead generation?
Making a lead-generation chatbot is one thing, but knowing how to use it for your specific goals is an entirely different ballgame. So, let's see how you can utilize chatbots to maximize your lead generation efforts:
- Use proactive live chat
Instead of waiting for visitors to ask questions, you can contact them proactively. While not every visitor might be ready to buy just yet, proactively reaching out to them increases your chances of initiating valuable conversations.
Lead generation chatbots can be triggered to initiate proactive conversations based on specific user behaviors, such as after spending a certain amount of time on a page, multiple product views, page scroll depth, visiting the pricing page, or revisiting patterns to the website.
Furthermore, if the lead responds, you can provide them with the information they're looking for, offer relevant resources (e-books, how-to guides, webinars), capture information details, or help them book appointments with the sales team.
For instance, Hubspot instantly triggers a lead generation chatbot when you reach their pricing page. You can also directly book a meeting or chat with the sales team for assistance.
- Using AI bots for automated lead qualification
Research shows that sales reps generate 48% of the leads they pursue, which can consume up to 22% of their workweek—because of this, the time they spend on actual sales drops to 36%.
With traditional methods, leads were qualified based on superficial factors such as job title or company size. Chatbots, however, digs much deeper into analyzing lead actual interactions with the brand.
For instance, if a lead consistently engages with a brand or asks detailed questions about a service, conversational AI can score that lead higher.
Depending on the responses and other non-verbal indicators (reply frequency, sentiments, length of responses, etc.), the agent can perform lead qualification and scoring to aid salespersons.
Chatbots generate valuable insights that can drive strategic decision-making that helps your company grow and thrive. As a leader, the ability to leverage data insights can be a game-changer for your sales team. Understanding what's working and what isn't helps optimize sales processes and enhance customer experience.
- Personalized greetings and offers
Did you know that as many as 52% of customers expect personalized offers and communication?
Make sure to take advantage of this by implementing a lead-generation chatbot that tailors chat greetings and offers based on visitor behavior and demographics. For instance, if a visitor is browsing products in a special category, the chatbot can send them a welcome message with relevant product information or a special discount.
Just like chatbots, AI voice agents can also be used for personalized outreach.
Here's how it works: AI voice agents jump into action the second a lead comes in. These digital dynamos can ask qualifying questions like "What's your budget?" or "Are you interested in our product?". By the end of the call, the AI agent will score the lead, so you know whether you have gotten a hot lead ready to convert or someone's just browsing.
If needed, the AI can even schedule future calls or follow-ups, keeping the conversation going.
Lead Generation Chatbots in Action: Diverse Applications and Success Stories
Now that you know the use cases for lead generation chatbots, you're probably searching for examples to inspire your customer engagement strategy. From travel to fashion, chatbots have revolutionized customer engagement sales strategies.
Let's dive into a few success stories to understand the full potential of lead-generation chatbots in action:
- H&M Kik Bot
H&M chatbot is an advanced AI tool in the fashion retail industry that offers an interactive shopping experience. It provides personalized recommendations to visitors by asking about their style preferences, and if there's anything specific, they are looking for in the H&M store. It's like the user has a personal stylist at their fingertips.
Demonstrated success:
- Kik achieved an average engagement rate of 86%, with users spending an average of four minutes interacting with the chatbot.
- Its click-through rate was 8%, which is higher than H&M's email marketing click-through rate of 2%.
- Bank of America's Erica
Bank of America's Erica is an AI-powered chatbot introduced in 2018 to help customers manage their banking needs and provide financial assistance. The chatbot uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand a user's request and provide assistance. Erica can:
- Provide personalized financial insights and advice
- Track spending habits
- Check account balances and transactions
- Transfer money between accounts
- Pay bills
- Answer questions about banking products and services
Demonstrated success:
- Bank of America reported that proactive and personalized interactions currently make up 60% of the engagement driven by Erica.
- By the first half of 2023, Erica had processed over 330 million requests, which is equivalent to 56 million engagements per month.
- Domino's Tinder Bot
For Valentine's Day, Dominos launched a chatbot named "Dom Juan," posing as a regular profile. The app interacted with the users who swiped right and offered playful mines to enhance their dating game. Dominos capitalized on Tinder's popularity during the holiday, significantly boosting the company's visibility and attracting more potential clients.
Demonstrated success:
- Achieved a 35x return on advertising spend
- Generated over 2 million impressions on social media.
- Led to a 10% increase in sales compared to the previous year
- Qatar Insurance Company
Qatar Insurance Company is a pioneer in the Middle East's insurance landscape. This meant they are hit by hundreds of customer requests every day which led to slower response times with sluggish communication channels.
To address the mounting operational challenges, QIC joined hands with Gallabox. The team replaced WhatsApp with a centralized team inbox that was directly linked with their CRM for contextual customer conversations. Gallabox also enabled AI-powered 24/7 support for instant query management.
