THE POWER OF INFORMATION EXCHANGE – WHAT IS CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING AND HOW CAN YOU TURN IT TO YOUR BENEFIT?
We live in a “digital conversational ecosystem” where we engage in short or long dialogues through a variety of web-based channels, platforms and applications. Our communication and dialogue now have fundamentally changed over the past 10-15 years and today we not only talk with salespeople or customer service agents but we are getting more and more comfortable with chatting with chatbots too. We literally carry our “on-the-go conversations” in our pockets or purses, as we are 100% connected to our bank or utility provider by cell phone, preferring to shop and conduct business online. Not only do we have long talks with remote teams throughout our daily work, but we can close seven-figure deals with our clients on the other side of the world by negotiating with them via web conferencing tools.
So, why are conversations such a big deal and why do you have to catch up with this trend as a business owner or leader?
In today’s world, CONVERSATIONAL INTERACTIONS are the core foundations of successful marketing out of question. If you don’t have a CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING STRATEGY or in the worst case you have no clue what it means, it’s better for you to press the pause button and read this article carefully.
?? WHAT IS CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING AND HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT ON A STRATEGIC LEVEL?
It is a dialogue-based method that you must set up as one of the core elements of your Marketing Strategy. This is a module you should specifically use within your overall Digital Marketing Strategy in alignment with all of your online Marketing Communication activities.
“Conversational Marketing is a feedback-oriented approach. It is about information exchange and aims to build and nurture relationships with your customers/clients/business partners on a higher level through purposeful dialogues. The main focus is on personalized communication and making the overall Customer Experience (CX) the best as possible at all touchpoints.” (Strategyscope)
?? The Top 8 Benefits of Conversational Marketing are:
?? WHAT ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS OF CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING?
It enables your business to build relational trust-based and long-lasting relationships with your customers through real-time communication on your website or different Social Media channels by applying the advantages of automation.
For having meaningful or targeted discussions with your clients or potential customers that lead to any form of conversions you have to understand how to apply these key components.
1./ CONTEXT – Identifying the context is very important for understanding your target audiences better because this way you can address the right questions or send them the right messages to them by which you can start the conversation.
2./ PERSONALIZATION – What is the most important secret keyword for your successful conversational marketing? It’s PERSONALISATION!
Have you noticed that getting a personalized message or when having a customer service representative calls you by your name makes you more engaged? Or are you more satisfied with the handling of the problem if the clerk reassures you, while also mentioning some details of your purchase history after checking the data in their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system?
At the end of the day, even if they couldn't handle the case you wanted, or your problem wasn't solved perfectly, you perceive the whole situation on a different level, because you feel that you are important. So, personalized dialogues play a key role in building trust and nurturing human relationships.
3./ RELEVANCE – Delivering information about or raising awareness on the subject the customer, a prospect or a business partner is interested in and answering their specific questions.
4./ IT’S A REAL-TIME APPROACH – We work, entertain and live in a digitized and connected world where availability, responsiveness, and answering or reacting in real-time is not an option, but a basic requirement for every business and brand. Customers and clients expect to be contacted or have answers via Social Media platforms or messaging apps quite instantly, but no longer than within 1-2 hours maximum.
?? WHERE SHOULD WE HAVE CONVERSATIONS AND HOW? – FORMAL OR INFORMAL APPROACH?
When it comes to mindful communication with your ideal clients or existing customers, it’s beyond the traditional one-to-ones and furthermore, you must think of various channels and forms specifically applied preferably in the digital space. Now you may ask if it can be strictly formal or if you should go ahead with initiating informal forms too. Well, STRATEGYSCOPE gives you the “green light” for approaching your prospects and clients to have some informal chats and broadening the spectrum of the conversations in terms of the subject and the structure too.
So, now you are getting more interested, right?
Ok. Then let’s go step by step!
?? STEP 1 is the STRATEGY – First and foremost, your Conversational Marketing is part of your Big Fat Marketing Strategy (aka your comprehensive Marketing Strategy), so don’t forget to align it with it. Whether these conversations happen in person or via phone or digital platforms you have to decide the strategy in the first place.
?? STEP 2 is CHOOSING THE FORM AND STYLE
?????a.) Is it in person or online? ?
?????b.) Is it text-based or an oral conversation?
?????c.) Formal or informal?
The style and the tone of voice must be in alignment with your Brand Identity but you can and actually have to differentiate it regarding certain target groups – e.g., communicating in a less informal style with Gen Z.
?
?? STEP 3 is CHOOSING THE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS – You may have the best conversational marketing strategy and well-targeted questions, but if you don't use them in the right channels, you won't get the best quality information and data you need to optimize your services, develop your products, or for generating more sales.
