Hey, hey, welcome to the Summit Host Hangout Podcast where you'll learn how to host a high converting virtual summit that leads to your biggest signature offer launch yet. I'm your host, Krista from Summit in a Box, and today I have a topic that has literally been on my list for years at this point, and that's using messenger bots as a part of your summit engagement strategy. And we are finally going to talk about it 198 episodes in. Took us a little bit, but we are going to cover what chatbots are and why they're so powerful. We'll do a little introduction to Instagram automation, because the idea of this blew my mind when I was chatting with our guests about it a while back, we'll talk about an overview of a three step event strategy for chatbots and how to do it all without being gross and spammy, because I know that's a big concern a lot of people have with using chat bots of any kind. So to give you some background information on our guests, she runs a specialist a chatbot marketing agency that helps online course creators and membership site owners by creating a chatbot strategies on Facebook Messenger, Instagram and SMS that dramatically increase conversions, drive new sales, and automate customer support, all with an engaging and interactive customer experience. I had the pleasure of having a call with her a couple months back to talk through a strategy I'm now hoping to have her help with in our next event. And I know it just had to get her on here to share some of these ideas with you because there's so much more thought and strategy and opportunity in it than I ever imagined on my own. So without further ado, let's dive in and talk with Nadine Anderson from Radium Marketing. Welcome the dean.
Hi, Krista. How are you?
Oh my gosh, I am so excited for this. I'm looking forward to this all day. Because like I said, This topic has been on my list for so long. And when we were talking through it a while back, like you just opened my eyes to how powerful it really is like I knew it was like a good opportunity. But I just like there's so many pieces I have never considered. So I'm so excited to dive into it with you today.
And you're not alone. A lot of a lot of people don't really know the true capabilities of chatbots and how they can help with their businesses. So I'm really excited to be here. So thanks for inviting me.
Of course, before we dive in to all the strategy, goodness, tell us a little bit about you and your business and what you do at Radium Marketing.
So I'm a relatively new mom, I have well, he's 19 months now, but it feels, it's gone so fast. So that keeps me very busy. I've done CrossFit in the past, I love martial arts as well. So lots of different sides to me. And my business is like you said it's a chat marketing agency. So we specialize in Messenger bots, they came along first. And also now I do DM automation and SMS as well. So guess anything to do with chatbots chat marketing, all that stuff. I love it.
I love it. Okay, so talk to us. Like we've never used the internet before, when we're talking about chatbots, what exactly we're going to be focusing on.
Okay. So in really simple terms, a chatbot is, it's a platform really, that enables you to send automated conversations to a user. Now, to some people that might sound really impersonal, might sound like you're talking to a robot. But actually in practice, it's actually surprisingly human, it feels like a one to one conversation that you're actually speaking to somebody. And that's part of what makes it so powerful. Just imagine being able to have a one to one conversation with all of your followers, everybody who follows you on Instagram. And the software can handle that and do it simultaneously to 1000s of people at the same time. So it's incredibly powerful. And that's just the beginning. Really?
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Why are they so powerful, especially like when compared to email? Because that's something you kind of pointed out to me? And then how can they be helpful? Like, how can we use that power? When running a virtual Summit? Where do they come into play there?
Right, so first off, it's an interactive process. So a user will be clicking on buttons, and getting involved in the conversation. If you compare that to email, emails, really just a monologue, really, you're just broadcasting out something, the user isn't really replying or responding. And that's a key difference. And in today's world, as well, people prefer to message if you're speaking to your family or friends, you'll send them a quick text or something like that you won't write an email. So I think the world has changed so much. And people prefer fast, short, snappy interactions. That's part of what makes it powerful. And when you compare it to email, the open rates on email, a good open rate is only 20%. But when you're comparing it to something like Instagram direct message automation, that is between 90 and 99%. So it's incredibly, incredibly different. That's part of what makes it so powerful - that you can get your message in front of multiple people, and also the click through rates are higher as well. So people will read your message and take action on it as well.
Oh my gosh, that is so powerful, just the open rates on their own are absolutely incredible not to mention the fact that what you pointed out about how, like, that's just how we communicate. Now we don't go like, send our cousin like an email, if we have something fun to tell them. Like, what? No, I didn't see email.
People prefer that. And now people want to communicate with businesses like that as well. It's like send them a DM on Instagram. But businesses might not be set up to kind of respond to those messages or respond to them quick enough. And that's where you kind of lose some of the power if you're doing it manually.
Yeah, so do you feel like there's anything else we should touch on before we start driving diving into any specific strategy, like anything else we should touch on about how they work as a whole.
