The digital revolution has transformed the travel industry. However, people are overwhelmed by travel and insurance options. For travel marketers looking to persuade customers to book their next getaway, it can be hard knowing how to adapt to these changes. But how can chatbots help with that?
Vacation planning then and now – too many choices
A decade or two ago, planning a vacation was a complex affair. For most of the people, it involved a visit to a travel agent, who then presented them with a set of limited options. In general, a handful of destinations, restricted departure and return dates, a set of travel insurance. Overall, there were few opportunities to adapt the trip to our own taste. Fast forward to today: thanks to the internet, we quite literally have the world at our fingertips. Technology has made the act of researching and booking a vacation smoother. However, it has also created what psychologists call the paradox of choice. In other words, the more options we have, the more anxious and indecisive we feel.
Growing tendency for trip research and customer journey
What do we do when we are overwhelmed with options? Most people’s instinct is to do a little more research. People are searching for and comparing information about more or less everything. Not only travel insurance companies, but also travel policy, flights, cruises, hotels, etc. They use various search engines, intermediaries and social media platforms.
Accommodation searches that started on search engines grew significantly: they increased from 23% in 2017 up to 31% in 2018. An average purchase journey for a single hotel room lasts 36 days. It hits 45 touchpoints, distributed among search engines and the sites of intermediaries and suppliers. After the 30th touchpoint, you can target the user well. The reason behind this is that big pages know what he or she was looking for.
Main concerns and solutions for them
Keep in mind that travel is a complex, high-anxiety purchase. Unlike a pair of shoes, it’s hard for customers to return a two-week vacation. So, while you might want to improve your conversion rate, resist the temptation to jump straight to the sale. Instead, focus on helping curious customers explore ideas and be inspired. There are more than enough insurance providers, who are trying to reach the same buyers at the same time. Differentiate your company! You need to embrace the omnichannel shopper and engage them better than your competitors. At its most basic that means creating fast, intuitive, and seamless experiences across desktop, mobile pages, and apps. And a chatbot does just that.
Travel insurance & chatbot – how and why?
Besides differentiating and creating a seamless experience, you can reach your buyers at their convenience with our chatbot. With digital playing an increasingly important role in the purchase, travel companies can and should invest more in their digital experiences and technology to drive differentiation and loyalty. It’s no surprise that search and mobile devices play a more outsized role than ever before. As a result, companies that support and personalize these experiences in a seamless way will set themselves up for success in the years to come.
What can you do with a chatbot?
You can run broad or micro-segmented campaigns that will send potential customers to the chatbot. Once a user is landed on our chatbot, you can re-target and re-engage them free of charge. Our conversational interface enables automation of the most recurring tasks while providing a deeper insight into what the customers are looking for. End to end selling of travel insurance is available with payment and CRM integration. Coupons, discounts or lucky draws can also be handled within the same system. Shoppers can also recommend your chatbot to their contact with a push of a button. If a customer wants travel insurance, the chatbot can serve them at the expense of a few clicks as it remembers the user’s details from its context.
Besides the most popular social media platforms, people tend not to download any further mobile applications. That is if they don’t use it on a daily basis – like an app just for travel insurance. Our chatbot is available on the major chat platforms that your customers are using every day. Viber, Line or Telegram – you name it! That means there is no need to download a new application while the same user experience is provided through all devices or even cross-platform. Talk-A-Bot’s chatbot uses automated communication thus saves time, money and energy while creating better engagement with new target customers. Fast, accurate and 0-24 response rate for time-sensitive information. GDPR compliance is also provided by the platform. This is why for travel insurance, a chatbot may just be the perfect solution.
(Source: McKinsey.com)
