Conversational Marketing

There’s a huge shift on the horizon for businesses. The introduction of conversational marketing apps now enables brands to communicate with hundreds or thousands of leads at any one time.

Conversational marketing platforms appear on-screen in the form of a ChatBot; those pop-up messaging apps that check how you’re doing as you browse a web page or social media.

It's called conversational marketing because communications can be carried out in an informal style, using scripted responses to answer frequently asked questions in a human manner.

The digital revolution has delivered so much. Today, businesses are more connected with their customers than ever before, and on-the-go information sharing and engagement is the expected norm.

Yet some elements of offline marketing have been placed online without being adapted to make the most of modern technology. The lead generation process is a particular culprit.

This typically involves capturing a prospect’s attention and directing them to your website or social media pages, where they can find lots of information about your offering. If they have a question that can’t be answered or if they’re ready to buy, they will often be asked to fill out an online form. Some will move away at this point to find what they want elsewhere. Others will complete the form and wait to be contacted. What happens next is astounding.

Research shows that in 23% of cases prospects do not receive a response. When businesses do decide to get in touch, the average response time is 42 hours. It’s the equivalent of your prospect walking into a shop, placing the item they want on the counter and being told that the sales person will contact them in three days’ time.

It makes no sense in person, because human interactions don’t work like this. Yet online, this kind of customer neglect is common practice. 

This approach delivers a completely different feel for your customers. As your extended team of virtual agents tends to the needs of each individual, marketing and sales move from push to pull as part of a natural conversation.

In comparison to humans in call centres or on the shop floor, virtual agents are always having a good day and consistently deliver the same accurate messaging. And thanks to the conversational marketing platform that powers the bots, they are networked to an extensive range of information that can be accessed as it’s needed.

By removing departmental silos in this way, your customers won’t be passed between customer services and sales to solve their query. Chatbots can instantly access the required information and provide the right answer. Alternatively, they can connect the customer with a real human working in a specialist role who’s best placed to help.

When you partner with Six & Flow, we’ll start by working with you to understand how a conversational marketing strategy will interconnect with your wider business plans.

Inbound marketing connects a range of marketing tactics including SEO, social and content. Introducing conversational marketing will place your customers at the centre of your communications enhancing the effect of your wider marketing strategy.

This conversational marketing strategy approach has worked very well for a range of our clients and we’re confident that we can help you achieve the same success by: 

1. Creating a more human buying experience

Previously monotonous tasks, like form filling, are replaced with engaging human conversation. The data your sales and marketing teams need is still captured but they will also benefit from additional information. This will enable them to use their skills more effectively only coming into the conversation at a point where human interaction adds value.

2. Improving your customer insight at scale

Two-way conversations develop a connection with a brand and allow you to capture information that is voluntarily given and therefore ethically sourced. Thousands of non-stop conversations mean ongoing learning that can be distilled within the conversational marketing platform to provide new and continuously developing insights.

3. Discovering new lead sources for your business

Conversations are often the best way to uncover unexpected leads. Simply by talking with your prospect  about challenges they’re facing helps you match solutions to their problem and encourages them to find out more.

4. Decreasing your sales cycle length

Because leads are better qualified, better informed and closer to being ready to buy, sales cycles shorten. As part of an overall conversational marketing strategy, chatbots also align sales and marketing teams by streamlining lead generation and nurturing. 

5. Growing your sales pipeline

Working with Six & Flow means you’ll have all the experience required to implement a rounded and successful conversational marketing strategy. We include scripts, chatbots and other conversational marketing tactics so your customers can immediately access the expertise within your company.