Today, when the world is going digital everyone has information at their fingertips. According to research, 82% of consumers look for an immediate response from brands. With so many options available it is a real challenge for brands to retain and attract the audience using the traditional methods.
There are a lot of distractions all around the world that can deviate your target audience attention. Taking the most advantage of digital, there are plenty of ways that we could capture the attention of the audience.
So what exactly is conversational marketing before we go deep into the detail? This is the way you connect with the audience in the modern world, engaging with the audience and converts into the new leads. So let’s break into clusters what exactly is conversational marketing and how it will have an impact on your marketing strategy.
What is Conversational Marketing?
According to IBM-Watson, Conversational marketing is a method that engages consumers in dialogue-driven, personalized experiences at a one-to-one level, enabling brands to listen and gain unique customer insights while also providing value to the user.
When you deliver the content to the audience and it answers the questions the moment they need it; you are creating a two-way communication channel. The target audience or the consumers in this digital world has all the resources at their fingertips to get what they want. This is one thing that the brands and services must ensure be ready when the audience needs it. They won’t wait for you.
It is all about having a real-time conversation to capture, quality and convert the leads. It creates a loop between the customer and the brand. Listen to the audience and respond appropriately rather than bombarding them with irrelevant messages that kill the conversation.
In this digital world, the audience or the consumers expect a real-time interaction in a more personalized way.
The Key Elements of Conversational Marketing
There are 3 key elements that you need to consider to make the most out of conversational marketing
- Real-Time Conversations
In Conversational marketing, everything happens in real-time. While businesses need to talk in real-time, it is also vital that they be prepared to end, at whatever pace the audience wants to finish a discussion.
- Contextual
Conversations without context is irrelevant; it needs meaning and it will become more informed as you gather more knowledge. This is the expectation of the audience. Conversations that are relevant to the context helps in improving the user experience. The more contextual is the best way possible for a delightful customer journey.
- Empathize and Optimise
Make sure that you emphasize the issue of the audience before providing a solution. This makes them feel valued and appreciated. Focus on the pain points. Optimize the strengths of the platform and respond – to address people in a true, human conversation.
Benefits of Conversational Marketing
A better conversational approach enables brands or services to deliver more of a personalized approach. This unique and personalized approach can be utilized all along the buyer’s journey across the various marketing platforms. So what exactly are the benefits of conversational marketing
- Engage, Qualify and generate more Leads
Giving your visitors a way to initiate conversations immediately, and get the answers they are looking for is bound to result in higher conversion rates, opportunities, and seamless experience.
- Provides valuable insights about audience
The more personalized and real-time the conversation is the more you will find valuable insights about the customer. Collecting mass information from lead forms doesn’t work anymore as they lack in context. Real-time conversations with customers will allow you to know more about the customer.
- Provides better user experience
Conversational marketing is a bridge between the audience and the brand. It helps in providing a better user experience and understanding allowing real-time conversations. What’s better is a website with a generic landing page or a bot which initiates real-time human conversations.
- Builds customer relationships
Conversational marketing reaches new customers on different channels and drives lead generation by giving the customer a more simple and easy way to get in touch with your business and start building some level of trust. With well-designed conversation flows, you can leverage copywriting, images, GIFs, videos, and more, to give your chatbot the personality it needs and reinforce your brand.
Platforms for leveraging Conversational Marketing
What is one platform that comes to your mind when thinking about conversational marketing? I know you will be revolving around social media, community management. Yes, there is no denying that social media is one of the most powerful channels to leverage conversational marketing. But there are more channels that you can utilize in a more effective way to leverage the same. Okay here are some of the marketing channels that you can utilize to leverage conversational marketing.
- Email Marketing
Here we are talking about the most effective marketing channel where we can drive more meaningful conversations. But unfortunately for a very long time marketers have never realized the power of email marketing ending up with pushing out irrelevant updates, notifications and invitations. It was all a one-way channel communication. There was hardly any communication happening. Now, this is really old school.
The days are gone when you push a random email with a call to action waiting for the user to take any action, you are a lost swimmer. Initiate a conversation, drive them to your brand, provide value and ultimately they are going to get back to you. There is no better marketing channel than email to leverage conversational marketing if used wisely.
- Chatbots
There has been a dramatic change in the way brands and customers have been interacting over the past few years. With everything going digital, consumers are increasingly opting for ways to make it more personalized. Now It is said that chatbots are the future of conversation. Chatbots are transforming customer experiences. Who doesn’t love a more personalized communication?
- Social Media
Now, this is a platform that initiates a 2-way communication in real-time. You create more discussions by-polls, poll, or even track the group and connect with feedback and fans by gathering our audiences for their opinions. Implementing a successful strategy does not limit itself to audience preference. When used effectively you can turn your audience into brand advocates. From my personal experience apart from the Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and other platforms, Twitter is one powerful tool that can leverage real-time conversations.
Why Conversational Marketing is the Future
With the implementation of conversational marketing, there has been a major shift in the way the companies interact with their audience. The conversations became more straightforward and faster. Moving forward the businesses need a better conversational mode to keep their brand pro-active among the targeted audience. You will benefit when you deliver the right message, at the right time, to the right person, on the right channel most importantly relative to the context. Make them feel valued and heard, conversational marketing helps you get there.
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