Building your new agency is not as difficult as it may seem.
There are many different routes that can be taken to help you get started on your own, and this blog post will cover each of them in detail so that by the end, you’ll know exactly what steps need to be followed.
Also, with the release of iOS 14.5 and 14.6, it is becoming more and more important for businesses to do “on-platform” marketing instead of sending traffic from apps like Facebook to their websites.
For this reason, AND the fact that Facebook just made a major push towards Instagram Chat automation, there has NEVER been a better time to start a chatbot business.
As chatbot technology becomes more mainstream, there’s no question that entrepreneurs will want to get in on the action.
If you’re looking at starting your own chatbot marketing agency or if you have been thinking about ways to expand your business into this new field, here is how you can do it!
This post will provide a step-by-step guide, with resources and links, for people just like you, interested in getting started with their agency.
What is a Chatbot
Before we start we have to answer this question: “What is a Chatbot?”
In short, a Chatbot is an online application, linked to some of our favorite online apps, that can be used to automate communication between your business and the end consumer.
For Example:
An online app (like Facebook Messenger), gives you the opportunity to add your business (your Facebook Business Page) to their platform.
It also gives you the ability to communicate from your business (your Facebook Business Page) to the end consumer (their Private Facebook Profile)
With a Chatbot, you can automate a big portion of this communication, 24/7/365, with NO human intervention.
The most popular Chatbot automations are:
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
- Ecomm Order Delivery Communication
- Basic Service or Product Catalogues
- Competitions
- Business Contact Information
- Etc
Why are Chatbots Important for Businesses?
Simple!
Consumers demand 24/7/365 access to businesses to ALL types of businesses these days. Instant gratification is not a WANT anymore, but a NEED and business owners are forced to align with this expectation.
Small to Medium-sized businesses do not have the resources to do this with human capital, so the next best route is a carefully planned chatbot that can take over most of the day-to-day communication.
Why is a Chatbot Agency a Good Business Model?
The service has moved from a “nice to have” perk for businesses, to a “won’t survive without it” requirement.
The problem is that most businesses are concentrating on trading and making a profit and do not have time to implement this crucial communication tool properly.
That’s where your new Agency comes in.
You will assist businesses (big or small) to implement chatbots based on their requirements fast and in turn you get paid a fee for your services.
What are the benefits of starting a Chatbot Marketing Agency
Chatbots are the next big thing in marketing online.
With clients becoming more impatient for feedback, online platforms are allowing more and more integration with their chatbot services.
If businesses do not implement the feature, their competitors will and they will simply lose customers!
You can start your Chatbot Agency with little or no technical experience.
The platforms are easy to use and the software to automate messages has been tried and tested over the years with loads of training and support to assist with implementation.
With a Chatbot specific Agency, you will concentrate on ONE service, get great at it and will also be able to automate big portions of your new Agency.
You can get started WITHOUT any heavy investment in tools, infrastructure or training.
Below are 10 steps to follow to start your Chatbot Marketing Agency without wasting any time
1. Research the industry and find out what your competitors are doing
To help you get an idea of what your competitors are doing, it’s important to do some research.
You could start by searching for Chatbot-related keywords on Google Search and Google Trends and then looking at the websites that come up in the results.
Keep a close eye on the industries that pop up to give you an idea of what industries are using Chatbot services and where you see your business operate.
2. Create a marketing plan that outlines how you will promote your chatbot agency
You need to think about how you can increase your exposure as a chatbot agency.
- Online Marketing
- Offline Marketing
- Search Engine Optimizations
- Blogs
- Video Content
- Social Media
- Etc
You’ll want to invest in social media platforms and blogs where there are other individuals with the same interests waiting eagerly on content from interesting people like yourself!
Email is also a good idea if you’re looking to reach out more directly or try some SEO tactics by optimizing keywords used in relevant search results so they pop up higher than others who might only have one thing going for them (in terms of ranking).
Don’t get left behind in the digital space! If you want to be successful with your digital marketing strategy, it’s important that you include a variety of new and old-school strategies
3. Build a website or landing page to showcase all of your services and pricing
The only way to achieve success in the business world is by staying on top of your game.
This means never sitting still and always evolving with time.
For a small-time entrepreneur, this can be difficult if you’re working alone or strapped for cash to hire staff members who are experts at what they do.
That’s why it’s so important that you invest in yourself!
One great example would be creating an online “services storefront” where people could peruse all of the services offered by your company and get guideline pricing information without having to reach out individually via email or phone call–a much more economical option than hiring someone else full-time when there may not even need any employees!
It’s a great way to get your name out there and promote your services. You can also use it as an online portfolio for yourself if you’re looking for new opportunities too!
If you’re not tech-savvy enough to build a website yourself, hire someone from Upwork or Fiverr for help.
