Chatbots are widely used to interact with customers, provide answers to common questions, or promote certain products and services. To be effective, bots need to be well aligned with the brand identity and business objectives.

Behind every marketing success story, there is a brand building effort that spans across all media and binds together all promotional activities undertaken by the company. It is paramount to coordinate various outlets for reasons of visibility and consistency of message, and there are proven techniques how to accomplish this.

Applying those principles to a conversational channel is different is different to any other medium. Chatbots are now a legitimate part of the marketing mix and thus need to comply with the general aesthetic and semantic standards that characterise the brand identity. A bot personality creates a richer understanding of the bot’s end goal, and how it will communicate through choice of language, mood, tone, and style.

Whether you like it or not, your audience will still assign a personality to your bot if one hasn’t been clearly designed. Engagement and retention on conversational interfaces requires users to have an emotional connection to the experience. At Chit Chat developing a persona is one of the first steps we go through with our clients.

Ryan Dearlove – Chit Chat Founder

Translating brand identity into interactive media

New media open new possibilities, but require a rethinking of the old methods. As a large part of marketing efforts now take place online and include highly interactive technological environments, brand identity can be expressed in a more nuanced way compared to traditional media. Maintaining a clear and coherent message under such conditions requires a methodical and disciplined approach that is reflected in every interaction. In a sense, core values and competencies of the company come to life in the digital world, greatly impacting how the public will see the brand.

Key rules to follow when creating your bot persona

Designing and developing a chatbot persona your customers will love isn’t easy, but is possible if you follow some rules of thumb such as:

• Personalise the bot for the task at hand
• Ensure that the bot always uses the same style of communication that is suitable for the primary target group
• Stay conversational and don’t be afraid to use casual phrases
• Refer to elements of brand identity (slogan, logo, key image…) that are already present in other media
• Use visuals and multimedia to improve engagement and keep things fun
• Always express gratitude to customers who perform a desired action

Small snippets of text used to direct and inform users throughout the experience may seem inconsequential – but when it comes to conversational interfaces — it is everything.

Ryan Dearlove – Chit Chat Founder

Looking to create a chatbot for your business? Learn how we’ve helped businesses like yours take control of their private messaging on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp.