Customer expectations towards brand interactions are changing dramatically. Today, rote responses with canned messaging do not sit well.
Instead, customers crave personal relationships with brands. They expect to engage with brands across channels and for those brands to know the history of the customer relationship.
Conversational Marketing Makes It Personal
Conversational marketing is an emerging approach that allows brands to have personalized interactions with customers using SMS messaging, apps, and chatbots. Conversational marketing uses SMS campaigns and conversational messaging to interact with customers engagingly and, where possible, steer customers toward transactions.
Personalization is the key to conversational marketing. Conversations can be personalized, using specific communications that drive customers to connect more deeply with the brand.
Conversational marketing is efficient, allowing for rapid problem-solving that drives to the heart of the customer’s needs, with speedy answers that enhance customer service and improve customer relationships.
Building Trust with Conversations
Conversational marketing makes the engagement personal. At every stage of the customer journey, a conversational marketing approach can transform how customers interact, leading to more trust and more completed transactions.
For example, for customers on your e-commerce site, a chatbot can recommend products based on both the customers’ expressed interest and their past purchases. If they need help finding a specific item, chatbots can guide them there and remind them of their history on the site.
An engagement on social media may include personalized messages in response to a question posted in an app. Or it may trigger an SMS message directly to their smartphone.
SMS technology allows for personalized campaigns that are more relevant and significant. Instead of boilerplate messaging, conversational marketing can speak directly to each customer and provide an opportunity for continued conversation.
Today’s customers expect real-time engagement with brands they frequent. When your brand can interact in real-time, authenticity and history will matter in whether you keep that customer around.
Building a Two-Way Conversation
The technology that allows for conversational communication is particularly effective in that it allows for two-way conversations between your brand and your customers. No longer is the engagement about you pushing out an answer and hoping it connects.
By providing an opportunity for customers to respond and connect, you create personalized customer journeys that allow them to forge stronger relationships.
Conversational Marketing Tools Are Varied
Here is a closer look at how to use various technologies as part of a conversational marketing campaign:
SMS
Imagine sending each customer a different text during a campaign, complete with personalized product recommendations, discounts, or coupons. The customized text campaign can include notifications when an order has shipped and tracking information. Once the product arrives, a follow-up text can ask if there are any questions or encourage a customer to leave a review.
Chatbots
Artificial intelligence-driven chatbots can solve problems in real time while reducing the burden on your customer service team, which can be used instead for more complex needs. Chatbots can analyze a conversation, draw on customer histories, and create personalized engagements at the moment, addressing pain points and solving issues.
Social Apps
Use chat functions in WhatsApp and other social platforms to interact in real time. Messaging tools allow for 1:1 interactions that can personalize the experience and let customers pay directly on the chat for their purchases.
Customers today want convenience and consistency in their engagements with businesses. Using conversational marketing, you can help your brand build and deepen those engagements every time with authentic, personalized, and dynamic interactions.
The opportunity is there to use conversational marketing to build and strengthen your customer base via every digital interaction.
