How conversational AI can boost social media engagement strategy and enhance CX

From Facebook to Instagram, Twitter, and even Google Play, customers now turn to these platforms to contact businesses

July 9, 2023 16:24 IST

Social media is playing an active role in connecting people and businesses

By Harsha Solanki

Have you ever expressed dissatisfaction with a brand on social media or publicly asked a question in the comments section? You most likely have. From Facebook to Instagram, Twitter, and even Google Play, customers now turn to these platforms to contact businesses, ask questions, leave reviews, and expect companies to act. Social media connects 4.9 billion people on earth today. The number is expected to grow to 5.85 billion by 2027. It has evolved from a direct electronic information exchange to a virtual gathering space and retail platform and is now a vital marketing tool of the 21st century.

Social media is not just enabling communication among people but playing an active role in connecting people and businesses, giving rise to conversational commerce. Almost 90% of social media users follow at least one brand, indicating a shift in customer behaviour to connect with the brand directly. Similarly, 76% of the users on social media purchase something new they see on the channels, illustrating how retail has changed. Brands leverage advancements like Conversational AI or Generative AI on social media to connect with billions of people in real time.

How is conversational AI enabling conversational commerce?

Conversational AI is a chatbot technology powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deploys natural language processing to understand user queries and respond to commands with heightened efficiency. It simulates a human conversation between chatbots and people. The advances in machine learning have improved the quality of responses from conversational AI. For instance, conversational AI automates repetitive tasks like responding to a large number of similar queries that an agent may be unable to handle. The automation with conversational AI accelerates the response time. The same technology, when deployed into the messaging platforms and websites of the brands, enables end-to-end personalised shopping experiences for customers.

Conversational commerce helps customers by answering product-related questions, recommendations, the latest offers and updates and processing orders. It also comprises answering queries related to order tracking and information on returns. It improves the customer experience by leaps and bounds, giving them 24/7 human-like endless interactions with brands.

Conversational AI enabling seamless end-to-end customer journeys on social media

The fast-paced, public nature of posts and tweets makes social media an ideal platform for customers to receive prompt action from businesses, leading to positive outcomes. However, if a company fails to respond on time or provides an incorrect resolution, it can quickly face a virtual avalanche of criticism. By incorporating social media channels into their contact centre, businesses can enhance customer service by capitalising on the widespread influence of social media and engaging with customers through personal and popular platforms. They can embed conversational AI chatbots on Messenger, Instagram, or Twitter DMs and even provide them with an opt-in to WhatsApp.

For instance, a brand launches a new product and posts about the same on its Instagram. Now the popularity of the product results in the unavailability of the same in stores and online, and users throng social media posts of the brand with comments asking about the availability. Given the high number of comments, it’s unimaginable for any social media manager to address every comment manually. AI bots can address them in seconds, and customers feel validated and build loyalty and trust towards the brand.

Nivea is a prominent example of a brand leveraging the social media channel preferred by customers through conversational AI. The company leveraged conversational AI chatbot through WhatsApp for its Cocoa Shades campaign in Nigeria and Kenya. The goal was to create consumer engagement by empowering them and celebrating their skin tone. To maximise campaign engagement, Nivea used various methods to encourage participation, including promoting their WhatsApp number through social media, collaborating with influencers, and displaying QR codes at the in-store checkout area. As part of the campaign, participants would submit a photo of themselves to the WhatsApp number, and in return, they would receive a customised version of the image that reflected their skin tone. They could then share this stylized image on social media platforms, significantly expanding the campaign’s reach. The brand achieved 207% of the campaign target.

Another relevant example is from Dior, where the luxury brand garnered over 9.6 million followers on Instagram by allowing people to connect with its brand ambassador and South Korean singer Jisoo. It was done through Instagram posts of the lipstick launch, wherein people got the link to the WhatsApp channel and became part of the group where she interacted with the users. For the same, using AI, the WhatsApp chatbot was trained to imitate Jisoo’s way of speaking and also understand emojis, gifs, sentiments, and regional slang. The AI WhatsApp chatbot went from giving tips and showing videos and tutorials to enabling the purchase of the newly-launched lipstick.

Harnessing the power of conversational AI can be a game-changer for businesses looking to enhance their social media engagement strategy and elevate the customer experience. By leveraging advanced chatbot technologies, companies can create personalised and interactive conversations with their audience, increasing customer engagement and satisfaction.