I think they're powerful on their own because of the open rates. But you can also have API, so you can connect it to other software's. So for instance, you could collect emails inside of your DMS and transfer that directly over to your email service provider. So a lot of people talk about not being able to own your messenger subscriber list, or your Instagram subscriber list. But if you use it and take advantage of it, you can still grow your email list at the same time. So why not do both if it's more powerful?
Yeah, yeah. Oh, my goodness. I love that. So a while back, we chatted about having you help with some bots for the conference, I went a few months back, and you opened my eyes to the fact that Instagram automation was actually a thing, like it is so rarely used, I didn't even know it was a thing. So can you tell us a little bit about that, since it's pretty new at this point?
Yeah, it is new. So we'll let you offer. It's only about a year just over a year old at this point. So yeah, people might just be seeing them now. And more businesses are taking advantage of it. But it's not unusual for someone to never have come across it before. So when we were speaking, we spoke about a strategy for the whole of your, your Summit, and just helping with the engagement side of things. So we split that up into three different segments. So the first segment is the pre event setup. So you have your lead or your user there. And what we want to do is we want to get them excited about the event that's coming up, we want to tell them a little bit more about the event, we want to get them started with that, like, know, and trust process and well ahead of the event. So they're really excited about what's coming up. And also, we can also find out information about this person as well. So they could be for instance, a beginner intermediate advanced. So asking clever questions, but in a nurturing way, that will really pay dividends further down the line, when you're getting towards the sales. Once you know more about this person, you can make the experience more personalized. That first initial segment is about nurturing and getting them excited for the event, They can also choose to get reminders about specific speakers. So that's an option that you can use. So they can choose from the list. There's various ways you can do that. But you they can choose. And later down the line, we'll send them exactly what they asked for. So again, personalization. So moving on to the second segment, it's the actual management of the event itself. So what's going on under that day or those days. So we will send that the user, that custom reminder. So whatever they asked for, we'll send them that, that reminder at the right time. And other things that you can also have available during the event is information on the speakers, the speaker bio, contact information, the social, so if they want to check out one of the speakers, see what they're about then that information's there. You can also deliver the slides as well to them, or that can be done through the bots. And to the cut down on any kind of administration in terms of like frequently asked questions, just to reduce that number. You can put your frequently asked questions in the bot as well. So any questions that come in 80 to 90% of questions will be answered by the bot.
Okay, that is worth like just pausing to talk about because I'm sure any of my experience Summit Host Hangout are like hold up. If I can automate all of your questions that come in that I have answered a million places.
Yeah, exactly.
That is wonderful. Can you tell us a little bit about how that works? Were they like, would we have that like saved somewhere? Or would it key in on a word, or like a specific question they ask and like have the response to send them.
So everything would be kind of pre designed ahead of time. But if you've been through this process before, you'll have a good idea of what's been asked. And then I'll go away and kind of categorize categorize that into six different categories. And then we'll have a section in the bot where at any point people can go in: I've got a question. And then does it fall into this category? And then we kind of narrow it down to get, and the bot will be able to answer, usually about 80% of those questions.
Oh my gosh, that that just sounds like magic to me.
Making your life easier with automation. That's what it is. And it's better for the user as well, because people forget that the user gets an instant response. They don't have to wait until somebody gets back to them a day later, two days later, then in there, they get the answer they need.
Yeah. Oh, my goodness. That's like, that's just wonderful. Okay, so you said step one was pre event. Step two, is the event itself? What do we have for step three?
So step three, once the event is over, you can set up a link. So that goes to your to your sales page. And if you're really clever about this, the initial information that you captured during the nurture sequence: is this an advanced person? Is it an intermediate? Is it someone who's quite a beginner? Take that information, and you can send them to different sales pages. So yeah, so you can tweak it a little bit, just so it's more personalized, more unique to the individual. And then when it is, it's more likely to resonate. So again, it's really powerful stuff.
Oh, my goodness. And I can see right now, just how much thought can go into this, like we tried. We just tried to do like some really simple stuff for the event we just hosted and I eventually just like, no not doing this. Because like, the little amount of thought I was able and willing to put in I was like, this is just silly at this point. And there's so much you can do with it. Yeah, when you know what those things are. And really like, if you're coming up with it on your own, give yourself a significant amount of time to plan it all, and figure it all out. But oh my goodness, that stuff you did in step one with learning more about your people can pay off months later. Yeah, and step three. And like, at Summit in a Box, we have like we have that like if someone is they're just starting their business or they have like a service that they offer, we have one product that's better for them. If they're an experienced course creator memberships, I don't know we have another one. And like thinking of that way in advance and planning, planning for that, even just like in a detailed spot, like the bot strategy, like that is so powerful. And I love that it's a way that attendees can interact with your your team via text, Instagram, Facebook, like and get quicker answers, and save the team some sanity, in the process of hosting a summit.
