For a long time, cookies were the cornerstone of most online marketing campaigns, providing valuable information about potential customers that helped to target those most likely to respond in a positive way. With Google planning to eliminate cookies from its platforms in the near future, marketers are looking to adjust to the new circumstances. A great solution could be already at hand, but despite the fact that chat marketing is a well-known technique its potentials are still not obvious to many business owners and even digital marketing professionals.
What Does the ‘Death of Cookies’ Mean for Online Marketing?
Online promotion requires access to user data in order to be efficient, and cookies are able to provide troves of information about the online actions of each user. Their expected replacement with a more privacy-sensitive mechanism in 2023 raises some serious questions about the viability of targeted online campaigns that were so prevalent in the recent period. Brands are facing the possibility of having to ‘operate in the dark’, without any insights about their potential customers. This is why in the industry circles the upcoming change is sometimes referred to as ‘Cookie Apocalypse’, illustrating the level of uncertainty and fear in the marketplace. Even more seriously, the changes reflect the shifting attitude of online users who are increasingly concerned about their privacy and less likely to tolerate invasive ads.
How Can Conversational Marketing Replace Traditional Online Ads?
Elimination of cookies will effectively prevent collection of third-party data, but there are other ways to learn about users. In conversational marketing, information is freely offered by the participants in the chat and collecting it is both legally and ethically acceptable. Since most brands are already in direct contact with customers through social media platforms, adopting a new approach based on one-on-one communication through live chat is simply the logical next step. Conversational methods may not be a true replacement for cookie-based campaigns of the past, but they offer an alternative that won’t be affected by the coming ‘apocalypse’. If used the right way and with the right technological tools, this approach can actually lead to improved performance of your online campaigns.
Advanced Chatbots Open New Possibilities for Interaction
To truly maximize the impact of social media conversations on their sales and profits, marketers should strongly consider chatbot technology. Chatbots designed specifically for social media chat conversations can be programmed to interact with online contacts and convert some of them into paying customers. This process is more interactive and less invasive than bombarding users with repetitive messages based on their demographics and interests, and it opens some amazing possibilities for relationship building. Instead of chasing clicks and rewarding instant action, with chatbots it’s possible to focus on long-term loyalty without sacrificing short-term revenues.
“To reduce dependence on third-party data and enable one-to-one customer relationships, I believe you’ll start to see brands launch first-party data strategies to gain new insights and engage consumers in new and innovative ways. Businesses need to re-invent how they connect and build relationships.” Explained Ryan Dearlove, founder at Chit Chat Agency, a leading bot development agency.
Embracing Large Scale Automation Based on AI Algorithms
Once they are set up, chatbots operate independently and are capable of maintaining natural conversations about topics relevant to the brand. This is possible thanks to their software configuration that incorporates some of the latest Artificial Intelligence concepts. Those bots are smart, can be customised in many different ways, and they learn about the people they interact with. Those features make them ideal for large scale automation efforts, which may be a necessity in the rapidly expanding social media universe. Embracing this trend early brings numerous advantages, especially for businesses that market products or services to mass audiences. The campaigns of the future will be larger, more direct, and more focused on customer satisfaction, and they might well be managed by smart chatbots that are already available today.
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Autor: Frank Hamilton
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Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
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