How to use Conversational Marketing in the Buyer Journey
It’s a summer afternoon and you’re scrolling through Instagram during your lunch break. The algorithm has you mostly figured out: aspiring runner (well, runner—you just finished your first 10K), obsessed with your espresso machine, and planning your first trip to Japan. Because your feed is so attuned to your interests, you naturally use your social media for product discovery and product research. But, you’re a discerning shopper—reading reviews and asking questions on forums before clicking buy.
The traditional buyer journey includes three stages:
- Awareness: Buyer realizes they have a problem
- Consideration: Buyer begins to search for solutions
- Decision: Buyer may need an extra push to make the purchase
Seems simple enough, but today’s technology has complicated each stage. Consumers are inundated with information and as a result, they are always passively researching. Up to 77% of buyers are conducting their own independent research before contacting a salesperson or making a purchase (Spotio). Consequently, the buyer has the power when it comes to engaging with the brand. Marketers everywhere understand this struggle. How can they ensure that their message rises above the noise and stands out to their target audience? How can brands reframe consumer interactions and meet buyers where they are?
In a recent edition of Not Boring, Packy McCormick writes about optimization, algorithms, and the state of the internet. He says, “Good content and good business get drowned out by good optimizers, and that’s bad for us all.” Consumers and marketers alike are struggling to find and create truly different experiences, ones that inform and surprise. At Tildei, we want to give marketers more control of the buyer journey by centering conversation instead of the generic messaging on multiple channels.
Conversational marketing engages prospects through dialogue and gives brands the ability to prioritize foundational relationship building with the buyer, allowing the brand to become the central source for product discovery. Conversational marketing campaigns have a 45% higher engagement rate compared to traditional methods (Sinch).
Okay, let’s get back to you: the runner, the discerning shopper, and the espresso addict. Your shoe is bothering you while running and you’re getting blisters on your left heel. You open the shoe brand’s Instagram page and watch a short video about fit and it gets you thinking. You go to the website and notice that you can start a conversation with an associate about fit on WhatsApp.
The sales associate AI sends over a questionnaire and then recommends two styles of shoes that could help you with your problem. She asks you if you have any more questions and lets you know that one shoe is available in the store about 30 minutes away, but both shoes are available online. The sales associate continues and recommends two tests you can do at home to make sure that you’re getting the right fit. She sends a video of the test–combining elements of the awareness stage and consideration stage in a personalized interaction.
You have a week to try the shoes, make your decision, and return the second pair. You ask a few more questions on the return policy and the AI sales associate lets you know that it’s easy to set up and that you can message right back into the chat when you’re ready to begin the return process. This conversation is the push you need to make a purchase, combining the consideration stage and decision stage into a single conversation.
Conversational Marketing Centralizes The Brand Journey
Conversational Marketing is a response to the fractured and fragmented way customers today interact with brands. It centralizes the entire buyer journey and holds the customer’s attention through deep personalization and immediate back and forth.
Benefits of AI-powered conversational messaging:
- Engagement: Understand a customer's wants, needs, and concerns, taking control of the buyer journey through personalized, real-time interactions
- Accessibility: Communicate with customers anywhere and at anytime
- Cost Effectiveness: Power personalized conversation without adding more resources in terms of time and employees
- Collected Customer Information: Collect customer preferences and gain insight into their decision-making
Tildei’s AI platform is built to create impact for the marketer and the customer. Marketers no longer have to think of a singular workflow for multiple persona types or section out content for specific moments in the buyer journey. Tildei simplifies creating conversational messaging and adds the benefits of AI to your marketing stack.
After a week of trying on both pairs of shoes, you commit to a pair. Happy with your decision, you re-open your conversation and receive a return form from the sales associate. It was easy and you’re relieved that you don’t have to waste time anymore researching sneakers, you have a trusted advisor waiting for you on the other end of the line.
Tildei’s AI turns a traditionally complex process into a simple set of steps to power conversational marketing and build connection and loyalty.
Have a use case perfect for a conversational message? Talk to us about it.
