Best Use Cases of Chatbots at Trade Fairs
Customer Assistance- Attendees can get quick answers to some of the most frequently asked questions of trade fair events.
Notifications- Chatbots can send out notifications for specific upcoming activities, like reminders of speaker times, or scheduling changes.
Lead generation- Chatbots can gather information for businesses to use to initiate online communication after the event is over.
Feedback- Chatbots can be used for polls and reviews to rate how well the event went, so tweaks can be made for future trade fair shows.
Famous Examples of Events Using Chatbots
IMEX Lab in Frankfurt Germany (2017)- Imex reported that the chatbot named "Frank", used at their show, helped answer 3,600 messages for around 780 event users.
BizBash in Florida (2017)- BizBash used a chatbot, they named, "Betty" for their expo event in Fort Lauderdale. Over 1,600 questions were answered during and after the one-day conference.
SXSW (2017)- SXSW used a chatbot they named, "Abby" to field user queries in real time. Abby answered a reported 56,000 questions during their event.
Limitations of Chatbots at Trade Fairs
Human staff will need to anticipate the questions that attendees may ask and input them into the chatbot program in order for event users to benefit from it. It can be difficult, sometimes, to figure out what people will ask ahead of time.
Text-based chat bots may not be able to recognize misspelled words or vague questions that attendees may input into the text program. This could lead the bot to give a wrong answer to the user's question, making an attendee angry and frustrated.
How to Find Chatbots
QR Code- This app allows smartphone users to scan a code that will put them on a mailing list to have more information sent to them. It could also encourage user participation by enabling them to scan a code to download a coupon for an item at the trade show.
Nearby for Android- This allows phones and other devices to connect when they're near each other. The app enables users to share information or to receive certain deals for products at the trade show.
NFC- The Near-Field Communication technology allows two devices to communicate with each other. People can use their phones, with the NFC, to pay for merchandise they may purchase at the event.
Alexa and Siri- These are popular voice recognition apps for phones that will respond to a user's spoken queries. They can search for answers to those questions by searching the web.
Related: Recent and Upcoming Patents in the Chatbot Industry
