Chatbots have entered the business world with an explosion.

Every time you are contacting a brand, the chances are that you are communicating with a chatbot.

Chatbots are creating a custom experience; you might get a smile, wink, a few suggestions and an answer to all your questions.

For brands, this means offering more of a personal touch and developing relationships that are beyond simple purchasing.

How can you make a chatbot?

Chatbots are basically a software that is triggered by questions, and if it`s powered with AI and NLP, it can be a powerful tool.

This sounds intimidating if you don`t know how to code or if you are not a programmer, but really, it’s not.

It has never been easier to make a chatbot, as you can use a pre-built enterprise chatbot platform, such as ChattyPeople, and your bot will be up and running in few hours.

I have made many chatbots and here are 10 custom chatbot development tips I can share with you.

1. Choose the Right Platform

This tip is crucial. Selecting the right platform where you can build your bot can make or break you.

Non-codding platforms with only drag and drop options will be the right choice if you are not a programmer.

Plus, it`s ideal for users who are just getting familiar with the chatbot experience. You can add several options to your bot and even connect to your e-Commerce store.

Later, if you want more features, you can connect your calendar with your chatbot, so it will send notifications to both consumers and you and add events to your calendar.

2. Educate Your Users

Yes, chatbots will lead the conversation, but someone needs to start it – right?

When initially interacting with chatbots, it`s important that the chatbot is the one who will be starting the conversation flow.

Train your bot to start with a simple “Hello” and then offer a menu of questions that will continue with the conversational flow.

3. Train Your Chatbot

Spend some time to train your chatbot to recognize problems.

This can be handled by offering multiple answers to one question and by also adding popular questions to your chatbot’s library.

4. Make Your Bot Unique

Make sure that your chatbot will have a unique personality.

This is how your consumers will find your bot. Having a unique and memorable name will stand out and be easy to memorize.

5. Create Conversational Flow

Make sure that your conversation flow is precisely planned.

Conversational chatbots will lead the interaction with consumers, and by using Natural Language Processing, it will make the entire flow feel more human-like.

The whole point is for your chatbot to answer people`s questions, so this is the step where you need to be detailed.

6. Promote Your Bot

How will people know that you have a chatbot?

Let people know that you have your own chatbot by promoting it.

If you don`t know how or where to start, here is a good article to check out:

AI ChatBot Marketing Guide – How to Create a Successful Bot Marketing Strategy.

7. Test Before Launching

Let’s say that you are all done with your chatbot and you are ready to make it live.

Are you 100% sure that everything is as planned?

Before you launch your chatbot, make sure that you have set up another development bot. This will help you to notice any errors or bugs that may happen before you go public.

8. Select Your Channels Wisely

Let say that you have an e-Commerce store and a Facebook page. Where do you want your bot to be?

This brings us back to step 1. Starting with a messaging platform can help you to interact with a bigger audience and understand the chatbot more clearly.

Once you are at a stage where you know how to train and handle your chatbot, you can easily make one for e-Commerce. You just need to select a platform that supports chatbots for e-Commerce, such as ChattyPeople.

9. Add Personality

Even though chatbots are robots, it doesn`t mean that they can’t be fun to interact with.

By using NLP and adding humor to your conversation flow, chatbots can be a delight to talk with. This way, chatbots that are powered with NLP and have a dose of humor added in will have more human-like conversations.

10. Follow the competitors

Yes, your competitors probably have a chatbot. So, it`s a smart idea to engage with their chatbot and see what they offer that you don’t.

This is a good way for you to improve your bot and add more features.

Final Thoughts

Building a chatbot today is really easy.

You just need the right bot building platform like ChattyPeople.

The possibilities with having a chatbot are endless, but choosing the right chatbot building platform can make or break you – so choose wisely.

Posted by Maya S.