We’ve been having conversations and telling stories long before the written word, social media is just making it easier to have conversations across states and oceans. Add Conversational Marketing to the mix to make those conversations personal.

Conversational marketing isn’t a fad. It’s the ability to connect and have a one-on-one, personal dialogue in real-time.

Here are the top three benefits of conversational marketing:

1. Can happen anytime. Your business may be open from 9AM-5PM, but customers want the ability to ask questions whenever they please. Customers can now initiate a conversation and resume it at their leisure.

2. Can happen anywhere. 1-800-what? Don’t worry, customers are still using phone, email and even text messages to communicate, but some are taking a different route to getting their questions answered. Websites offer live chats. Social Media has private messages or DMs (direct messages). The latest mediums of communication have expanded the menu of viable options for conversational marketing.

3. Data. Isn’t it great when you talk to a friend or spouse (COUGH COUGH) and they actually listen to you? The next time you see them, you don’t have to rehash the story all over again. Conversational marketing is the same, but for your business. It provides the ability to gather and retain data. For example, Customer X, let’s call him Harry, messages you on Facebook about a defect on product A, the following day Harry asks for a return via email. When you receive the email, you already know he wants to return Product A because it has a defect, no need to rehash this information again. The power of data!

Taking Conversational Marketing to the Next Level

For many small businesses, having a team of customer service agents available 24/7 is nearly impossible, but chatbots are available to help bridge the gap. Chatbots are an essential element of support, providing answers to your company’s most frequently asked questions. Chatbots can be optimized on social media and can even be added to your website through a third-party provider like SnapEngage.

Still not sold? Over 2 BILLION messages are sent to businesses each month through Facebook Messenger alone and with customer response time expectations at roughly 24 hours your business should be apart of these conversations!