Today’s customers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages that seem impersonal and so far away. As a result, they are now becoming pickier than ever. After all, no one wants to be a target for your product or service. It means blasting out those template-like messages that shoving all the information down their throats can only scare them away.
This is where conversational marketing comes in – a strategy that helps your business connect with customers on a more personal level. Through conversation, you are able to build trust and credibility with potential and current customers alike.
According to the report, more than 75% of customers want a personalized experience. In this case, conversational marketing provides you with a friendly way to achieve that. Not only does it help you to establish a more meaningful brand-customer relationship, but it also helps you to provide instant responses to customers’ queries.
This post will break down some benefits of having a solid conversational marketing strategy.
What Is Conversational Marketing?
Conversational marketing is a strategy that leverages the power of 1:1 conversation, whether through live chat or messaging. Chatbots are probably the most commonly known form of this marketing strategy.
Instead of approaching the potential customer first, conversational marketing will put the customer in control and allow them to start a conversation with your business.
You can say that this type of marketing strategy is simply to be there for your customers– whenever they want and wherever the communication takes place. That way, you can humanize your brand, making it more relatable and valuable to them.
Here’s an example of conversational marketing done right by Spring. They allow their customers to make direct purchases with the help of chatbots.
The Benefits of Conversational Marketing
There are many benefits that come with employing a conversational marketing strategy. Here are some of the most notable:
#1. More Convenient, Positive Experience
Today’s customers demand convenience, and they want their issues addressed as quickly as possible. No one has time to wait for a reply email from a brand or simply be put on hold in a customer service call to get their problem solved.
Conversational marketing provides that instant connection with your customers, whether it is through chatbots or messaging. It gives them the opportunity to get the help they need without having to go through hoops. In other words, they can get the answers they’re looking for in a matter of seconds.
Plus, a positive customer experience can result in more word-of-mouth marketing for your business. This, in turn, will result in a solid brand reputation.
#2. Understand Your Customers Better
Conversational AI like chatbots will store your customer’s data. You can use this data to understand what your customers want and need, as well as their behavior on your website or app.
With this data, you can then create targeted campaigns that will be more relevant to them. It will give you the opportunity to reach out to more customers with a relevant message that is tailored for them. And at the same time, help build better relationships between your business and your potential or current customers. That’s how you can improve your customer service by anticipating their needs.
In addition, chatbots can help you detect unhappy customers before they leave your business. This way, you can take action and solve their issues as soon as possible to improve your service.
#3. Increase Engagement and Loyalty
When customers feel like they’re being heard, they tend to stick around longer. And that’s what you want as a business owner – customer loyalty.
Conversational marketing helps foster engagement and builds long-term relationships with your customers because it provides them with the personal attention they crave. It gives them the opportunity to talk with your business in a more casual, friendly manner.
This strategy will also help you understand what’s important to them so you can offer products or services that are relevant and valuable to them. This would ultimately build trust between both parties.
#4. Reduce Your Customer Service Cost
Do you know that it takes an average of 17 hours for the customer service team to respond to customers’ emails and 10 hours to reply to their feedback on social media? However, you can use social media analytics tools and measure the performance of your social media efforts.
Meanwhile, live chat can provide a personalized answer in just 2 minutes. This means that conversational marketing allows you to cater to your customers 24/7 without burning your marketing and sales team out.
That helps you to reduce your customer service cost and increase your customer service team productivity. You don’t have to employ as many people to provide customer support around the clock.
Chatbots will take care of those mundane, repetitive tasks (i.e., answering frequently asked questions), so your customer service team can take a break or work on other tasks while the chatbot is dealing with customers.
#5. Put a Face on Your Brand
Conversational marketing isn’t all about providing your customers with instant, personalized responses. It’s also about humanizing your brand. Though you use bots for the strategy, you can use human-like conversation. You can add human elements to your automated messages and show your brand personality. For instance, adding emojis, using casual and friendly language, adding stickers, etc.
You can make it more relatable and real for the people who will feel like they’re talking with another person, not an automated bot that’s programmed to provide certain responses. It adds value because the customer feels they are talking to a personality-rich brand rather than a faceless one.
#6. Get More Leads and Sales
Conversational marketing can help you get more leads and sales. How?
First, it can help you qualify potential customers better because of the data it gathers about them (e.g., what they like or don’t like, their interests, etc.).
Second, providing an excellent customer experience can increase the chances that they will buy from you or become a customer.
Third, chatbots can help you close more sales because of their ability to handle multiple conversations simultaneously. They’re like an extension of your sales team. And since chatbots never sleep, they can be working for you 24/7, even when your sales team is off duty.
Bottom Line
So, there you have it – the essential benefits of conversational marketing for your business. From all the points mentioned, you understand why this type of marketing strategy is essential for your business– regardless of the industry you belong to. Whether you’re an explainer video company, a SaaS company, and Loom or even a startup, this strategy is a smart way to reach your target market.
It can help you gain more customers and improve relationships with existing ones by providing them the attention they want. It’s all about building trust in today’s digital marketing landscape, where buyers are constantly bombarded with offers from different brands.
Author
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
Twitter: @breadnbeyond
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro
