In the era of customer-centricity, who’s got time to wait around for office hours or for someone to reply to an email? We’re living in the age of right now. And businesses that don’t provide near-instant communications to prospective clients are the ones who’ll soon drop out of the conversation.
Enter conversational marketing and its arsenal of ‘always on’ chatbots and live chat functionality. These revolutionary features are the answer to digital technology’s need for quick customer service, where and when a prospect needs it.
What is Conversational Marketing?
Conversational marketing is the simplest way to satisfy customers in today’s on-demand world. With intelligent chatbots, live chat, and social media monitoring, businesses are now able to quickly move buyers down the marketing and sales funnel with targeted, real-time conversation. It’s the digital version of a ‘one on one’ chat, but on ‘customer time’ and without the invasiveness of an unsolicited email or a cold call. And that’s a good thing because the following stats don’t paint a pretty picture of marketing’s traditional strategies:
- Just 43% of people pick up a cold call.
- The average email open rate is down to 20%.
- Considering how difficult it is to get leads to a landing page, a 2.35% conversion rate hardly seems worth the effort!
But marketers are nothing if not resourceful, and when new tools and solutions present themselves, we know how best to implement them to shore up strategic problem areas.
The Benefits of Conversational Marketing
Drift says it best: “The B2B buying process has become cold, impersonal, and way more painful for the buyer than it needs to be. Conversational marketing builds relationships and creates authentic experiences with customers and buyers.” And it’s still relatively new, meaning we’re only just scratching the surface of what the technology has to offer.
Here’s a list of the benefits we’re seeing at the moment:
The buying experience is more personal: Not so long ago, you’d be forgiven for thinking a digital tumbleweed was readying itself to mosey on past your screen. In the past, the browsing experience was mostly passive and devoid of interaction, you could even say cold. Thankfully, chatbots and live chat are now available to greet, guide, and assist customers the second they arrive on your website.
You get to know your buyers and customers better: Real-time conversations quickly tell you who the person is, what problem they’re trying to solve, and which products they perceive to be the solution. This information is far more contextual — therefore valuable — than simply filling contact details into a lead form.
The sales cycles are simplified and shortened: Traditionally, prospects would have to visit a landing page to fill in a lead capture form to show their interest. But this is time-consuming and leaves much up to chance in the interim. Chatbots can answer customer questions in real-time, and guide users to the correct channels, representatives, or product demos with a single conversation.
24/7/365 — a customer service dream made reality: Working hours are just that, and many people can only find the time to contact a company after hours or on weekends. With conversational marketing, your business has a digital representative that’s programmed to know customer pain points and provide solutions to them at any time of day or night.
To Create Customer Confidence, Who Better to Use Than Marketing Technologists?
Huble Digital is a team of experienced marketing technologists who can implement — and get the most out of — your conversational marketing. We’ve got years of practice developing the specialised skills to create effective customer journeys for clients around the world. We know what to ask, when to ask it, and which solutions to offer your customers.
Huble Digital will bring your business strategy to life with results-focused customer journeys that harness conversational marketing to deliver sales-generating goods. Get in touch to start the conversation.
