Inbound vs Conversational Marketing

Marketing is more effective when you can relate to each customer individually instead of using generic messages to reach a larger audience. I’ve been confused myself, and you’d be forgiven if you haven’t heard about inbound marketing vs. conversational marketing and the benefits both have. In my opinion, it all depends on why you’re selling. Do you want a brand to sell your products? Then inbound marketing is the way to go – this is how you attract businesses’ attention and convert them into customers. Conversational marketing focuses more on providing customer service to help you retain what you already have from customers.

Inbound marketing is a strategy used by businesses to reach their customers and prospects through different channels, such as social media and search engine optimization. It’s done through email campaigns, advertisements on various channels, coupons, and referral programs. Conversational Marketing (CM), on the other hand, is more personal. Unlike inbound marketing, it doesn’t rely on automated messages but instead talks directly to your customers through live chat sessions. It’s personalized in that you can “get to know” your customers and make them feel like they’re talking to a friend rather than just another number.

Here’s a quick rundown of how both approach help you enhance your marketing efforts

Conversational Marketing

1. Personalization

Conversational marketing builds relationships and creates authentic experiences which provide information tailored to them and personalized support. You can gather a detailed background, understand where your customers are coming from, and build strong data for data-driven marketing. By doing so, brands can increase brand awareness, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction.

2. Higher Engagement Level

Conversational marketing boosts the user experience and provides an opportunity to improve customer engagement. If your brand is new, conversational marketing can also be used to build trust and credibility, which will help you find additional leads and customers. It reduces customer acquisition costs by offering a new way for them to interact with your brand.

3. Lead Generation

Conversational marketing allows businesses to convert leads into customers by creating engaging conversations with potential leads before they become customers. Brands who use conversational marketing will be able to better connect with their audience as they have multiple channels and social media platforms such as Facebook Groups or Instagram Stories. By using conversational tools, such as chatbots, you can improve the number of visitors who become qualified leads or customers.

One example of conversational marketing is the popular fashion brand Zara’s use of chatbots on Facebook Messenger. Users can send a message to a chatbot asking for help or advice about a product they’re interested in buying from Zara. The chatbot then responds with relevant information about their shopping item. This allows users to ask questions without leaving Facebook Messenger, which has become increasingly popular as an easy way for users to communicate with brands and businesses directly via messaging apps like WhatsApp or WeChat.

With Unica Interact, you can optimize contact center interactions by using the power of your contact center for increased revenue generation and customer retention. You can provide better interactive voice response (IVR) navigation, on-hold message selection, instant offers for retention and cross-selling, prioritization of offers, and website intervention (such as chat or VoIP).

Inbound Marketing

The advantages of inbound marketing include the following:

1. It’s Cost-Effective

Inbound marketing doesn’t require you to spend money on advertising campaigns or expensive banner ads. As long as you have an internet connection and some writing skills, you can create content that attracts potential customers.

2. It’s More Targeted

Inbound marketing allows businesses to focus their efforts on specific audiences by writing blog posts and creating social media pages for them. It focuses on attracting and retaining customers through high-quality content that naturally leads to sales. It’s a great way to communicate with your target audience, build trust, and generate leads. Conversational marketing isn’t about replacing inbound but about maximizing the value of those leads when they arrive.

3. It Draws More Sales

Inbound marketing aims to help your customers solve problems and make decisions that fit their needs. This results in more conversions, leads, and sales than traditional methods of advertising or selling products/services in the marketplace. It has a very valuable function which lies right at the top of the sales funnel. The goal is to draw as many leads as possible toward your website. There are many ways to achieve this, from google rankings to viral content.

A great example of inbound marketing is the way that companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Google use their sites to target customers rather than just sell products. Using data and analysis to find out what people want (and don’t want), these companies have created products that people love while also making money.

Using Unica Interact’s Triggered Message functionality, a marketer can acquire, engage, and retain customers by presenting them with offers that suit their needs at the right moment through the right channel. To learn more about Unica Interact and its interesting use case, you can reach out to us, and we will be happy to help.