Most B2B marketers use chat platforms like Drift to convert website visitors. The primary use case for chatbots in B2B is to increase web engagement and conversion rates.
Here are a few examples of how clients are using chatbots to increase sales engagement, shorten sales cycles, and increase revenue:
1. Trial & Demo Conversions
To convert free trials and (self-serve) demos, the user must engage with the product frequently and in a way that conveys perceived value. As a result, chat is an ideal tool for responding to specific actions (or lack thereof) and engaging the user in conversation that, for example, points to other, related features that he/she may also find useful.
2. ABM
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is using chat technology and personalized conversations to identify, engage, and capture targeted account prospects. addressing those companies by name (“Hey Google! Welcome back…”) with account-specific benefits and pain points can pay huge dividends.
3. Driving Blog & Newsletter Subscriptions
Corporate blogs rarely generate engagement or sales leads, but their content often ranks highly in search and thus can be a primary source of organic traffic. Look for ways to encourage subscriptions (“Want to receive great content like this monthly?”) or point readers to related content (“Want to learn more about [topic]?”). See our recent Webinar on…”)
4. Lead Nurturing
Marketers are expanding lead nurturing campaigns to include remarketing, content syndication, paid social, and even direct mail. This layer can identify an existing prospect and respond with language or content that encourages them to move forward in the sales process. (Add custom chatbots to thank you pages to identify hot leads ready to speak with sales.)
5. Event Registrations
Even if we aren’t quite there yet, allowing visitors to register via chat instead of a form can make a big difference in certain situations and campaigns. Webinars are one example. Use a pop-up chatbot when someone clicks the “register now” button. Just one more question and you’re in. That keeps them on the right page and speeds up the sign-up process. This is useful when marketing to existing prospects and don’t need to collect a lot of data.
6. Retargeting
Retargeting is another B2B staple that benefits from strategic chat technology application. In order to increase the rate at which a retargeted visitor becomes a measurable and actionable lead, acknowledge their prior interests and offer tailored content offers.
7. Progressive Profiling
With marketing automation and pre-filled forms, progressive profiling allows best-in-class nurture programs to collect incremental data about existing prospects. Chat can help your marketing automation platform (MAP) by recognizing existing leads and initiating conversations to gather more information.