Inbound marketing is built on the foundation of connecting with your audience, and personal interactions with your audience can create a more one-on-one connection. Conversational marketing equips you with the tools to build stronger relationships with your audience by creating a more personal experience.
What is Conversational Marketing? 
Conversational marketing is a dialogue-driven marketing approach used to engage your audience in real time. Conversational marketing creates a more genuine experience for your audience, which elevates every interaction by instilling trust. Elevating your interactions with your audience by embracing conversational marketing gives you the chance to talk to potential leads more directly.
The foundation of good communication is trust. The best way to build this trust is by sharing relevant information. Successful conversational marketing strategies have authentic and efficient ways to provide your audience with support, answers to their questions, and personalized recommendations. We’ve all had experiences communicating with companies. When a business streamlines its communication efforts it’s a whole lot easier to find the solution you're looking for. If the information you need is placed directly in front of you, it eliminates the time you’d normally spend scrolling through a company’s website.
“Businesses should strive to deliver the right message, at the right time, to the right person, with the right information, on the right channel, every single time.”
Elevating Customer and Potential-Lead Relationships
Current and potential customers likely expect conversations to happen where and when they want. Even with these increased expectations, the core value of conversational marketing remains the same. At the end of the day, relationship building is the core impact of conversational marketing. In order to achieve this in your marketing efforts, you need to provide a helpful, personal, and empathetic experience.
Conversational marketing allows you to understand your audience. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the extra kick you need to take your conversational marketing strategy to the next level. CRM provides the context to gather and store the data that your customer provides, anything from their recent orders to their job title. The more you know about the customer and the more you can provide value in your conversations with them. By providing the most value, you can build their trust and engage with them more authentically.
Types of Conversational Marketing
We know there is an abundance of tools available to communicate with our audience, but as Brian Bagdasarian says, it’s important to invest in the right ones for your target audience. Here are some insights into the leading ways businesses communicate with their audiences.
1. ChatBots
It’s impossible to respond to contacts around the clock. ChatBots are a distinguished tool to help get the ball rolling when you can’t respond immediately. Not to mention that 69% of consumers find communication with ChatBots effective. ChatBots are powered completely by artificial intelligence technology so they are able to work 24/7/365. Effective Bots provide value and encourage users to continue to visit your site. Bots handle the more logistical conversations, so you can focus on ones that benefit from the human touch. This technology allows you to provide guidance and respond to your client's inquiries in a more conversational way than just your FAQ page.
2. Live Chat
Opposed to ChatBots, Live chat offers a human-to-human experience for your audience. Live Chat is well-suited for the more complicated inquiries that your clients might have. Live chat connects your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. For B2B companies, HubSpot is a multipurpose option for incorporating live chat with your other inbound efforts. can be a great resource. Using HubSpot live chat allows clients to ask questions directly from your website. Live chat conversations with visitors are saved to the Conversations Inbox making it easy to gather insights across your CRM. 
3. Messaging Apps
Messaging apps give your clients the chance to communicate with you on the platforms they are already accustomed to using. Over 85% of consumers spend their time on five popular apps, which mainly consist of social platforms. Social media messaging and SMS, provide a seamless experience that feels natural to your clients. Not to mention that SMS open rates are, on average, as high as 98%. Integrating these channels into your site with APIs (application programming interfaces), plugins, or widgets will make it easy for your clients to provide specific details so you can offer quick, personalized support. For example, HubSpot recently experimented with delivering content offers via Facebook Messenger. The test saw a 2.5x increase in open rates and 6X the number of clicks when compared to email.
4. Voice Assistants
Over 71% of consumers prefer to conduct queries by voice instead of typing. This makes voice assistants an important component of online accessibility. On average, voice assistants can answer 93.7% of all search queries. This technology allows your audience to ask questions and make purchases with voice assistants like Siri and Amazon Alexa. When you can create pathways to leverage your content and communication through voice search, you make things 10x easier for your client.
Looking Ahead
The technology that fuels conversational marketing has changed over the years. Today more than ever, your audience expects efficient and quality communication. With all the resources at your disposal with new innovations in artificial intelligence, the sky's the limit. These tools can help you reach your customers in a more direct and impactful way.
People are becoming increasingly invested in mobile devices. The average adult spends 5 hours per day on their phones. We all pick up our phones multiple times every day. As a result, people are more inclined to interact with mobile-friendly content. This is why your audience prefers social media and messaging even more.
Conversations should take place across your entire business. Inbound marketing focuses on providing value to your audience and meeting them where they are. The goal of conversational marketing is to elevate the relationships you have with your audience.
