Conversational Marketing and the Era of Always-On Customer Connection
One of the reasons that I am always so excited to be a part of the #CMWorld community is that Content Marketing World brings together some of the most forward-looking and “big idea” thinkers in the field of digital marketing.
Badass Ladies of Content Marketing: Me with Heidi Cohen, Kate Volman, Lisa Loeffler
It’s with that forward-thinking attitude in mind that I crafted my talk at this year’s conference: “Let’s Chat: How Messaging Apps, Chatbots, and Voice Assistants Will Impact Your Business in the Next 3-5 years.”
Why Conversational Marketing Matters
What do messaging apps like WeChat and Messenger, chatbots (which can exist on your website, apps, or on other third-party platforms), and voice assistants have in common?
First, they rely on two-way dialogue to convey information.
Second, they create an expectation that information conveyed will be contextual: your responses will take into consideration your previous interactions.
Third, they are always on-demand, and ideally, they are (semi) customized.
In today’s day and age, it’s no longer good enough to say to a customer “go look it up in our FAQ.” In fact, to do so would be downright rude. Customers expect brands to respond personally and with thoughtfulness. They expect you to provide answers on their terms.
What Can Brands Do Right Away?
The easiest place to start is to build a simple chatbot based on your existing FAQs. Simply by making the FAQs searchable in a scripted, directed conversation, it makes it simpler to boil down the needs of the audience and make the customer feel taken care of.
Using the principles of choice architecture, we can break down customers’ choices through filtering mechanisms. Think of the phone menu you get on a customer service line: here are the 4 most common issues; pick yours or pick something else. It’s the same with most chatbots: they provide a few options and you self-guide through a simpler, dynamic set of recommendations.
How Conversational Marketing is Impacting Other Areas
Like I said, the very fact that conversational marketing is becoming the norm means that expectations are already changing in other areas. Brands like Bluehost and Google have already built in some of the same guided, contextual, and personalized features that two-way marketing channels have into their website.
The next time you need an FAQ on Bluehost, note how an overlay appears on your screen to take you exactly where you need to go.
Or, if you’re not a Bluehost user, consider the way you can not only search Google for questions but also get related queries. Search for Michelle Obama, then search for “age of…” and it will immediately recommend Michelle Obama’s age as the response.
Ready to have a conversation about your conversational marketing strategy or your digital marketing strategy in general? Let’s talk.