It’s important to map out where are your ideal clients or customers, what are they doing there and at what time and you have to generate two-way communication with them accordingly.
?? WHICH CHANNELS ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE FOR GENERATING PURPOSEFUL CONVERSATIONS?
?? In-Person and Virtual Events – Meet your customers regularly?
领英推荐
??? Phone Calls, Video Chats
?? Messaging Apps and Social Media Messaging Apps – Meta (Facebook) Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram direct messages, TikTok direct messages, WeChat, Snapchat, Discord
??? Live Videos – This is an excellent way of having real-time conversations, incentivising your audience or handling objections!
?
?? Popular Social Media Groups – Join Popular Social Media Groups with the same interests or niche. Identify what people talk about, what questions they ask and what complaints they have.
Grab the opportunity and be not just an observer but a part of the conversation!
?? Create Your Own Social Media Groups – Invite your customers and ideal target audiences to join your groups and provide them with engaging content. Be strategic and build it around a certain niche or topic that is relevant to your audience and serves your business goals. As the owner of the group, be active in the initiation of meaningful chats and discussions. Take care of also ensuring the smooth flow of sharing ideas and keeping the group chat active.
??? Chatbots -?Use chatbots to answer routine Customer Queries.?
?? Email Marketing
?? Surveys and Polls
?? Sales and Landing Pages
All of the above-mentioned channels are real gold mines for having well-targeted and in-depth dialogues with people who are interested in the given subject, your industry, your company, your products/services or they have specific problems you give answers for.
?? STEP 4 is the SCOPE OF DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION – This step is very important. You have to decide how you will record and collect the information you gain throughout these conversations and how you will analyse and evaluate them.
e.g., You collect the comments and feedback and also the respondents and then group them based on different criteria:
???????a.) positive, negative, neutral or
???????b.) approval – rejection
???????c.) prospects – qualified leads – loyal customers,
???????d.) scoring, etc.
?? WHAT ARE THE MOST APPROPRIATE TOOLS FOR CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING?
Customer Relationship Management and?Customer Care are some of the key areas where conversations do matter the most! ?Investing in customer relationships and nurturing them is an everyday task and priority in order to build and preserve trust in the long run!
The most commonly known tools are:
What Are Chatbots?
“A chatbot is an artificial person, animal or other creature which holds conversations with humans. This could be a text-based (typed) conversation, a spoken conversation or even a non-verbal conversation. A chatbot can run on local computers and phones, though most of the time it is accessed through the internet." (Source: chatbots.org)
Conclusions:
Conversational marketing is a dynamic and interactive method for businesses to maintain a more human-centred customer experience across all channels. By engaging in dialogue with your target audience, you can better understand them and get a clearer picture of who they really are and how you can help or serve them. In addition, conversational marketing helps you attract potential customers or upsell to existing customers with personalized and real-time interactions, while at a given stage of the customer journey you can serve them individually with what they need. If you want to supercharge your digital marketing and drive your company's growth, you need to expand your knowledge on this topic. Stay tuned for more insights from Strategyscope.
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Editor’s Note: Marketing Strategy is a huge subject with several various verticals and aspects. Strategyscope will continue to discuss this topic but does not intend to replace Wikipedia or high-quality professional marketing resources. Rather, it aims to provide guidance and share best practices based on real-life experiences and client cases while keeping you up-to-date.
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STRATEGYSCOPE is the Marketing, Branding & Content Strategy Compass for your business boost. Each week the newsletter covers various topics within these 3 key areas to guide SMBs (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) Entrepreneurs, and Solopreneurs to fine-tune their strategies and utilize the potential of Marketing for their sustainable growth.
?? Got a question or Want to Work with Me? Shoot it over in the comments or DM to me @Ildiko Bujaki
Head of Business Relations at Eccoci - Easy transition for consultants coming to work in Sweden || #LinkedInNewsEurope Contributor || Job Market Adviser || Sustainability & Inclusion Advocate || Mother of 2 ????
2 年This is a very interesting topic ILDIKO BUJAKI. I believe most of organic social selling is happening through conversations.
Country Head @ Buyerr | Driving Growth, Innovation, and Loyalty
2 年Very true! ILDIKO BUJAKI Any discussions or conversations you have with your target audience are bound to impact your business.
?? WellBeing Champion | ESG Leader | Business Connector | Linkedin Top 250 influencer |
2 年Marketing has evolved in the Internet's era of extreme connection, ILDIKO BUJAKI and conversational marketing is a game changer in foster deeper relationships between clients and businesses. Love the golden nuggets on this article! ???
???? Listen to Young and Profiting Podcast!
2 年AMAZING!
9X Founder, 2X Bestselling Author, Investor in 100+ companies, Top 50 Keynote Speaker
2 年This is Great