Are you feeling a little intimidated by the idea of building your own chatbot? Don't worry, it's not as challenging as it might seem at first glance. While chatbots have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, you don't have to be an expert engineer or seasoned programmer to build one.
In fact, with the right tools, some guidance, and a bit of patience, anyone can learn how to build a chatbot. Ready to dive in? Keep reading to learn more about ways of building a chatbot.
Table of Contents
- Choose Your Way
- Coding a Chatbot
- Assembling a Chatbot
- Chatbot as a Part of Marketing Platform
- Okay, I Will Use a Chatbot Builder. What's Next?
- Conclusion
Choose Your Way
In essence, chatbot development is about programming. But in one case, you are programming by writing code, and in the other, you are building a bot in a visual editor (this assembly process is called visual programming).
So, first of all, let's be clear: do you want to become a cool chatbot developer who deals with code or just create a chatbot to improve your business using no-code tools?
Coding a Chatbot
So, you have decided that you will be coding a bot. Then you have to know one of the programming languages, says Captain Obvious. As a rule, chatbots are written in Javascript or Python. But just knowing the programming language is not enough.
Next comes the turn of open-source frameworks. In this case, frameworks are libraries of functions, i.e. re-usable code snippets, that are tailored for specific purposes, in our case, for developing chatbots and defining their behavior.
Thanks to frameworks, you don't have to code everything from scratch. Javascript people use Claudia.js or Botonic. Plus, developers are also expected to be familiar with Node.js and React frameworks. Serious stack!
Besides, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of basic technologies used for chatbot development such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, if you are inspired to code your own chatbot, but don't know where to start, just head to Udemy, search for chatbot development courses, and start learning. Be ready for a long and difficult journey that may not be for everyone. And it certainly doesn't suit a business owner whose main goal is to improve their marketing efforts and generate sales rather than gain coding skills.
Assembling a Chatbot
It is much easier to create a chatbot using no-code tools. You have two options: chatbot frameworks, such as Google Dialogflow, and builders. In this case, a framework means a chatbot development platform, not a source code library.
Both tools have a drag-and-drop graphical user interface, so you don't need to code anything. The workflow of a chatbot is created using visual blocks that contain the bot's actions. By interconnecting those blocks in the required sequence you set up your bot's logic. Simple! Anyone can learn how to build chatbots using visual no-code tools.
But what's the difference between a framework and a builder? Well, the former is the more powerful and hence more complicated tool. For instance, frameworks allow you to create not only text chatbots, but also voice assistants, such as Amazon Alexa, or chatbots for call centers.
However, if you are a small business owner who needs a chatbot to solve marketing tasks, then there is no point in wasting time and other resources on mastering no-code frameworks. Just make use of chatbot builders.
Chatbot as a Part of Marketing Platform
How to choose a chatbot builder? The best way is to rely on a builder included in an all-in-one marketing software platform. Such software combines several interconnected applications that allow you to make complex marketing processes.
By using an all-in-one platform, you save yourself from the hassle of digging through hundreds of marketing applications from different vendors that do not work efficiently, and effectively together. Thus, you overcome such challenges as configuring and integrating applications. You also won't have to learn each app individually. You can also be sure that software updates won't crash your nicely set-up system.
We talked about the advantages of all-in-one platforms over individual applications in the article Choosing the Right Marketing Software Can Make or Break Your Business.
Our TruVISIBILITY Suite is a great example of such an all-in-one platform. We offer a powerful chatbot builder Chat that allows you to assemble bots of any complexity — from simple rule-based bots with buttons to advanced AI-driven bots that understand written language. Using our Chat application you can create your chatbot from scratch or with help of ready-made templates.
In addition, TruVISIBILITY Suite includes applications:
Messaging — allows you to automate welcome emails, abandoned cart emails, newsletters, promotional emails, and first emails in response to a customer’s question or complaint.
Sites — for creating websites and landing pages. You can boost your website's functionality by adding a contact form, payment gateway, or even an SEO-friendly blog.
CRM — customer relationship management system for tracking and optimizing every interaction and opportunity with every contact for pre and post sales activity.
Email — designed specifically to secure private information. It supports compliance regulations in multiple industries and guidelines, such as HIPAA, CFPB, FINRA, and ESIGN.
By registering with a freemium account, you get unlimited access to fully functional software free of cost. As your business grows, you only pay for what you use without any contract. A freemium TruVISIBILITY account allows you to:
- Create a chatbot that can conduct up to 100 conversations per month
- Launch email blasts, start drip campaign, etc with 1000 free emails sent monthly
- Send 1000 SMS texts per month
- Build 1 website including a blog
- 1 GB of storage usage
- 1 SSL certificate
- Unlimited API usage
The pricing is very simple, it's based on usage over the free monthly allotment. Thus it is extremely affordable for small to medium businesses. You can adjust the number of conversations your chatbots can have, the number of emails and SMS that can be sent per month, the number of websites you can deploy, and the capacity of your cloud storage. Simple and flexible!
Okay, I Will Use a Chatbot Builder. What's Next?
Well, we hope you are convinced that the best solution for small and medium businesses is a platform-integrated chatbot builder. So how do you actually create a chatbot?
- Decide what exactly you need a chatbot for
- Come up with a character for the bot
- Design a conversational flow
- Test your chatbot
- Deploy your chatbot
To learn more about creating chatbots, read our article 5 Steps to Build a Chatbot for Your Small Business. And just try to make one using our TruVISIBILITY Chat application. Don't expect to build a sophisticated chatbot overnight. Start with a simple chatbot that can handle a few basic interactions, and work your way up from there. As you gain experience, you'll be able to add more features and complexity to your bot.
Conclusion
Now you know that building a chatbot is easier than you might have thought. Just don't overcomplicate your life with coding and advanced frameworks. Stay focused on your business goals!
With a platform-integrated chatbot builder, anyone can learn how to design and deploy a chatbot. Whether you're a blogger, small business owner, or marketer, chatbots can help you automate simple tasks, engage with customers, and even increase revenue. So why not give it a try?
Get a freemium TruVISIBILITY account and start building your first chatbot!
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