As any marketing professional will tell you, quality marketing is only as good as those who are implementing and executing the marketing strategy. Trends come and go, and though some really are flash-in-the-pan processes, the good trends will last and even adapt to the changing technology and needs of society.
In the last few years, as AI technology has advanced, more importance has been placed on conversational marketing. Becoming part of the conversation, instead of interrupting our audience’s experience, is the new goal. But what exactly is conversational marketing, and how does it work within the world of AI?
What is Conversational Marketing?
The briefest definition of conversational marketing is real-time, two-way, online marketing. Since the majority of marketing strategies revolve around an online presence, that personal, one-on-one feel ended up on the sidelines and forced businesses to become more calculated and impersonal in order to efficiently achieve their marketing goals.
As time went by, we could sense that our audiences were yearning for a more personal touch, and especially now having faced doing business during a pandemic, offering that intimate connection is even more important than before. Offering an approachable and casual path to doing business, even if it really is through an AI channel, can make or break your current marketing goals. Whether you’re using social media, a live experience, or actual chatbots and other AI based programming to lead a prospective customer through a sales funnel, it will almost always be more effective if it’s personalized.
How Do I Start a Marketing Conversation?
How do you chat with a friend? How do you approach a potential partner at a networking event? How do you share what you did with your week with a loved one? When designing a marketing conversation, the key is to keep it simple and friendly, and to create an environment that feels like a casual conversation.
While it is best to use a real human, most situations don’t allow for that type of efficiency. By using chatbots, at least for the first few points of contact, the opportunity to weed out the noise and funnel through the best leads is most useful. As long as the lead ends up with a human, the AI platforms can be adjusted to ensure the most realistic experience until it’s viable to actually connect the lead to a team member.
Make sure that the call to action is inviting and specific to the product being offered, and that the chatbot is tailored to the experience you want for the lead. If you’re looking for help cultivating an AI platform or implementing a chatbot, the team here at Blink;Tech can help.
Is Conversational Marketing on Social Media Possible?
Though social media can seem very impersonal, and even downright volatile at times, remember that at this very moment, millions of users are logged onto social media. It is currently the easiest and most widely-used channel to reach potential customers, and that means it cannot be ignored. But is conversational marketing possible on social media? The answer is a resounding “Yes”.
Using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and even TikTok are certainly options when it comes to conversational marketing. Of course it will more than likely begin with AI, but also consider live broadcasts and streaming events that followers can join in on and engage with. When a potential lead feels as though they are “in the room where it happens”, the chances of them continuing to engage with the product increases ten-fold.
Similar to our B-P-E strategy, conversational marketing is a living, breathing, and continuously evolving process that should always be pushed to the next level. What works this month may not work a year down the road. Advancing technology and ever-changing social and communication trends are often driving this evolution, but these changes also offer the opportunity to adjust your path and processes in order to reach ever higher goals.
If you are interested in developing a conversational marketing strategy using AI, contact us today and let us help develop the tools and strategy for success!
