A bot of potential

It sometimes feels like the whole world is connected to social media in one way or another, and to think of life without Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp seems inconceivable.

Businesses have for years been trying to find the best way to maximise the potential and monetise these social channels, but to date have struggled to find a solution to this challenge.

Chatbots, however, can provide the answer to these problems. Thanks to developments in artificial intelligence, these so-called bots can interact with users effectively without the need for a human to be involved in the messaging process.

And Facebook’s decision to open up chatbot development to third-party content providers for its Messenger app has pivoted the technology from being niche and into the mainstream.

Non-gaming industries have been quick to realise the potential of chatbots in providing another avenue to make transactions.

For instance, you can now order a Domino’s pizza via Facebook Messenger, or even book a flight through Skyscanner.

That’s no surprise considering Facebook Messenger boasts more than 1.2 billion active users every month across the globe, as of April 2017.

The potential of chatbots within social media apps in the egaming industry is huge, and could revolutionise the way in which players, particularly recreational punters, look to place bets.

Tailor-made Personalisation has been a buzzword for a while now in the gambling industry, but operators have often struggled to offer the sort of experience their customers are used to in other aspects of their life.

However, chatbots can provide one of the most personalised and tailored experiences in the marketplace. Rather than wasting time scrolling through thousands of sports betting markets on a mobile device, players can instead simply message the bet they wish to place in a matter of seconds.

Particularly when space is limited on the mobile, chatbots open up the opportunity to find niche markets faster than ever.

Artificial Intelligence also has the capability to target push notifications to the customer, based on content a player wishes to receive. For instance, an Arsenal fan can receive the latest team news, score lines and odds relating to only the Gunners directly through a chatbot, providing the customer with exactly what they want.

For chatbot technology to work effectively in egaming, it needs a natural language processing system which is able to understand exactly how betting works.

Phrases such as “a monkey on United to win” or “each way on One for Arthur” wouldn’t make much sense to a standard SaaS messaging platform.

This is particularly important when dealing with transactions, as the customer and operator needs to have the upmost confidence that the bot can register exactly the type of bet the player has requested without any error.

Endless opportunities Paddy Power recently became the first gambling operator to launch Onionsack’s transactional betting chatbot for Facebook Messenger, and I expect the chatbot marketplace to become an important play for operators going forward. What’s currently available through Facebook Messenger is only the start of things.

It’s just a matter of time until chatbots makes its debut on WhatsApp, while we are also developing an option to incorporate chatbots with Twitter.

Soon, we’ll also be able to place bets by simply talking to our phones via voice recognition technology through Facebook Messenger and other apps.

Chatbots have arrived in egaming, and they are here to stay.