Conversational Marketing: definition, benefits, and implementation

The development of new communication channels (chatbot, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, WhatsApp…), has made conversations between shoppers and brands increasingly interactive and instantaneous.

This means that businesses have to embrace a strong conversational marketing strategy: customized messages, 24/7 availability, brand consistency across all communication channels… 79% of businesses¹ having implemented such a strategy have boosted their results (increased sales, improved customer loyalty, enhanced revenue…).

Read the definition of conversational marketing, the benefits it provides, and our tips for getting the most out of it.

Conversational Marketing: definition

Conversational Marketing is a selling strategy involving the use of various communication channels (chatbot, email, text messaging…) to establish a real-time dialogue with shoppers.

Such a strategy is essential to support shoppers throughout their shopping journey and to meet their expectations: 79% of shoppers² prefer live chats with speedy communication and 63%² are willing to send a message to a bot to communicate with a brand.

The benefits of Conversational Marketing

Conversational marketing is a tremendous business opportunity enabling brands to optimize their customer service efficiency: 95% of shoppers³ agree… while reducing the associated costs by over 33%².

Conversational marketing also enables businesses to better target their product promotion (sponsored messages, customized recommendations, latest offers…) improving their conversion rate by up to 45%².

It has the added advantage of establishing trust and loyalty among shoppers as 75% of them⁴ want to use messaging to interact with brands, just as they would with friends and family.

Develop a Conversational Marketing strategy

Customize messages

Customization is an essential part of any conversational marketing strategy.

A business should customize interactions with shoppers across all communication channels. 72% of shoppers⁵ expect brands to have a full understanding of their needs and 29%⁶ are irritated by standardized and impersonal chat answers.

The business should also take customization that bit further by making use of customer data: contact details, shopping history, preferred method of communication… Some businesses⁷ connect their chatbots to their CRM to provide more accurate answers to customers.

It's worth making these efforts to make the conversation between shoppers and brands more « human⁶ » to give shoppers a sense of connection with the brand.

24/7 availability

Availability is a key element of any conversational marketing strategy.

82% of shoppers⁷ expect brands to answer their questions immediately. The customer also expects to be able to contact the business easily: provide a mobile version of the chatbot, present contact information in the webpage footer, create a WhatsApp Business account…

You should also make use of the messaging features of social network platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat…). Instagram direct lets companies record quick answers⁸ to handle shopper questions efficiently and meet their increasing demand for immediacy.

Guarantee brand consistency

Implementing a conversational marketing strategy is important and requires ensuring brand consistency across all communication channels.

Messages should be unified on all channels (tone of voice, logo, style…) and consider previous interactions between the customer and the brand (complaints, questions, doubts…). This way shoppers can easily recognize the brand and do not have to repeat themselves every time they change communication channel.

This is essential to provide shoppers with a consistent experience throughout their purchasing journey: this is an important element for 55% of shoppers⁸.

Build trust among shoppers

For a successful conversational marketing strategy, you also have to gain the trust of shoppers.

Businesses should regularly collect customer feedback¹⁰: product reviews, probability of recommending a brand, testimonials… to demonstrate how much they value customer satisfaction. It is also important to « nurture the relationship with the customer¹¹ » and to continuously accompany them on all communication channels: 66% of shoppers¹² trust a brand more after having interacted with it and 55% feel closer¹² to the brand.

So, what's the takeaway? Conversational marketing is a strategy that greatly benefits businesses (boosted revenue, improved after sales efficiency, customer loyalty…). Implementing such a strategy requires a strong presence on communication channels and involves providing an optimal experience on each channel: brand consistency, availability, customization…

These efforts will create a strong emotional link with shoppers and allow you to meet their individual preferences.

¹ 40 Conversational Marketing Statistics for 2023. (2020, April 2). qualified.com.
² ZipDo. (2023, June 27). Exposing the Truth : Conversational Marketing Statistics in 2023.
³ Technologies, M. (2022, February 19). 14 Conversational Marketing Statistics You need to know. Medium.
⁴ Turner, M. (2023, June 7 ). How you can build customer loyalty with conversational marketing. salesforce.com.
⁵ Drake, A. (2023, March 8). What is conversational Marketing ? Top examples + benefits. learn.g2.com.
⁶ Team, S. 25 Conversational Marketing Statistics to reshape your selling strategy. soocial.com.
⁷ Les chatbots sont-ils l'avenir des CRM ?. blogrecrutement.bpce.fr.
⁸ L'équipe Instagram Business. (2019, October 31). Découvrez les nouveautés d'Instagram. business.instagram.com.
⁹ Commentator, E. (2020, April 24). The future of marketing is conversational. Smart Insights.
¹⁰ The Beginner's Guide to Conversational Marketing. mailchimp.com.
¹¹ Prélat, J. (2018, February 28). Les 3 piliers du marketing conversationnel. Les Echos.
¹² Valentincimino. (2021, August 29). Marketing conversationnel : moins d'interruption, plus de conversation ! agorapulse.com.