Conversational marketing software, also known as messenger marketing software, engages potential customers with personalized, one-on-one conversations en route to specific product recommendations or offers. Consumer brands leverage this technology to identify interested buyers on social networks or product websites, answer concerns or questions, determine the best possible sales items, and transfer customers to payment gateways or sales representatives to close transactions. Using built-in chatbot and artificial intelligence technology, sales departments can construct intelligent response flows that will guide visitors through helpful conversations at various touchpoints based on user activity and other details. Businesses can then follow up at a later time with interested customers who do not purchase on the spot, picking up the conversation where it left off. Conversational marketing platforms help provide a higher standard of customer service at scale and simplify the overall buying process for potential customers around the world at any time of day. Successful use of these platforms can also generate valuable, qualified leads, provide high-level insights into customer demographics and preferences, and accelerate the sales cycle.
Products in the conversational marketing category typically share features of or integrate with live chat and chatbot software to produce real-time, meaningful dialogues with customers at different points in the buying journey. A number of these solutions involve a combination of automated and live human involvement on the business side—for example, chatbots can ping the appropriate salesperson to take control at critical points in the conversation. These products may also integrate with messengers on major social networks as well as SMS or email; certain visitor behaviors or trends on company social profiles or websites can trigger conversations. Conversational marketing protects may sync with e-commerce platforms or payment gateways to provide detailed product information or complete transactions, respectively. This technology may integrate with or share features of bot platforms to create unique messaging applications suited to the user’s needs. Elements of customer engagement on social networks are comparable to those of social customer service tools.
To qualify for inclusion in the Conversational Marketing category, a product must:
- Assist in the creation of intelligent messaging bots that engage visitors on one or more channels
- Provide tools for creating personalized response flows within conversations
- Direct interested buyers to sales reps or online stores for purchasing goods or services in the event of successful conversations
- Track customer journeys and allow for follow-ups from chatbots or sales representatives
