Twitter's chatbot game is heating up and brands can now use automated messages to better communicate with customers and speed up customer service.
With this in mind, Twitter is adding chatbots to Direct Messages to help out brands with two new products: Welcome messages and quick replies. The tools should help answer basic questions faster and address complaints in a timely manner. With the new features, companies can team up with nearly a dozen third-party services for brand-specific automated message systems.
"Quick replies and welcome messages in Direct Messages make it easier for businesses to guide people to better outcomes through a combination of simple automation and human service," notes Twitter.
Welcome messages, as the name itself suggests, allow brands to "greet" customers when they receive a Direct Message (DM) by sending an automated reply. Quick replies, meanwhile, allow businesses and users to get basic questions answered without involving a human customer service representative. This can save a lot of time if the matter is not too complicated.
A number of brands are already on board with Twitter's new automated messaging services, including Pizza Hut, Evernote, Airbnb, Spotify and others.
Get faster and easier help from businesses. Try it now with @EvernoteHelps and @PizzaHut. #CarpeDM pic.twitter.com/T8vHnLESEM
— Twitter Advertising (@TwitterAds) November 1, 2016
Automated messaging, however, is not something new to Twitter. In fact, businesses and users have been building chatbots for tweets and Direct Messages since 2007, Twitter product manager Ian Cairns points out.
The new tools, however, mark the first Twitter chatbot launch on a large scale, at a time when chatbot use is on the rise. Facebook Messenger lets users make online payments using bots, Duolingo employs bots to help users learn various languages, and the list goes on.
Consumers want speed and convenience in handling matters with companies, and bots can offer that with chatbots that are specifically focused on customer service.
"Serious business happens in direct messages," Gerald Hastie, Evernote director of global customer service, tells AdWeek. "Private and personalized conversations are where consumers get the most impactful help on Twitter, and this new automation tool helps to enhance that experience."
A number of partners are working to build branded bots with Twitter's API and more companies will likely start using the automated features soon enough. Interested brands can already start setting up their default welcome messages.
The purpose, however, is not to replace human customer service representatives with bots and eliminate human interaction altogether. The goal is simply to speed things up and let bots handle things when possible, such as with simple queries or requests.
Automation can be very helpful and it's already been available for a number of services for a good while now. It's not always human vs. machine, sometimes it's just about added convenience and simplified processes.
