a day ago
WhatsApp is exposing the inefficiencies of traditional marketing channels
WhatsApp AI-powered smartbots have been at the forefront of the wave of innovation that has revolutionised sales into the digital century, says the author.
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Traditional marketing channels such as call centres, SMSs and emails are being put on mute by consumers.
Ever since consumers have become more active and present online, it has accelerated the exposure of their personal data, opening the floodgates for them to be spammed with frequent calls and SMSs throughout the day, to a point where the POPI Act had to be amended in 2021 to tighten restrictions and protect consumers.
However, since then, the legislative loopholes of POPI have only enabled marketers to increase the number of times they contact consumers, simply because little to no companies have been reported and fined. This has been so prevalent that new POPI regulations that came into effect in April will now make direct marketing significantly more challenging for marketers using traditional methods.
But while consumers are rejecting the many spam calls received, marketers, fueled by desperation, only become more trapped in a vicious cycle by incessantly pouring more and more leads into top-of-funnel activity through traditional contact methods that cannot be innovated any further but still hoping for better outcomes.
Despite this glaringly obvious problem, some cellular networks, also out of desperation, have recently embarked on an attempt to position VideoSMS as the holy grail for all marketing challenges, by enabling marketers to include a graphic or video in a standard SMS message. This again fails to recognise and appreciate that, besides spam calls, consumers are also disregarding their SMSs.
There is, therefore, no logical reason to continue hammering the dead horse of traditional marketing channels that only result in the 30-40% lead retention. Businesses are losing time, losing money and losing customers.
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Additionally, by wearing down customers with incessant calls and coercing them into accepting the offer just to end the constant harassment, often results in the policy or product being cancelled by the customer a few months later. New strategies need to be brought in to either complement or replace the old strategies.
However, while call centres still have a place in omnichannel marketing strategies, their role in this function must be adjusted to meeting the customer on their terms, instead of trying to force the customer to accommodate the marketer.
Business strategies must be realigned to developments in technology that have changed customer behaviour, and while convenience is expected, it must always be on the customer's terms and time. Businesses need to put the customer at the centre of the organisation and build an ecosystem around them.
WhatsApp AI-powered smartbots have been at the forefront of the wave of innovation that has revolutionised sales into the digital century.
WhatsApp is the most preferred convenient means of communication due its 24/7 availability, and is, therefore, a no-brainer to think twice about engaging customers there.
Besides demanding more convenience, the digital century customer is also demanding instant gratification. Customers are more likely to abandon their efforts if the call-to-action function on your businesses's Facebook page links them to a call centre or email address. The thought of waiting on the line for 'the next available agent' or not knowing when they will get a response to their email is demoralising.
Additionally, research shows that 87% of customers are unlikely to move from Facebook page to a website through the call-to-action function to browse for further answers. Businesses have a two minute window of opportunity to keep the customer engaged when moving them from one platform to the other.
The opposite happens when potential customers are linked to a WhatsApp smartbot with the capabilities to provide answers to any of their questions almost immediately, just like one would have a conversation with ChatGPT, and where the customer has control of the pace of the sale process. Further research shows that the average customer wants to ask two to three questions before proceeding to a final purchase. It is in this stage that a new lead is sourced and can be linked to a call centre with a human touch for the final sale conversion, underpinning the argument that newer technologies can complement traditional methods.
With WhatsApp smartbots, businesses are now experiencing 60-70 per cent retention of leads they put into the top of the sales funnel, demonstrating how the platform has become the new digital marketing place solution, connecting buyers with sellers.
Additionally, customers are protective over their Whatsapp as a result of the spam they receive elsewhere. They will be more likely to report spam on the platform, with Whatsapp themselves acting on those reports and preventing it from becoming another spam platform, positioning it as the solution in a POPI-regulated world.
Smartbots also have the potential to generate new sales leads, especially when rolled out through strategic alliances between two different businesses. Think of how a credit score company's WhatsApp smartbot provides customers with updates with their credit scores. Through a strategic alliance with various banks, the credit score company's chatbot can be leveraged to send different customers their credit score and provide them with carousel recommendations of various credit card products that are tailored to each potential customer's score. The credit score company can then receive a commission for each successful sale. It will be up to each customer to click on the product options and then be referred to that relevant bank's WhatsApp smartbot for further engagement.
Outdated marketing channels alone are draining resources and stunts growth. Embracing new innovations not only meets the modern customer's expectations for speed and convenience but also redefines sales strategies for higher lead retention and smarter conversions
