How To Use NFC For Chatbot Marketing

When Facebook Messenger arrived in the Digital Marketing industry, it quickly became known for the power to communicate directly, easily and without a hassle to family, friends and if you are a marketer, even to your future prospects or loyal customers with ease.

Within months, Facebook created a native tool within it’s platform to create QR codes to expand on the power of Facebook Messenger.

QR codes are typically used for storing URLs (websites, landing pages, etc.) to provide further information regarding a subject when the user scans the code. When one uses the QR codes with the chatbot such as facebook messenger, it takes the power of marketing to a whole new level.

You may be wondering, so what does NFC have to do with all this?

Nowadays NFC is built into most smartphones and tablets and in order to activate this feature and see it in action, it can be done by scanning a QR code (you can use NFC for other things but for the purpose of this blog, I am going to stick to the title of the blog).

You can also purchase and print NFC stickers and place them around your business where you think your potential customers may be to take out their phones and tap the sticker to activate the NFC.

With chatbot marketing you can take this to the next level to get more leads as you stay more in touch then ever with your customers by being in the front line helping them with their concerns.

What is NFC?

One of the most talked about features on smartphones and tablets was the ability to use the built-in Bluetooth connectivity to share files and messages with other devices. 

Now a new feature has arrived to the cellphone industry known as NFC (Near Field Communication). This allows you to share content with other devices without needing to pair them first.

With NFC wireless technology it can be used to transfer data or information between two devices that are in close proximity with each other such as: contactless payment systems using Google Pay or Apple Pay, public transportation cards, social media networks, etc.

Nowadays most smartphones and tablets have NFC built within them, it's only a matter of activating the function on the phone settings to share personal information with people you trust: family, friends and business people you wish to collaborate with.

Now when it comes to NFC Marketing, this is a type of marketing that uses a smartphone to interact with a product or service. 

It allows customers to scan a QR code or NFC tag on the offer, which then directs the scanner (prospect or customer) to a website or landing page for more information about the offer.

Overall, NFC to entrepreneurs and small business owners believe this is still a new technology they don’t know how to use to generate more leads and sales even though NFC has been out for a while but only used for creating universal ways of making payments using mobile devices.

What are Chatbots?

Chatbots is a messenger chat tool that is mainly used for customer service, sales, lead generation or live chat.

Customer support is one of the most popular use cases for messenger chatbots. They are able to handle all kinds of customer service inquiries 24/7 with no human intervention. 

Salespeople can also use messenger chatbots to generate leads and convert them into customers without breaking a sweat or spending too much time on any one person. 

Messenger chatbots are also growing in popularity among digital agencies who use them for live chats with clients on websites, Facebook Pages and other social media platforms.

Chatbots can also be designed to answer specific questions automatically. They use natural language processing (NLP) to understand what people say and then create a response based on your programming.

Let’s say this visitor who interacts with the chatbot would like to know the address to your “restaurant” business. Depending on how you program the chatbot, you can give them step by step instructions or provide them a link with google maps to your restaurant business.

Personally my favorite thing is to acquire more leads with chatbots. Give away a free lead magnet with your chatbot, use messenger ads or even ask for the prospects information in exchange of useful content information regarding the reason they opt-in for.

This way I can warm up leads through email marketing by nurturing them with more useful information regarding my next offer. You can do this with your own offers or with affiliate offers as well to increase the likelihood of converting a lead into a buyer.

What are the Benefits of Chatbot Marketing with NFC Technology?

Chatbot marketing with NFC technology is the newest form of digital marketing, which is still in its infancy, but it’s already showing major potential to make positive changes in marketer’s strategies to increase leads and sales.

An example would be using NFC stickers like the ones you see when you go to Starbucks, where you have to get your phone and tap the bar code (or scan it if they are using QR codes) and it will direct you to their website (most of the time).

You can also have the customer tap the NFC sticker with their smartphone and rate your business or service on yelp, google reviews or on your website to increase your brand based with social proof and

.., having others read your testimonial on how good your service is to others who may think about getting your product or services.

Now before any of the above happens, a chatbot will first appear on their smartphone screen. This chatbot will guide the person who scanned the NFC sticker with a friendly fun conversation to guide them through the process.

Here is where this is super valuable. Since the visitor or customer interacted with your chatbot, they become a messenger subscriber meaning anytime you want to contact them, you can with future promotions and offers.

Let’s say if you didn’t use the chatbot and just used the NFC sticker instead. Yes, you did accomplish the visitor or customer to go to the URL you wanted them to go, but you don’t generate a way to stay in touch with them!

As you can see, the power of a chatbot combined with a NFC sticker can skyrocket your lead generation as well as your buyers list!

What Are The Negative Effects Of Chatbot Marketing With NFC Technology?

As I see it, the one and only negative effect of using a chatbot is not setting up your integration with your favorite email provider to capture the users contact information with their consent to follow up with them through email marketing.

NFC by itself is good to send people to a URL site but the name of the game inside the digital marketing industry is to capture the leads information to retarget them with the same or other marketing campaigns.

Individually they both are good platforms but when you equip them with one another, your KPI (key performance indicators) will start increasing like you have never seen before.

Conclusion: If Your Business Is Not Using NFC Marketing With Chatbots, Your Letting Leads Slide Through The Cracks.

Leads are the most important metric when it comes to a business, especially fresh new leads because this is the audience that will keep your company growing instead of going in reverse.

Chatbots will allow you to find your dream audience digitally, but if you want to take it even further.., blend it with physical stickers (QR codes) and place them where you think your audience will see it to physically scan it with their smartphone device. 

With this method you will be killing two birds with one stone, getting leads physically and digitally. As you can see, you’ll be doubling your chances to grow your business.