So many wins, there are so many wins. And overall, it is the best experience for the customer, though they'll have an amazing experience from start to finish. So consistent. They get what they need when they need it. And the information is kept there is in the box, so they can go back to it at a time that suits them if they need to.
Yeah. Oh, my goodness, I love that. Okay. So we're talking a lot about different kinds of automation, different kinds of ways. We're interacting with people. And I know a big concern that a lot of people have with chat bots, or the excuse they use, at least to not use them is that they don't want to come off as spammy or come off as a bot, which whatever if it's helpful who cares. How do you make sure the spammy part at least doesn't happen?
Yeah, bots still have a negative connotation out. It's why it's called Instagram direct message automation, as opposed to Instagram bots, because Instagram has a problem with bots. But essentially, it's very similar. The underlying technology is the same. But it's the features are very similar to messenger bots, but it's just has a different name. But in terms of not coming off spammy. When you think of spam really, is it either something that's unsolicited, so something that you never asked for in the first place, or something that's completely irrelevant to you. The way this is different is that the user needs to initiate the initial conversation. So they start it off, and after that, it's a permission based as well. So you do need to stick to Facebook's or metters terms of service to make sure you comply with that. But you need to ask for permission before you email somebody. So if you before you message someone.
And like that's pretty easy. If I remember correctly, like you're you just set up a link where they like literally click to say like, yes, I want that, is that correct? Or like on Instagram, they send you a specific phrase or word you set up?
You can do it both ways. So the link is called a ref URL. So that's one way to initiate a conversation on Instagram, you can do it in a comment. So you could say, comment this word on a post, you can ask someone to DM you go into your DMS and use a specific key word to start conversation. You can also do that from stories. You can do it from reels as well. So there's lots of different ways that you can get users in from different places to start off the conversation.
Oh my goodness, I didn't know you can do it from my Instagram comments. You're like blowing my mind all over again.
There are lots of ways it It was changing as well. New features are added. So yeah, it's something that you need to definitely keep on top of. But yeah, it's amazing the all the possibilities.
Oh, my gosh. And I could see just how much much this can add to a summit, both like, as far as the experience goes at, and as far as your own results in your strategy goes, like, so powerful. And I have another question for you. That's more just for fun, and not necessarily related to summits. But we've we've kind of been focusing on chatbox for chatbots. For summits, what is your like, number one favorite way to use a chatbot outside of that.
I've got two. Challenges, again, for the same reason, like taking somebody on a journey and keeping that level of engagement throughout the length of the challenge that I had a 10 day challenge recently. And even at the end, 10 days is a long time. But keeping people engaged in different ways with quizzes inside the bot as well, quizzes, questions or types of things, to keep the engagement going all the way along. And it's also great just for like one off webinars as well. It's great, yeah, to make sure people attend, if they don't attend the replay, and to get their feedback, and even more advanced strategies is you can have a chat bot widget on your page on your webinar page. And you can get that to trigger at a certain time. So once the sales information comes up, so you can start answering questions then in lots of stuff.
That is wild. I knew none of this. This is so cool, man. So okay, lots of things to think about what is like the biggest takeaway you would want someone to get about as their head is spinning with all of these possibilities?
I know it's a lot. It's a lot to take in. But I just remind people that when, when the internet came up, people were like reluctant to get websites and then email, people were like do I really need to build an email list? And now chat bots are here, and they're not going to go anywhere. So the longer you leave it to get to get into this, the results won't be as good, basically. They're going to diminish with time, like open rates have gone down over time, you won't always get that 90% to 99% open rate. So if you want to take advantage of it while it's hot, this is the best time.
I love that I that's like an argument I use for summits to like the more summits that use the specific strategies over time people like no to expect that they know how to filter things out. And the same is true for this. So that is a very good point. So you gave us a lot to think about where can people go to learn more about you more about your your offers? And I know you have a PDF that covers a strategy for us too.
Yeah, I do. So if you find me on Instagram, my handle is radium_marketing. So that's radium underscore marketing. Go to the DMs and type in Summit, s u m m i t, and I'll send over that PDF to you.
We will include those details in the show notes for everybody as well. Definitely get your hands on that guide. And thank you so much for being here to Nadine and for sharing just so freely. This was so fun.
No problem was great to be here. Thank you.
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. For show notes and resources mentioned head to summithosthangout.com/198. And be sure to send Nadine that DM with the word SUMMIT to get her guide that goes over the three part strategy. Now go out and take action to plan strategize and launch your high converting virtual Summit.
