STRATEGY FORMULATION TO IMPROVE NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBING USERS FOR CHATBOT STARTUP (CASE STUDY: CHATBIZ.ID)

• Main Author: Djoni Syukur, Sebastian
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/45705
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

It will be better for business owners to follow the latest technological developments. This needs to be done in order to adapt to the increasing dynamic habits of modern consumers. One of the latest technologies that is now widely used is Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is starting to be widely used in real terms in everyday life and the one which the most popular nowadays is chatbot. Chatbot is a computer program that can work inside a messaging application and able to interact with users by imitating human conversation. Chatbiz.id is the first chatbot service provider that specifically targets the rapidly growing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) market in Indonesia. The high interest of the Indonesian people to adopt and try chatbot services is shown by the high number of free trial users provided by Chatbiz.id, but this is inversely proportional to the number of subscribing users. Based on the background of the problem above, the author is interested in doing research to study and solve this problem. Internal and external analysis is conducted to gain information and generate business solution that gives positive impact to the company growth. Internal analysis is consisted of STP (Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning) and 7P marketing mix analysis while external analysis is consisted of general environment analysis, industry environment analysis, competitor analysis, and customer analysis. Qualitative method is used in this research to obtain detailed understanding of participants’ perspective and meaning. After gathering the data needed based on above analysis, then compiled the data in SWOT analysis. From this perspective, internal factors are reflected in Strength and Weakness column while external factors in Opportunity and Threat column. Based on the conducted analysis, the low number of subscribing users was caused of the weaknesses in several aspects of services provided by Chatbiz.id. The causes come from product, promotion, and people aspects. The products that are not easily understood by all circles (all Chatbiz.id customer segments), the promotions still tend to rely on only one channel (Instagram), and the people are still not maximizing the customer experience on after-sales service of Chatbiz.id. Based on SWOT Analysis, several strategies are formulated in TOWS Matrix. Besides that, integrated marketing communication approach is also done to maximize its promotion strategy. There are 5 phases to support Chatbiz.id integrated marketing communication including awareness, interest, desire, action, and satisfaction and several activities are proposed in each phase. To overcome this problem, several solutions have been formulated in the form of timelines to further increase the number of users subscribing to Chatbiz.id. In terms of product, Chatbiz.id needs to provide an example of conversation flow template as the basis of the chatbot algorithm. In terms of marketing, Chatbiz.id needs to update Instagram content, launch Facebook Official, place advertisement on Instagram, place Google Ads Advertisement, enrich content on Chatbiz.id blog, and update portfolio. In terms of people, Chatbiz.id should do regular monitoring on customer satisfaction and chatbot performance evaluation. In the end, developing sustainable strategies for a company especially startup company is a continuous process to overcome future potential opportunity and obstacles.