Demonstrated success:
- 31% increase in employee productivity by automating repetitive queries and focusing their time in high-value customer interaction.
- By converting unmanaged inquiries into structured conversations, QIC saw a whopping 102% growth in lead generation.
- Quick response times, 24/7 availability, and contextual conversations contributed to 2X improvement in CSAT ratings.
How to build a lead generation chatbot?
The process of building a chatbot will vary depending on the scope of your solution.
No matter how much technical expertise you have, the result you're willing to achieve, or how much money your team is willing to spend, the base process will remain the same.
- Pick a chatbot platform
Look for a platform that supports advanced features like CRM integrations, lead scoring, and multi-channel deployment.
If you have limited technical bandwidth, it's best to choose a no-code or low-code platform that requires minimum or no coding. However, you might have limited ability to customize your end product.
Otherwise, you'll have to build your platform from scratch.
- Design your lead qualification
The next step is to identify what makes a lead valuable to your business, ensuring your chatbots gather all relevant data for lead qualification.
Establish clear goals, identify the qualifying questions that your chatbot will ask, and plan the following steps, such as follow-ups, scheduling messages, or routing leads to sales.
Finally, select the most effective platform for deployment, like your website or WhatsApp, to maximize engagement.
You can use WhatsApp Business API to create a lead-generation chatbot. An API provider like Gallabox can provide you with a WhatsApp Business API number to get you started. The shared WhatsApp inbox serves as your central hub for customer communication. As a Business API user, you gain the flexibility to go beyond WhatsApp's default features and limitations!
The Gallabox Gen AI makes creating quick replies even faster. This AI-powered technology can elevate the customer experience with personalized responses. It can talk to your customers in their language and develop replies that are simple and sleek.
- Integrate your chatbot
Your chatbot is only as valuable as the quality of its integrations. For maximum efficiency, consider integrating it with:
- Your CRM
- Social media channels like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp
- Analytics platforms like Google Analytics
- Email marketing platforms (to automate follow-ups)
- Scheduling tools like Calendly
You can connect your chatbot to your systems either by creating a custom integration or using one of our many pre-built options. (Not to brag, but we have quite an extensive list!)
Gallabox integrates seamlessly with your tech stack—whether it's your CRM, e-commerce platform, payment processor, or marketing tools—bringing everything under one roof.
- Deploy your lead gen bot
Once your chatbot is ready, it should be deployed on the channels that have the most impact, such as your website or messaging platform, Whatsapp.
Thorough testing is essential before you unleash the bot–and regular updates should continue even after deployment. Begin by initially launching your chatbot to a small group of users, then gradually expand to full coverage.
Future trends in chatbots for lead generation
Today, chatbots are what mobile apps were in 2012. Every business wants one, but what do customers think of them?
Research shows that 96% of customers have heard about chatbots, and 82% of them would choose them over talking to a human agent if it can help them out instead of waiting for a human agent.
In fact, almost all of the respondents think that businesses that use chatbots take good care of their customers.
74% of organizations are already deploying chatbots, with 81% utilizing voice and text analytics–a 19% rise since 2020. For businesses that don't just want to survive but thrive, you need to do two things consistently: drive up efficiency and cut costs.
Chatbots currently account for about $20 million in business cost savings. This is not surprising, as chatbots can save up to 30% of costs on customer service alone. The majority of businesses use chatbots for lead generation, providing faster responses and saving
manual hours on repetitive questions. Companies that use chatbots receive high-quality leads.
They qualify users and pass the hottest ones to the sales team. That way, sales reps can prepare the most relevant offer and convert users to purchasing faster.
Are You Ready To Grow with a Lead Generation Chatbot?
Your lead generation chatbot is not just about automation but more about efficiency, personalization, and delivering a superior experience to your visitors. Remember, the key to success lies in continuously optimizing and refining your chatbot based on user feedback and performance metrics.
If you're looking to deploy your lead generation chatbot on WhatsApp, the Gallabox can come in extremely handy. Gallabox provides tailored WhatsApp sales features like automated segmentation, personalized messaging, and chatbot support to optimize customer journeys and reduce costs.
Ready to transform your business with WhatsApp sales? Contact us for a free demo and elevate your sales strategy today with Gallabox.
FAQs
- What is a lead generation chatbot?
A lead generation chatbot is an AI-powered chatbot that engages potential customers, captures their information, and qualifies them as leads in real-time. Unlike static conversations, it uses human-like conversations to easily obtain information relevant to lead generation.
- How do chatbots qualify leads?
With traditional methods, leads were qualified based on superficial factors such as job title or company size. Chatbots, however, digs much deeper into analyzing lead actual interactions with the brand. It asks qualifying questions to figure if a prospect is a good fit for your product or service.
- How successful are chatbots?
On average, a well-designed chatbot experiences an 80-90% response rate, and even the less favorable conversational experiences are in the 35-40% response rate. Seamless switched to an AI chatbot to answer clients' FAQs after automatic lead qualification increased conversion into a sale.
