Who knew we’d be discussing robot-related topics as every-day topics in business? Chatbots have gained enormous popularity in the 2000’s and will continue to do so. Local businesses are sometimes limited to what online tools they can use because it’s tough to them to where they can make a measurable difference on the bottom line. Chatbots have made it easier to drive people from online and from their phones directly into local businesses and that’s a huge deal!
They can act as a method of delivering offers, automating customer service inquiries, and even taking orders for you. You can use chatbots with Facebook Messenger, SMS Text Messaging, WhatsApp, and more. So it is now safe to say that if you own a local business, you can benefit from a chatbot! Although we’re constantly talking about increasing sales, they can do so much more and we’re happy many of our friends have been able to get so much more out of them. So that brings us to the question: How much does it cost to build a chatbot for a local business?
Machine learning and artificial intelligence have been very expensive historically and luckily, companies like Manychat have been making easier ways for local business owners and marketing professionals to crank out chatbots in a short period of time. Signing up for a platform like Manychat may only cost you $10 to start. As long as you have the time, you’ll be able to use their drag-and-drop interface to build your own chatbot.
How much does it cost to build a chatbot for a local business?
A chatbot for local business costs between $500 to $5,000 depending on factors such as the complexity, the look & feel/design, and whether or not there needs to be ongoing management or maintenance.
Cheap Chatbots – $
The cheap chatbots you can buy from websites that offer them are cheaply made and your customers will be able to tell. Just as you can buy a pizza cutter from the dollar store, you can also buy much better quality ones for 10-times the price at other stores nearby – which may be safer to use (more on this later). Cheap chatbots can range anywhere from $10 to $300. They typically take a lot of time to learn and you can’t do much with them so it’s hard to tell if it’s actually worth it. These are the types of services that will leave a bad taste in your mouth if this is the only option you ever try.
Commoditized Chatbots – $$
The commoditized chatbots you can buy are off-the-shelf with little-to-no customization. They’re plug-and-play and are quick to implement. However, you’re very limited to what you can do with them and the verbiage on how your chatbot communicates to your customers may not match how you’d say things or how you want to represent your brand. Commoditized chatbots can cost anywhere from $100-500 to set up and you are typically in charge of managing them yourself. Most local business owners don’t have much time to do this, though, so the ones that go this route often end up harming their business more than helping because they neglect their chatbot.
Tailored Chatbots – $$$$
** Most popular with local businesses
The tailored chatbots are a bit more expensive and offer a combination of off-the-shelf features and custom features that are unique to your situation and your brand. Most local business owners want this because it’s somewhat affordable and more effective because you have an expert there to help tweak things and make it your own. These chatbots cost between $2,000-5,000 to set up and can cost anywhere between $100-500 per month to manage.
Bespoke / Completely Custom Chatbots – $$$$$
The bespoke chatbots are typically made specifically for your business and often use Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to respond to customer inquiries in a smart way using context. These are the most expensive and require more up-keep. You can expect to pay $5000+ to set it up, and $500+ to manage it.
Which Chatbot Price and Quality Option is Best for Your Local Business?
Which option will you choose? As a local business owner, do you tend to always gravitate towards the cheapest option possible on everything? Or have you learned that choosing the cheapest option usually costs more money and time because it rarely works out? Most local business owners choose the commoditized or tailored versions so they don’t completely break the bank but still get all the great benefits from chatbots. We hope you’ve enjoyed this article answering how much does it cost to build a chatbot and if you want to learn more about chatbots and how they can help your business, schedule a free 30-minute call by clicking the big green button on this page.
