Website visitors have questions at all hours. A chatbot can engage them 24/7, qualify leads, and book meetings while you sleep. Here is how to use chatbots for lead generation.
What Chatbots Can Do
- Greet visitors - Engage before they leave
- Answer FAQs - Instant responses to common questions
- Qualify leads - Ask questions to understand needs
- Book meetings - Schedule directly in your calendar
- Collect information - Capture leads for follow-up
- Route inquiries - Send to right team member
Types of Chatbots
Rule-based:
- Follow preset conversation flows
- Good for simple, predictable interactions
- Lower cost, easier to set up
AI-powered:
- Understand natural language
- Handle complex conversations
- Learn and improve over time
- Higher cost but more capable
Popular Chatbot Tools
- Intercom - Full customer communication platform
- Drift - B2B focused, strong lead gen features
- Tidio - Affordable, good for SMEs
- ManyChat - Great for Facebook Messenger
- Custom AI chatbots - Using ChatGPT or similar
Best Practices
- Clear bot identity - Do not pretend to be human
- Easy human handoff - When bot cannot help
- Mobile-friendly - Most traffic is mobile
- Not too aggressive - Do not pop up immediately
- Valuable conversation - Help, do not just collect data
- Test and iterate - Monitor conversations and improve
Chatbots are not a replacement for human interaction - they are a way to be available when humans cannot be. Use them to qualify and capture leads, then follow up personally.