There will be a cost involved, but it will be a lot “cheaper” than trying to learn how to build websites properly yourself.
Bite the bullet, pay for the web developer and spend your time with lead generation and closing customers for your chatbot agency.
4. Build your own Chatbot for landing clients and booking calls to sell your service and add the chatbot to your website
You could spend hours scouring the internet and trying to figure out how you’re going to get clients, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Building your own Chatbot can help automate this process with just a few steps AND show your new prospects how it will work for them!
Show them that landing clients and booking your calls have never been easier with the help of Chatbot.
With just a few steps (and NO website needed), lead generation from the internet in a flash … with the help of your agency of course!
5. Create an effective Facebook Business Profile
In order to create an effective Facebook Business Profile, you must first assess their target demographic.
After you identify who your customers are and have a general idea of what they perceive is success in their business, start amending your Facebook Business Profiles to offer them “their” solution by getting in contact with you.
Make sure your Facebook profile is filled out completely:
- Names
- Address
- Phone Numbers
- Websites or Chatbot link
- Call to Action…
…AND add a Facebook Cover Image that INCLUDES your call to action.
Here is a quick example of an angle you can use:
“Are you tired of constantly chasing after prospective clients? Book your client services with Chatbot and focus on what matters most to your business… sales!”
6. Run traffic to your website and newly set up chatbot to book client sales calls
You have to know how to get people in the proverbial door.
How can you do this?
Pay for traffic!
Use the following paid traffic services:
- Facebook/Facebook Messenger/Instagram Ads – Run ads in the Facebook Ads Manager platform
- Google ads – Run ads on Google based on keywords that your prospective clients would type into Google search.
- Solo Ads – Find a person with an email list of your ideal clients and offer to pay them for an advertorial email offering your services
- Guest blogs – Write articles on blogs that your ideal clients read and offer to write a content-rich article for the blog for free, in exchange for permission to add your contact details at the end of the article.
- Joint Ventures – Find companies that do business with your ideal client and offer them a referral fee for referring clients to you for your services.
7. Show your prospects what Chatbots can do for THEM
Remember that most of your new prospects will not understand how chatbots work and how they will increase their revenue and profit.
It’s the job of your chatbot agency to SHOW them!
Show your prospects how:
- Chatbots will work for them 24/7/365
- How chatbots will improve their customer service
- How chatbots assist with lead generation and sales for their business
Use your own experience and customer testimonials to prove to your prospects that chatbots on a platform like Facebook & Facebook Messenger are invaluable for their business and that your agency is the perfect growth partner for them.
8. Set a retainer fee for creating, running and managing your client’s chatbots
Be sure that you know exactly what you want to charge for your chatbot service and can explain to your prospects what is included…
…and what is NOT included.
In any agency, the biggest enemy is “scope creep”.
It becomes easy to do difficult tasks quickly and more often than not agencies don’t realize that they are doing themselves a disservice to offer these services for free just to get something done quickly.
I will say this again:
Your new client needs to be crystal clear about what is included in your chatbot service and what is not!
9. Upsell clients into other services
Running a chatbot agency gives you the ability to get detailed information about your clients’ digital marketing needs.
As a chatbot agency, you can offer additional services as soon as your client is ready.
- You could offer to do to following at an additional fee:
- Social Media Posting
- Online paid marketing (Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Twitter etc)
- Video creation
- Blog content creation
- Google My Business
- And a TON of other services
Remember that it is easier to upsell a current client than to sell a new one.
When you give amazing service in your chatbot agency you will see how easy it is to sell additional services to your current clients.
10. An Agency Tested Chatbot Service You Can Use
We have tested a ton of Chatbot services that can be used by an agency to run chatbots for clients.
The one that we stuck with and is BY FAR the most user-friendly for us as an agency is Chatmatic.
What makes Chatmatic such a great tool?
- Their CEO is a digital marketing genius. He builds the product as a marketer to other marketers and concentrates on making the tool easy for agencies.
- Their Chatbot training is the best in the market AND clients get it for free!
- They have an unlimited model: You pay a set fee and can use it for as many clients as you want.
- Chatmatic integrates with almost anything. Their link to Zapier and Integromat is one of the best we’ve seen and makes it a breeze to offer almost any integration to clients.
The best way for me to show you how to use Chatmatic is to experience it.
Conclusion
The chatbot marketing agency industry is projected to grow exponentially over the next couple of years, especially with the release of chatbots for Instagram in 2021.
Learn how you can get started with your own chatbot and bot-marketing services for businesses of all sizes right here with the free video training below!
This 4-part video training will build on the 10 steps above and give you actionable steps to follow to get started FAST!.
Best of all, the training is presented to you by a chatbot service so you can experience the easy of interacting with a chatbot service.
Just click here and get started with this amazing chatbot agency training and just see how easy it is to use 1 tool to build a 5 figure a month business in a few months.
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