Drift Chatbots: The Driving Force Behind Your Sales and Conversions

Do chatbots increase sales?

Yes, they really do. Chatbots are a powerful tool and with the right strategy in place, they will help you increase conversions at every stage of the funnel

In this article, we are going to review strategies you can use to drive conversions across your funnel, from TOFU (Top of Funnel) to BOFU (Bottom of Funnel).

Top of Funnel: Chatbot strategies

If you want to increase sales from your chatbot, you need to focus on driving traffic to your bot. The best way to do this is by using a chatbot popup. This is a non-invasive Drift feature where your bot slides into the corner of the user's screen.

About your visitor

In this stage of the funnel, your visitor has navigated to your site. It could be as a result of a backlink, a paid media campaign, or a specific search query made on google.

It's pretty likely they are on your site exploring content such as:

1. Blog
2. Videos
3. Webinars

Not too long ago, we wrote about call to actions for specific stages of your funnel. We mentioned how the wrong CTA can break your sales funnel. The same goes for chatbots.

Here's an example of what a conversion pathway might look like on your website:

Visit blog post > Attends webinar > Visitor is enrolled in a nurture campaign > Navigates to a product page > Views relevant case study > Complete demo > Becomes a customer.

Referencing this example, at the TOFU stage, your visitor would be viewing your blog post and you should encourage them to sign up for your webinar.

Chatbot flow

So, your visitor has discovered your website through a blog post. It's a good thing you have an upcoming webinar on a similar topic.

Here, a chatbot popup should appear and offer to share with the visitor the upcoming webinar. They can also sign them up for the webinar, right then and there.

Winning strategy: Skip the form

Use your chatbot to share information in a human way and collect contact information. Using Drift, you can set up a drift link that will power a chatbot to appear. This drift feature enables your bot to slowly collect contact information through an interactive conversation. Using this chatbot strategy, your chatbot flow is more likely to result in a conversion.

Middle of Funnel: Chatbot strategies

You need to bring the lead back to your website. Think of your website as a home base for learning and offering valuable information. On your website is your chatbot. Your chatbot should map the lead's behaviour and share content according to which website pages they are on.

About the lead

So, your visitor has now converted to a lead. They've attended your webinar and you've enrolled them in a nurture sequence. As a result of your nurture sequence, they've discovered a website page that is of value to them.

It's now time to keep them on your website.

Chatbot flow

Now that the lead is on your site, it's time for your bot to share relevant content. Thinking back to the content mapping example above, you should show the lead a relevant case study.

Winning strategy: Qualify leads

Your chatbot should be used to slowly collect additional contact information about the lead. This can be achieved by creating custom chatbot scripts and tailoring a visitor's path according to relevant criteria.

Or, take it a step further and begin leveraging Drift's prospector tool. Using this tool, your sales team can know which accounts to focus their time on. The tool collects all buying signals and shares this with your sales team so that they reach out sooner.

Bottom of Funnel: Chatbot strategies

Once the lead has reached this stage of your funnel, you will want to continue leveraging your chatbot. It's also recommended at this stage to introduce live chat.

About the lead

The lead has now spent significant time on your website. They are well educated and are likely ready to make the purchase decision. It's time to offer them a demo or to speak with a rep.

Chatbot flow

It's time to encourage the lead to convert. At this stage, you should be offering the lead the option to speak with a member of your sales team, book a time directly on their calendar, or book a demo.

Winning strategy: Get the conversion

Again, it's time to ditch the form. Contact us forms were historically used to qualify leads. Once the lead was qualified by your team, they could then reach out to the prospect. This process is timely and will result in a higher drop-off rate.

Use Drift's bots to book meeting times or schedule demos. This helps eliminate any back-and-forth via email and gets the meeting on your sales team's calendar much faster.

When a chatbot is used, you can also introduce your company and product in a fun way. You're not just another faceless company; you're a person that they can talk to and get to know on a personal level.

This helps build trust with leads, which is essential when it comes to conversions.

If you want to learn more about how Drift chatbots can help increase sales and conversions across your marketing funnel, we're offering free Drift implementation workshop.