10 Tips On Applying Copywriting Rules For Your Chatbots

Copywriting and chatbots sometimes seem so far apart on the marketing scheme. However, they don’t have to be. Have you ever thought about employing some of the famous copywriting rules to your chatbot dialogue?

Here’s how you can do it:

Give Them Personality

“Users don’t want to talk to a generic robot. Short and flavorless responses will quickly drive them away. This is the same with copy. If it’s bland, the readers just won’t like it or react to it as they should,”says Anya Fuller, a Tech writer at Writemyx and Originwritings.

On the other hand, give the copy – or the chatbot, in this case – some personality and voila, you have an engaged, entranced audience.

The truth is, people love communicating with chatbots even just for fun because it’s so new and revolutionary. They love the fact that the bot is responding with proper answers and so on. However, what they love even more is that existing bots have a lot of personality. Just think about Google Assistant or Siri. They are regular assistant bots but they bring some flavor into the conversations and it feels more realistic. This is what will keep your users engaged.

Come up With A Great Name

A good name is a marker of good bot personality. You wouldn’t expect a bot called Twinkie or Ruby to be boring or robotic. This is what will drive the users to your bot.

You have a few options here:

• The name can be related to the function of the bot – for instance, MeditateBot or TranslateBot.
• The name can be human – something like Sophie or Gordon. Bots sounding human can be fun and attractive.
• Make the name geeky, cute or funny. It can be something like MemeBot or Deadpool Bot or something similar.
• It can be short, snappy and easy to remember. For instance, Teddy or Mya and so on.

Make The Dialogue Conversational

When people chat with a bot, the last thing they want is awkward conversation. What they do want is a great tone of voice and friendly talk. Do your best to make everything flow as naturally as possible. Of course, you won’t be able to control all of the aspects of the conversation but you will be able to make the most of it according to your rules.

Conversational tone is one of the first rules of the copy and definitely one of the first rules you should employ with your bot. Call the user by their name, use simple words and add some fun things to the conversation like popular references or memes if appropriate with your bot.

Provide Useful Information

Again, one of the main rules of copy is providing useful information. Your bot should be entertaining and fun but also add value to the users life. It has to have a purpose. Is it informing your users about your products, the weather or something else?

Great! Then make sure that those information are true, relevant and helpful. It can even be a Fun Facts bot and it would still mean that it gives useful information.

Make The Chatbot Entertaining

Of course, the bot needs to be entertaining. So many things are fighting for the audience attention that you don’t have a lot of time or space to be the one that gets a part of your user’s day.

Make it interesting, even if it is just a customer support bot that answers some basic questions. For instance, it could tell a joke or give useful facts about the history of different products you have. It could help the users decide which product to buy. For instance, if you are selling hair products and your customer can’t decide which shampoo to buy, you can set your bot up so it asks a few inquisitive questions and retrieve the right product after the customer answers those questions.

Be Brief In Your Messages

“Like all copy, your bot should employ this popular and effective technique. Don’t just send a block of text to your users. Send up to three short messages with emojis that pop off the screen. However, never send more than three because notifications get annoying and it could result in your user leaving you,” says Payton Homes, a Senior Marketer 1Day 2write and Britstudent.

For example, you want to let your users know that there is a new product in your store. Create a short message – no more than two sentences – and embellish it with emojis. Use emojis wisely. For instance, if you are selling dresses, you can add a dress emoji. There is an emoji for anything today and you can use it to make your message shorter, concise, fun and attractive.

Make It Easy For The User

Interaction with bots could be a bit daunting for an inexperienced user. You should make it easy for them to act. Send clear responses – don’t offer them a huge block of text full of jargon words as an explanation. Instead, send a few short responses with simple words and clear explanations. Use images if possible and necessary. Next, include buttons that users could click on to get what they need.

Incorporate a short quiz at the beginning of the conversation to get a good gauge at why the user is there and what they need.

Be Human

In creating a dialogue for a chatbot, be as human as possible. After you are done creating the draft for the dialogue, let it rest for a while and then reread it. Does it sound human? Do humans talk like that? Would your buyer persona talk like that?

Rewrite it if you notice some issues or something that sounds awkward.

Keep It Simple

As already mentioned, simple and short answers are the best. Your users are there to get help and have fun, they don’t want to be even more confused. Make their experience with your chatbot a memorable one, especially if you want them to come back

These have been some of the best copywriting tips that you can apply to your chatbot. You should definitely consider advancing your bot further and making it fun, human and relatable for your audience. Hopefully, these tips will help.