Real-time techniques – how to converse with your consumers

Caroline Worboys, managing director, Callcredit Marketing Solutions, looks at how marketers can use online techniques to engage with consumers in real-time…

After months and years of skirting around the subject, it seems that the marketing industry is finally waking up to the benefits of real-time interaction with consumers, with many brands choosing to conduct online research to gauge immediate responses. Companies are realising that communicating online, and in real-time with their audiences, opens up an invaluable dialogue with consumers which is more reactive and accurate than other forms of opinion gathering. But we shouldn’t stop at research when exploring the real-time concept; it’s a topic that will play a vital part in how marketing strategies evolve over the coming months and years.

It’s true that asking consumers what they think about brands within their own, chosen online environment can only be a good thing, but this is largely for the benefit of brands. What marketers must now realise is that if we are to use such techniques to connect with consumers for our own purposes, we must make sure we also use them to aid the customer journey. When people feel as if they are receiving a personalised service which will enable them to enjoy more freedom and benefits from the brand, they are much more likely to contribute to their side of the bargain by offering useful feedback and evaluation of the services they are using.

Real-time tactics allow marketers to take the personalised approach one step further. Tools such as web chat, instant messaging and in some cases social media can allow brands to be there for customers at the exact moment they need guidance and information, providing a timely response to whatever queries they have. If a customer service agent can ‘pop up’ on the browser’s screen and offer instant assistance, it is a sign to the customer that a) the company cares enough about their experience to allocate resources, and b) it has the capability to offer instant and personalised advice.

Web chat functions also give the customer power and choice in the conversation. For example, agents can send an instant message asking if the customer wants a call; if not, then the call is not made. It is this shift in power that will ensure a relationship of trust between consumers and brands. After all, the most common complaint with service calls is that they are unwanted or at an inconvenient time.

In an industry which is constantly evolving with sophisticated technology and a range of tools available to help us understand our customers better, it’s about time we made sure that these techniques are being used with consumers’ best interests in mind. The marketers who only choose to use such tools to advance their own short term agenda will be those who miss out on the real trick of real-time: having a good old-fashioned conversation with the customer.