In marketing, it’s vital that we connect with our audience. Converting leads to sales isn’t our main job. Our main job is to generate leads. Generating leads can be as simple as creating a blog or as complex as a TV ad. However, as marketers, we also need to learn what makes our strategies human.
As human beings, we can’t help but make conversations. We are inherently social creatures, and we can’t stop that. This is why when conversational marketing was introduced to companies, they immediately recognized its true potential.
Conversational Marketing
Conversational marketing is all about utilizing marketing tools to talk to customers. This can be in the form of AI or personal assistants. Essentially, it aims to engage leads, and hopefully, it will generate sales.
Conversational marketing is known to be successful because customer engagement can bring many things to the table. It can help with brand recognition, customer support, and updating customers about new products. Moreover, it’s one way to call customers for action.
You can apply this type of marketing to your business with some marketing ingenuity. First, let’s talk about the different kinds of conversational marketing.
Telemarketing
Telemarketing is the simplest form of conversational marketing. It’s direct, and it’s natural. However, if you want to have cheap telemarketing campaigns, you should outsource outbound call center companies. They do this job very well, and before you know it, you’ll have thousands of leads every month.
What makes telemarketing such a great conversational marketing tool is that it can connect to people. People calling leads aren’t AI. They are human beings with inherent feelings and emotions. This makes them more appealing than chatbots. However, unlike AI, humans can’t work 24/7 and over holidays. They even take a couple of leaves every year.
Telemarketing has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to you to work those out if you’re planning to use it as your only marketing tool.
Chatbots and Live Chat
We’ve all heard of chatbots right now. It has billions of dollars in investment and is poised to be the next big thing in tech. But it’s still leagues away from becoming as reliable as telemarketing.
AI works very well in today’s business environment because customers are found globally. Small companies have many business transactions with people located on the other side of the globe. Moreover, the same businesses want to have an international presence without spending too much on marketing. The use of chatbots and live chat can make that happen.
They can engage potential leads once they get into a business’ website. From there, they can start conversations about the products and services offered by the company. Furthermore, chatbots can directly answer frequently asked questions. When there are some problems, the bot can connect the lead to live chat.
This is an effective form of conversational marketing, but it can be quite expensive to have both chatbots and live chat in your company. If you can’t afford these two, consider investing in telemarketing instead.
Direct Mail
Got some email addresses from potential leads signing up on your website? Convert those leads into sales through the use of direct mail. Customers like a personal touch into their conversation with companies. This is why companies like Amazon and Alibaba are earning billions every year. You can add this layer of personal touch through direct mail.
Before you do this, it’s important that you get some email addresses first. Lure customers in with a sign up for a newsletter or a sign up in general. Then reel them in with a personal message coming from you, telling them how you appreciate their visit. Add some of your favorite products from the company or maybe something on sale or discounted in your online store. It’s also good to add a discount coupon if you can. This should make your lead more comfortable about visiting your site.
Once they feel that, you can quickly transform a potential lead to direct sales. Additionally, direct mail can make loyal customers. Make sure to keep them updated about changes in your company or hand them out coupons once in a while. This increases brand recognition and lets your customers know that you care for them.
Conversational marketing is a cheap way to market yourself to your target audience. It’s also a great way to engage with them. With average costs for marketing reaching 5% of your yearly revenue, it’s good to cut those costs down by using this marketing strategy. It should help you generate leads and convert them into sales in no time.
