Every year there’s some new piece of tech or idea that promises to change everything. Yet almost always, it’s a bunch of hype that everyone gets swept up in, and the net result is small, incremental change.
The latest trend to get this treatment is chatbots. Some friends and I were talking about this in chat earlier – chatbots are pitched as a cure all. But the end result is mostly a cannibalization of existing channels, namely lead forms. I’m not arguing these aren’t an improvement. But they’re certainly not the revolution we were promised. They’re just as tough to maintain, tough to personalize, and still carry with them plenty of challenges. They are trading one set of problems for another.
It’s worth remembering this when comparing the sales pitch or the marketing flash to the actual substance. You should underestimate the benefits and overestimate the potential challenges. It’s less exciting this way, but it’s probably more realistic.