What is Conversational Marketing 101?

David Ogilvy, often referred to as the father of advertising once quoted, “I don’t know the rules of grammar… If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. We try to write in the vernacular.”

People are generally drawn to what relates to them the most. Advertising or marketing communication should be something that people relate to and hence feel a connection with the brand. Following this idea, conversation marketing came into being.

Conversational marketing is marketing that engages customers through dialogue. It focuses on real-time two-way communication with the customer. 

In simpler terms, chatbots, live chats, SMS, DMs, Facebook Messenger, emails, phone calls or virtual assistant all are tools of conversational marketing.

Salesforce predictions say that by 2025, 95% of all consumer interactions will be facilitated via AI, and by 2024, the chatbots industry is expected to reach $142 billion. 

 What are the advantages of Conversational Marketing? – 

  • Customer connection – Current trend suggests that customers prefer to chat or directly connect with the brand. Chatbots, Live chat, or direct messaging to the brands over social media platforms give the customers feeling of communicating with the brand. This improves customer connection with the brand.
  • Conversational sales – Conversational marketing tools are used to engage, qualify and convert the leads into paying customers. Any user who lands on the website can engage with chatbots or live chats. The bots are expected to collect primary information, record the requirements, and assist the user with what they are searching for on the website. The ongoing dialogue between the sales rep and the qualified leads helps the sales rep to close the lead faster and more effectively.
  • Deepen customer relationship – Imagine, you wish to return a product and have raised the return order. You have given the details of the product and your address on the chat. The customer relationship executive is expected to know these details before calling you to confirm the return. This gives you a seamless and hassle-free experience as a customer. Hence a well-integrated conversational marketing platform and CRM software are important to enhance the customer experience.
  • Keep it conversational – As David Ogilvy said, keeping the marketing communication conversational and vernacular helps with customer connection. The sales rep should have a personalized dialogue with the customer to make them comfortable and build a brand connection. 
  • Valuable insights – These tools can be an excellent source to collect feedback from the customer, understand their requirements and collect information about any issues or challenges they face with the product. These inputs can be used to derive actionable insights for improving the offerings and brand value. This helps to improve the customer experience, products, and services.

Live chats or chatbots on the website or other tools that build a connection with the customers on a personal level are advantageous for brands to grow their customer base, enhance customer experience, and induce customer loyalty.

Understanding the latest trends in the market requires one to have updated knowledge and skills to implement and adapt to the changes efficiently and effortlessly.

MIT School of Distance Education (MITSDE) is one such institute that understands the current skills gap in the market and strives hard to reduce it. For this purpose, MITSDE brings to you PG Diploma in Marketing Management (PGDM Marketing Management). This marketing course in covers the basics & the latest concepts in marketing gives hands-on training on the latest tools and teaches you to create a brand, analyse market trends, and design marketing campaigns.