How to give your chatbot personality

Humans are all different. From speech patterns to clothes we all have our own unique ways of presenting ourselves and that helps us stand out from the crowd. This is because we all have personalities. And your chatbot should be no different.

Giving your chatbot a personality helps it stand out from the vast sea of other chatbots. Too often there are bots that look and act like, well, robots. They’re bland, uninteresting, and boring. As humans we look for and crave personality so, when we see something that simply blends in we’re less likely to engage. But how can you make sure your chatbot offers that exciting spark your users so desperately want to see?

I’ve come up with four great ways you can turn your chatbot into a chatfriend.

Give it a name

A great way to give your chatbot a personality is by giving it a name. Help your chatbot through the awkward “getting to know you” phase by giving it a chance to introduce itself to your user. When your user is able to put a name to the bot it makes the experience seem more personable, as though they’re talking to another human.

However, it is extremely important to note that you should make it as clear as possible to your user that they are in fact interacting with an automated bot. If you present your bot as though it’s a living, breathing customer service agent and it does not act precisely as a human might act it can cause frustration and drop off.

Make it colorful

In the same way humans like to dye their hair or wear colorful clothes to express themselves, adding enticing colors to your chatbot can help give it a bit of flair where other chatbots often drop the ball. Utilize your brand’s colors and try to employ them in a way that catches the eye of your user. If your brand colors aren’t particularly exciting, consider using a complementary color for your bot that’ll help it stand out. Additionally, using robust visual assets such as pictures and graphics can help make your conversation pop.

Be sure to always use colors that are easy on the eyes when you customize your chatbot and use text that adequately contrasts against its background. It’s important to always value accessibility over aesthetics.

Flip the script

Chatbots tend to have the same tone time and time again. It’s monotonous and robotic. People want to talk to someone that sounds like another human. They want the messaging to be conversational. Try to liven up the chat by creating messages that sound both friendly and realistic. Consider the chat the script to a movie and you’re the writer. You want the dialogue to feel natural – like something you might overhear at a customer service desk. If you aren’t sure if your dialogue feels natural, try to navigate your own flows and use cases. Pay attention to places where you might be able to freshen up the messages and places where it sounds too robotic.

Add personalization

As a song once said “Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name” and thats no different for your chatbot. Adding personalization to your chatbot can be as simple as remembering your user’s name after they’ve entered it once. Then, you might be able to refer to them by their first name in the future which fosters a sense of familiarity. This easy tweak makes the user feel as though your chatbot is listening and paying attention to the information they’ve provided so far. Storing this information is also great as it ensures your user won’t have to repeat themselves in the future if they intend to traverse multiple use cases.

Conclusion

It can be hard to give a personality to something that is automated. We’ve struggled for ages to put a friendly face on that which is not human and only a few have succeeded at varying degrees. You don’t need to make your chatbot the spitting image of a human being – if a user is interacting with it they (ideally) know it is not a real person and they’re okay with that. But, by helping your chatbot gain a personality, it will simply make it a more comfortable experience for your user thus driving engagement and deflecting calls from your call center.

Our Customer Experience team is trained in the art of chatbot creation and knows the importance of providing your chatbot with a strong personality. If you’re interested in straying from the same old, humdrum chatbots of yesteryear, reach out to us and we’ll help you bring your chatbot into the 21st century!