Using chatbots to reach hearts anytime, anywhere

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What you'll find on this page:
How can we guarantee that people always have a way to connect with us when they’re searching for answers online? 
One solution is through chatbots.

 

Since 2016 we’ve been using chatbots to help us connect on a deeper level with those we are reaching, giving them more opportunities to encounter the gospel in an authentic and relatable way.

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of using chatbots, share insights from our experiences, and guide you through your first steps toward implementing them.

Top 5 Benefits

24/7 connection

Chatbots offer ‘around the clock’ coverage, giving us the ability to talk to anyone, regardless of their location and timezone. This ensures that we don’t miss an opportunity to support someone's faith journey. 

Gospel presentation pathways

Chatbots are highly effective in naturally guiding conversations toward a gospel presentation, regardless of the initial topic or question. By responding with empathy and purpose, they can gently steer discussions toward the good news, creating opportunities to share the hope and truth of the gospel in a way that feels organic and relevant.

User friendly

You can build the chatbot right into the platform the user is already on—whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or a website—offering a seamless and familiar experience.

High engagement

Chatbots keep conversations engaging with reduced waiting time between messages for greater engagement.

Custom conversations 

Chatbots let people go through the conversation in their own way. With different pathway choices, they tailor the experience to what the user needs.

Our Chatbot

 

Our chatbot is designed to guide users on a journey of discovery through the three core points of the gospel: love, sin, and Jesus. This results in an opportunity for the user to pray a salvation prayer and talk to a human. 

Feel free to scroll through and explore how our chatbot is set up! If you’d like to download, just click the “Save to Manychat” button. 

Best Practices 

 

Below is a look at some best practices based on what we’ve learnt running chatbots for evangelism.

Research your audience 

  • Researching your audience is key to making your chatbot experience connect with users. Take some time to get to know what they like, what they struggle with, and what matters to them. You can learn a lot by looking at user data, running surveys, or just asking for feedback. This helps you understand what they truly need and care about. 
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CV Australia

Morag Cheshire

Morag Cheshire, CV Australia's community manager, shares her approach to achieving this:

“The community teams take note of what people are talking about, content is created to identify with those topics and then the ad to click to messenger links either directly into a bot pathway that directly relates to the topic or we give them an option of 2-3 topics so they can go on a journey.

With people around the globe experiencing financial hardship, this has been a topic that has surfaced more, and as a result we created a money pathway which then talks people through some strategies to help them. They get three options: debt, no job, or other money issues (when they choose this option the explorer is invited to share what that problem is) before reaching a human. All options then offer talking to God about this and help the explorer with a self-guided prayer before introducing more about Jesus and the invitation to explore the gospel message and salvation.” 

First impressions matter 

  • The first message is the most important as it usually has the biggest drop off rate. Our suggestion is to keep it short, simple and friendly in tone.

 

  • Be clear about the bot’s purpose right from the start. This helps users understand that they’re interacting with a bot, not a human, and sets the right expectations from the beginning.

 

  • Ensure the first message is sent within three seconds. While there are plenty of actions and tags you can add to the bot's backend, it's important not to overload it. Too many actions can slow things down and cause you to lose the user's attention.

GDPR in the EU 

  • In the EU context, it's crucial to give users the option to consent before interacting with you. This is because of automatic data storage, either on the bot platform or in a CRM system. Keep in mind that if you include a consent message, you can expect about 40% of users to drop off and not continue with the conversation.

Getting Started 

 

Chatbots are a fantastic way to connect with more people, but we know that setting them up can sometimes feel like a challenge. That’s why we’re giving you access to our chatbot, so you can start using and setting it up right away. Plus, be sure to check out our interview with Morag, where she shares how to use pathways and tips on getting your team onboard to set up a chatbot too!

Our Chatbot
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How can you get your team on board with setting this up?

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Let's unpack what “pathways” means: 

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Links to chatbot platforms: 

Manychatchatfuel

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