How to Use Conversational Marketing in Business to Grow Your Sales

Customers today expect a personalized experience. If you can give them what they want, you’ll be able to create a loyal customer base that will continue to support your business. Conversational marketing can help you create these experiences by engaging customers in a conversation rather than just bombarding them with messages. When done right, it can result in more sales and higher customer satisfaction. Before diving into how to use conversational marketing in business to grow your sales, take a moment to understand the basics of conversational marketing and its benefits. 

What is Conversational Marketing?

Conversational marketing aims to increase customer engagement and loyalty by encouraging customers to interact with your brand. It’s a type of marketing that relies on the use of conversational language and technology to create a more personal experience between your brand and your customers.  Since conversational marketing heavily emphasizes one-on-one communication, most people automatically associate it with live customer and sales support. While that’s not entirely wrong, it’s important to note that thanks to today’s technology, you can use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate many of the tasks that used to be done manually, such as answering customer questions or providing product support.  Studies have shown that the power of conversational marketing tactics, such as AI chatbots, can significantly boost your sales. 79% of companies who use chatbots say that conversational marketing tactics like chatbots lead to higher sales and more loyal customers. Even better, approximately 52% of consumers said they would buy from businesses with a live chat option. 

Benefits

When used correctly, conversational marketing can be a powerful tool to increase sales and customer loyalty. Here are some of the most notable benefits:

Personalized Conversations

Personalized customer experiences make customers feel like they matter to the company. When customers feel they matter, they’re more likely to continue doing business with the company and referring others.  Conversational marketing allows for a more personalized experience for your customers. The more you can personalize your customer interactions, the more likely they will return when they need your services again. 

Gain Valuable Insights About Your Customers

When done correctly, conversational marketing can help give you valuable insights about your customers. For example, you can use chatbots to collect and analyze data about your customers’ preferences and needs. This data can then be used to create more targeted marketing campaigns and improve your overall marketing strategy. Additionally, you can get feedback about your products or services by engaging in conversations with your customers.

Reduce Customer Support Costs

Many businesses are hesitant to implement conversational marketing because they worry about the cost. However, conversational marketing could help you cut customer support costs. For example, if you use chatbots to answer customer questions, you can free up your customer support team to handle more complex issues. Additionally, conversational marketing tactics can resolve issues more quickly and efficiently, saving your company money.

5 Ways to Use Conversational Marketing to Grow Your Sales

Conversational marketing is a powerful tool when used properly. Though, it’s important to note that this tactic can go well beyond the standard use of AI chatbots for customer service. Here are five ways you can use conversational marketing to grow your sales:

1. Automate the Order Process

Automating the customer order process is a great way to increase sales and efficiency. By using conversational marketing, you can provide a chatbot that guides customers through the ordering process. This can help reduce the number of abandoned orders and increase the number of orders that are placed. 

2. Start Live-Chat Conversations

Customers prefer to work with brands with live-chat options. While speaking to a real person is an option, many brands utilize AI chatbots to begin the conversation and then transfer the conversation to a live agent.  For example, you may use the chatbot to welcome a customer to the chat or your website and then use it to gather some basic information about them and their needs. Once you’ve collected this information, you can transfer the conversation to a live agent who can help the customer with their specific needs.

3. Answer FAQs

One of the most popular ways to use conversational marketing is to use an AI chatbot to answer frequently asked questions. This can be an effective way to increase customer satisfaction and improve customer experience, leading to more sales.

4. Use SMS Marketing Automation

SMS marketing automation is a type of conversational marketing that uses text messages to communicate with potential and existing customers. SMS marketing automation can be used to send reminders, notifications, and updates about your products or services. Additionally, SMS marketing automation can provide customer support and give customers another channel to answer their questions. 

5. Accelerate Qualified Leads Straight to Your Live Agents

A sales-qualified lead is a potential customer that has been vetted and determined to be likely to make a purchase. One way to vet your leads is to have your AI chatbot ask them a few qualifying questions, such as “are you a current or new customer” or “are you looking for [insert product or service type here]?” The chatbot will learn about the customer’s interests and needs as they answer these questions. It can then take this information and determine whether or not this customer is ready to act. If they are, they can be transferred directly to a live sales agent who can help them with their purchase.

Build a Better Customer Experience With Branded Research and Insights from E29

Learning how to use conversational marketing in business can build a better customer experience that keeps your customers coming back for more. However, before you can jump into the deep end of conversational marketing, you must have the right information at your fingertips. To do this, you need to conduct research into your customer base and use that information to create a strategy that will help you grow your brand, build awareness, and generate more leads. The good news? The team at E29 Marketing can help you do just that. As part of our marketing strategy package, we help you conduct branded research and collect vital insights into your customer base and then use that to build a strategy that will grow your brand.  Ready to see how our team can help you build a better customer experience and bring more attention to your brand? Contact us today!