Internet chatbots have been around for a long time. They go all the way back to the days of AOL instant messenger.

But like everything else, they are evolving. Now chatbots are being integrated with social media platforms.

Businesses are using chatbots to communicate with their customers on social media. This trend is growing at a rapid rate.

In the first year of the new Facebook Messenger platform, we saw the number of chatbots jump from 33,000 to more than 100,000.

The possibilities here are seemingly endless. Take a look at how Pizza Hut uses chatbots to make it easy for customers to order food through social media:

These bots recognize word phrases sent by users. Their automatic responses are based on how they are programmed.

As you can see from this Pizza Hut example, these bots can be used directly to drive more sales and increase revenue streams.

I believe we are going to see more businesses take advantage of these tools by the end of 2018. In fact, a recent survey suggests that roughly 80% of marketing executives have used or plan to use chatbots by 2020.

It’s a winning solution that’s a cost-effective alternative to paying real customer support representatives.

It’s estimated that chatbots are going to save businesses in the healthcare and banking industries a whopping $8 billion per year by the year 2022. That’s compared to $20 million in 2017.

Sure, nothing can replace the personal touch of a human response. Well, at least not yet. But these chatbots out there right now are certainly on the right track.