Microsoft’s recent chatbot disaster notwithstanding, an explosion of relatively easy-to-develop messaging interfaces is expected this year as marketers look to capitalize on the time spent in Facebook Messenger, Kik and other similar apps.
With mobile users typically spending most of their time in just a few apps, marketers are looking beyond their own branded apps. Chatbots, which are mini interfaces inside a messaging app, are a focus because they are easy to develop and can be deployed across multiple platforms but, as Microsoft’s experience with a bot that quickly became a PR nightmare shows, the opportunity comes with its own set of challenges.
