Marketing is changing and there is nothing you can do about it.
Social media has completely changed the way in which businesses market to their customers, changing traditional methods of a broadcast to dialogue. Now, businesses that interact with their customers see significant growth and the creation of loyal fans.
Innovation is focused on making these interactions of better quality, building trust quicker and to much higher levels. In this article, we explore conversational marketing and its place in facilitating better relationships between businesses and customers.
What is conversational marketing?
Drift, a leading conversational marketing business defines conversational marketing as:
“A one-to-one approach to marketing that companies use to shorten their sales cycle, learn about their customers, and create a more human buying experience… conversational marketing uses targeted, real-time messaging and intelligent chatbots instead of lead capture forms”
In other words, it uses smart artificial intelligence to engage customers in conversations that can help you to sell.
Why do I need it?
It shortens the sales cycle
Unlike traditional digital marketing that relies heavily on contact or lead forms to be filled out, conversational marketing lets you tap into the same opportunities significantly quicker.
By answering questions and concerns, in many cases, the technology can be used to make sales quicker and without the need for human intervention.
It’s real…and now
From a customer’s perspective, it makes finding the information they need to buy significantly easier. The use of chatbots means they do not need to endlessly scroll through FAQ pages or wait for a business representative to get back to them.
Making life easier for customers doesn’t just increase sales but will boost brand loyalty, positioning themselves as a company that is easy to do business with, facilitating growth.
Keeping it personal
Personalisation can significantly boost conversions. By making a prospective customer feel like they are being talked to directly, you add a more personal touch to your marketing communications.
When it comes to on-site conversational marketing this can be as simple as referencing the page they are visiting. For example, a message such as ‘Hey, let me know if you have any questions about how the [product name] works” will prompt any questions or concerns to be raised.
Once you have started to collect data on these customers you can make the process super customised by inserting fields and providing information based on data specific to them.
It grows with you
When it comes to traditional marketing, as your business grew so too would the teams that deal with customer service, sales and research. However, with conversation marketing, much of this kind of interaction can be automated.
Not only does this save you money, but it also allows you to grow quicker, cutting out many of the time-intensive recruitment processes.
It is obvious that conversational marketing is the next step in the digital marketing revolution. As customers begin to demand customisation and questions to be answered quicker, businesses that tap into this tool are likely to see a rise in the business opportunities they see.
Want to know more. Check out my complete guide to conversational marketing.
