book

Conversational Marketing

by David Cancel, Dave Gerhardt

January 2019

Beginner to intermediate

288 pages

6h 25m

English

Wiley

Audiobook available

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Today, Customers Have All the PowerWinners and Losers: Why Companies Need to AdaptAmazon vs. BordersNetflix vs. BlockbusterUber and Lyft vs. Yellow CabsWhy I Wrote This Book (and Why Now)
58% of B2B Websites Are “Empty Stores” . . . Is Yours One of Them?90% of B2B Companies Don’t Respond to Leads Fast Enough . . . Do You?81% of Tech Buyers Don’t Fill Out Forms . . . Are You Still Using Them?Using Real-Time Conversations to Achieve HypergrowthThe Conversational Marketing and Sales Methodology
The Three Waves of Messaging (and How the Third Wave Changed Everything)Why 90% of Global Consumers Want to Use Messaging to Talk to BusinessesUsing Messaging to Capture and Qualify Leads in a Single StepBut . . . How Does It Scale?
Chatbots: They’ve Got Our BacksA Brief History of ChatbotsChatbots and Humans: Finding the Perfect BalanceHow Chatbots Enable a Better Buying ExperienceHow a Single Marketer Can Book Meetings for Dozens of Sales Reps Using Chatbots
The Problems with Lead Capture FormsHow the #NoForms Movement Got Its StartRethinking Our Content and Lead Generation StrategiesReplacing Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQLs) with Conversation-Qualified Leads (CQLs)
A Flawed System: The Ongoing Battle Over LeadsStreamlining the Marketing/Sales Handoff with Artificial IntelligenceThe End of Business Development Reps (BDRS)?Sharing the Most Important Metric: Revenue
Replace Your Forms or Add a “Second Net” (Don’t Worry, It Takes Five Minutes)Put Up a Welcome MessageSet Expectations with Online/Offline HoursShow Your FaceCreate Separate Inboxes for Sales, Support, Success, Etc.Know Your Stuff (and Use Tools That Can Help)Capture Leads (Without Using Lead Forms)

Email Isn’t Dead (You’re Just Doing It Wrong)The Problems with Traditional Email MarketingA Few Simple Tweaks for Bringing Your Email Marketing Strategy into the Real-Time WorldWhy Replies Are the Most Important Email Metric
So, Uh, What Do I Say?The Best Questions to Ask Your Website VisitorsUse Data to Have Better ConversationsScore the Leads You Talk to (and Send the Best Ones to Sales)
Where to Start: Targeting the High-Intent Pages on Your SiteTargeting Visitors Based on Their On-Site BehaviorTargeting Visitors Based On the Sites They’re Coming FromTargeting Visitors Based On the Companies They Work ForOther Targeting Options for Increasing Conversion Rates
Coming Up with Questions and Responses for Your BotDeciding On a Call-to-Action (CTA)Five Tips for Making Your Chatbot Conversations More Engaging
Set Up Routing Rules So Leads Always Are Connected to the Right Sales RepsUse Chatbots to Schedule Sales Meetings 24/7Have Your Website’s “Contact Sales” CTA Trigger a Real-Time ConversationHave Sales Reps Create Digital Business CardsGet Real-Time Notifications When Leads Are OnlineSay Goodbye to Manual Data Entry
Ask for Permission Before You Start Asking QuestionsLet Your Sales Reps’ Personalities Shine ThroughUse Empathy Statements to Show You’re ListeningShow the Value of Your SolutionUse a Video Call to Personalize the Final Ask
The Days of Spray and Pray Are OverUsing Artificial Intelligence to Unsubscribe People Who Aren’t InterestedCustomizing Your Sales Emails with Calendar LinksCreating Personalized Welcome Messages for People Who Open Your Emails
What Is ABM? (and Why Should You Care?)How a Real-Time Approach Can Solve ABM’s Biggest ProblemRolling Out the Red Carpet for Your ABM ProspectsMining for New ABM Prospects on Your Website
Creating an Incredible Brand ExperienceStaying Close to Your Customers (Through Continuous Feedback)What to Do with Customer Feedback Once You Collect It
Overhauling the Traditional Approach to OnboardingOpening a Fast Lane to Your Customer Success ManagersUsing Real-Time Conversations in the Battle Against ChurnConversational Upselling 101
Sales Meetings BookedOpportunities AddedPipeline InfluencedClosed/WonConversation MetricsTeam Performance MetricsFinal Thought

Content preview from Conversational Marketing

Chapter 1 Your Website Is Leaking Revenue (Here’s How to Fix It)

Imagine seeing an advertisement for a new store that’s just opened in your neighborhood, but when you walk into that store, there’s no one there to greet you. In fact, there are no employees there at all. No salespeople walking the floor. No clerks behind the counters. And what makes the situation even more puzzling is that all of the store’s shelves are empty. There are no actual products that you can sample or try out, only pictures and descriptions.

At first glance, this appears to be a store—a store that you just saw an advertisement for a few minutes ago, mind you—that won’t let you buy anything.

But then you see it: Way in the back, there’s an old, dusty table, and on that table is a pen and a clipboard. “Ready to buy?” the form on the clipboard says. “Just fill this out and we’ll follow up with you later.”

“But what if I’m ready to buy now?” you ask aloud to no one.

58% of B2B Websites Are “Empty Stores” . . . Is Yours One of Them?

The above scenario sounds ridiculous because it absolutely is ridiculous. No brick-and-mortar store would pay for ads and generate buzz only to ignore potential customers once they showed up. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what most business-to-business (B2B) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies have been doing with their websites. According to eMarketer, B2B companies ended up spending a collective $4.6 billion on ads that drove people to their websites in 2018. Yet ...