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There’s no doubt that the world of business has been something of a rollercoaster since March 2020, with some really significant changes; some of which are proving to be long-term in a bid to stay productive while keeping the COVID-19 virus at bay.  While brands are working hard to keep employees distanced, marketing, on the other hand, is getting a bit more touchy-feely in 2022 and here we will explore the trend of Conversational Marketing.

Talking shop

Marketing is all about getting your brand’s message across to the right people, at the right time.  As technology and awareness advance, marketing methods tend to be fluid and evolve at a rate of knots – and it’s your job to try to keep up.  As 2022 looms large, the one overriding marketing trend for the new year is Conversational Marketing.

A figure of speech

Conversational Marketing is all about bridging the gap between your customer and your brand through proper, real-time engagement.  This is done in a number of ways, including:

• Chatbots – OK, so I realise that there are mixed feelings about these but, in the bot’s defence, they are getting better.  Chatbots can be used to engage the customer by opening a dialogue through your website or your social media channels.  In 2021, these are used to great effect through conversational display ads – for the uninitiated, this is the art of taking the traditional display ad to the next level by using a chatbot to start a conversation actually within the ad.  The benefit for the customer is that they are able to receive real time information while staying with the original content which first attracted them.
• Email – Despite having countless different methods of communication at their disposal, figures show that a huge 86% of professionals choose good old fashioned email as their weapon of choice.  For brands, this presents the opportunity to reach their target audience through highly personalised, real-time email conversations.
• Social Media – In 2022, social media marketing is very much going to be a two way street.  Long gone are the days when brands could reasonably expect results by simply posting once a day and then putting their feet up.  These days, internet users expect real engagement with a brand through personal connections – and its your job to deliver.  By opening dialogue with your followers by posing questions and asking for opinions, as well as actively engaging with users through likes and shares.

As discussed in our previous article, Sentiment Analysis can play an important role in getting the right conversation started.

The benefits of Conversational Marketing

There are myriad benefits to making Conversational Marketing part of your overall strategy and, these include:

• Customer investment – Receiving personal contact from a brand makes a customer feel automatically invested in that company – and customer investment leads to customer purchases.
• Brand ambassadors – Getting customers onboard through Conversational Marketing opens the door wide open for brands to turn those customers into brand ambassadors.
• Instant response – Internet users have incredibly short attention spans and, if they don’t receive a response from your brand in a timely manner, there’s a good chance that they will go elsewhere.  The use of Conversational Marketing through chatbots allows you to respond instantly to your customers at any time of day – thereby increasing your chances of conversion.

Conclusion

With more competition than ever before, brands need to give customers a reason to buy from them.  With shouty advertising techniques moving further and further into the past, forward-thinking brands are discovering that it’s good to talk and, there’s little doubt that Conversational Marketing is the way forward for savvy marketers in 2022. For help and support with your online communications, don’t hesitate in speaking to Opace. We’re a Birmingham digital marketing agency with a fantastic reputation and have been supporting customers with their online endevours for over a decade.