Conversational marketing: Combining the power of AI with humans

In today’s world, there is no escaping the fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a more prominent role to play in business than ever before. For the best results, though, AI must be combined with human input. Conversational marketing is an area where the symbiotic relationship between the two is able to flourish.

So, what exactly is conversational marketing and how can an AI-powered conversational UI be used in conjunction with humans to deliver the best results for consumers and companies alike? Here’s all you need to know.

What is conversational marketing?

Conversational marketing is characterised as two-way, one-to-one interactions conducted in real-time. It can be facilitated by Live Chat software, AI chatbots, IM tools, and more.

Experts at Forbes explain that conversational marketing “enables brands to communicate with existing customers and prospects in a way that’s more personalised and conversational”. In other words, it opens up a more natural dynamic to support the relationship between brands and consumers.

Conversational marketing can extend to other two-way communications, such as telephone interactions and emails. In today’s world, though, digital channels like Live Chat or Chatbots deliver the convenience and comfort that consumers deserve.

Why is conversational marketing so successful?

Conversational marketing is successful for many reasons, but not least because it offers incredible versatility. The symbiotic relationship of conversational UI through AI tools and the personal touch of one-to-one interactions with human agents through Live Chat can be utilised for customer experience or personalised marketing strategies.

Often seen as an element of inbound marketing, conversational marketing is the process of actively interacting with consumers. When handled efficiently, it can;

• Improve lead generation by encouraging users to interact with the brand whilst also asking the right questions to generate genuine interest.
• Create faster-moving sales funnels as marketing and sales elements are better connected. Data-driven actions and quick responses also aid the cause.
• Deliver a better UX underpinned by personalisation as your AI and human messages can be influenced by the user’s actions on the website or App.
• Build greater trust as a result of meaningful interactions and increased availability of qualified information from the individual across all channels.
• Remove distractions and keep users interacting with the business for longer, thus reducing the threat of cart abandonment and lost transactions.

To unlock the full benefits of communicational marketing, however, it will be necessary to combine AI-powered and human-powered elements.

How to make the most of conversational marketing

Combining the power of AI with humans in modern business requires a clear strategy. Here are some top tips to help you master it in 2024 and beyond:

• Know what questions AI can field

AI-powered communicational UI can be used to solve a wide range of issues. Given that 90% of consumers view instant responses as crucial, it’s essential that you use automated responses where possible. One of the key steps to building a successful strategy, then, is to determine how a Chatbot will assist your leads and customers.

Chatbots can be used to answer an array of generic questions much like an FAQ page could, only with greater direction. Alternatively, it may field client-specific questions relating to the client’s order or membership. It could subsequently help them with completing a purchase, accessing content and promotions, or many other parts of the process. Crucially, the questions and answers may be influenced by the company’s objectives.

• Personalise

In addition to enabling communicational UI features to answer generic questions, they should be able to provide personalised support. By tacking what stage of the consumer journey a user is at, it may be possible to provide a different level of help.

Meanwhile, conversations can be personalised depending on user behaviour. Whether it’s providing relevant links to help them complete the next step of the purchase or retrieving information related to an order doesn’t matter. The ability to provide engaging conversations that emulate human interactions but with faster results will ensure that users receive the best possible approach to conversational marketing.

• Streamline

It is suggested that 79% of leads are lost due to poor funnel execution or lack of support during the customer journey. While conversational marketing certainly helps, AI tools should provide quick answers regardless of whether that’s solutions or moving the user to an agent.

While it may take a few questions to reach the intended outcome, attempting to make it take no more than five actions will prevent frustration from the users. Integrating multiple choice options, for example, can help chatbots retrieve the data needed to make relevant suggestions and deliver personalised support in the quickest time. It is also important to have the option for users to ask for a human agent, as this is still the preferred route for many.

• Train human agents

The use of AI-powered conversational UI tools is hugely important but human advisors continue to play an essential role in the process. Training humans to use their dashboard reporting and past consumer interactions is vital. Not least for the sake of consistency.

Consumers still wish to speak to a human, even when they don’t like telephone or face-to-face interactions. However, this only remains true when the agent can be contacted quickly and knows how to deliver answers with clarity while also helping users take the intended steps. In short, even the best computer systems can only deliver limited results if they are not supported by winning human interaction. Do not forget it.

• Keep improving

The concept of conversational marketing is still in its relative infancy. Consequently, then, you can expect to see significant developments over the coming months and years. Furthermore, it’s important to recognise that you cannot achieve the desired results if your customers are unsatisfied with your approach.

Therefore, it is essential that you welcome feedback from users. The information that they provide can help identify any issues, such as chatbots not directing users to live agents soon enough, and influence your subsequent decisions. By continuing to develop improved conversational marketing efforts, conversational marketing won’t only allow you to get ahead of the competition. Crucially, it’ll help you stay there.

The final word on conversational marketing

Whether they are familiar with the terminology or not, modern consumers now expect brands to deliver conversational marketing and customer care. If you are not providing it already, now is the time to start. To learn more about combining the power of AI with humans, contact our experts or arrange a free trial today.