Here’s Why Conversational Marketing Is a New Cash Cow for Businesses

Over the last few decades, marketing has gone a long way from simple forms like newspaper advertising to highly-personalized online targeting. Conversational marketing seems to be the next big step in the evolution chain, changing the way businesses plan and execute their sales strategies.

The process itself would be impossible without the corresponding IT advancements, chatbots in particular. The global chatbot industry – which is the fundamental precondition for conversational marketing – is now worth around $80 billion and expected to reach $1.25 billion by 2025.

However, how exactly is this possible? What is the real value of conversational marketing? In this post, we will explain to you why conversational marketing is a new cash cow for businesses.

Before we move on to the practical advantages of conversational marketing, we need to define this relatively new concept. The model is obviously communication-centric and gives more room for user interactions.

Conversational marketing is the new marketing model that highlights the importance of real two-way communication.

As such, conversational marketing has the power to generate more leads and drive conversions much more straightforward than other, more traditional, sales funnels. But it’s not only about the businesses as consumers also gain direct benefits this way:

• No time waste: Conversational marketing is all about efficiency, so that prospects can obtain the needed information almost instantly.
• Solves issues: This marketing format is not trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer. On the contrary, it offers practical and very concrete solutions for specific problems customers are dealing with.
• Users feel acknowledged: Consumers don’t want to be treated as numbers or links in the chain. They love to feel recognized and appreciated instead, which is precisely what conversational marketing is giving them.
• Simplicity: The largest mobile messaging apps have billions of monthly active users worldwide. This makes the new form of marketing communication simple, easy to use, and globally accessible.

We’ve come to the crucial point as you are about to see the practical benefits of conversational marketing. Although there are dozens of ways this model is improving contemporary business, we selected eight features that really make it extraordinary. Let’s take a look:

1. Personalized communication

Unlike traditional marketing channels, the conversational approach is focused on customized communication. It’s a two-way process, which means no more “I will speak and you will listen” campaigns. The whole point is to engage in one-on-one conversations with each one of your customers, thus achieving a more personalized interaction with all users separately.

There are no generic messages anymore but only tailored communication efforts with the purpose to hit to bull’s eye. In such circumstances, customer relations become more human and natural, so you can strengthen the bonds and build a broader base of loyal consumers.

A sales increase is not the only goal here. On the contrary, you also want to turn consumers into brand advocates who are willing to spread the word and tell their friends about your business, raising awareness both short and long-term.

2. Shorter sales cycles

An average sales cycle is very long and time-consuming. The sales funnel is filled with all sorts of touchpoints, followed by the corresponding content that is supposed to push the prospect to the next milestone.

With instant messaging technology, however, the whole process becomes much shorter and simpler. A customer doesn’t have to go through email marathons or fill-in forms. All it takes is to contact the company via mobile app and receive your response almost instantly.

Conversational marketing is not only making the sales effort more manageable, but it also drives more conversions because users have less time to think and rethink the purchase. They are willing to engage in impulse shopping, spending more money within a shorter period.

3. Enhanced business efficiency

According to the report, almost 40% of the US consumers would use a chatbot to get a quick answer in case of an emergency. Users realize the potential of the chatbot technology and don’t hesitate to take advantage of it.

Automation allows you as a marketer to be continuously available without having to spend tons of money on operational costs. As a matter of fact, the business just gets less expensive as you don’t have to hire as many customer service agents.

Chatbots can answer a vast majority of standard user inquiries, while the unanswered questions will be transferred to the human agents who possess a more in-depth knowledge of the problem. At the same time, chatbots are getting smarter over time because they learn from previous interactions and use that knowledge to answer future inquiries.

4. Communication becomes authentic

Let us ask you a simple question: how would you call someone who is always there for you and available 24/7? We guess your answer would probably be “the best friend” or something very similar. Well, conversational marketing is trying to do the same thing – turn brands into best friends.

It is available around the clock and has the potential to answer all of the users’ questions anytime they want. It’s not trying to create an ideal picture of the brand. On the contrary, it’s just trying to be there for potential customers and give them the authentic experience.

5. Added value

In conversational marketing, you don’t just sell products but rather add value to the existing services by providing customers with realistic interactions. The goal is not to sell “one size fits all” services and offer generic solutions. You are now making a big leap forward, giving each consumer precisely what he or she needs at any given moment.

For this reason, your brand becomes even more credible and authoritative. It makes customers feel special, so you can gradually build the army of loyal purchasers who feel the authentic relationship with the brand. This leads to additional user engagement because they are encouraged to ask for more information, make comments, or share the brand-related news online.

6. Avoiding big campaigns

We already explained the significance of authenticity and personalized communication. Bearing all that in mind, it’s reasonable to assume conversational marketers will soon begin avoiding big and generic campaigns.

There is no need to create all-encompassing promo messages when you can easily reach customers on the smallest of all scales. Instead of wasting time and resources on massive one-way communication models, you can now focus on the granular level campaigns, approaching each prospect with the much-needed attention.

Conversational marketing is not as costly as other marketing models. Although it requires investments in new technologies and chatbot software, the game pretty much ends there. Once you set up everything, you just need to make occasional adjustments and watch the communication running smoothly.

7. A goldmine of data

Another advantage of chatbot-focused marketing is that it gives you a plethora of information to work with. It’s a genuine goldmine of data where you can find user-related information all in one place.

Chatbots can integrate seamlessly with other apps you are using (email automation tools, CRM apps, social media marketing assistants, etc.) to build a comprehensive data resource. Everything you’ve ever talked to the customer will be documented and quickly accessible, while you can simply search and analyze interactions using keywords.

It gives you valuable insights into the needs and behavior of a customer, thus giving you the opportunity to reach out to the consumer with new offers. It’s a perfect analytics tool to help you come up with upselling and cross-selling ideas, which is yet another way to boost the profit in the long-term perspective.

8. Post-purchase analytics

We showed you how conversational marketing helps entrepreneurs analyze their clients and increase revenue, but you should know that it also encourages predictive analytics. Namely, you can explore customer data to detect behavioral patterns and predict future trends.

You will be able to notice frequently asked questions related to your services and act accordingly to add new products to the portfolio. The system enables you to stay one step ahead of competitors, being aware of things to come and the future needs and requirements of your target audience. Therefore, you should seize the opportunity to get the foot in the door and take your business to the whole new level.

Conversational marketing is the brand new star in the business sky that forces companies all around the globe to reconsider the existing sales strategies. With the potential to establish rock-solid customer relations and obtain valuable consumer-related insights, it is quickly becoming one of the most potent sales drivers.

In this post, we showed you why conversational marketing is the new cash cow for businesses. Make sure to check out our explanations once again and don’t hesitate to embrace the new marketing model – it could give your business a considerable boost sooner than you think!