The relationship between brands and their audiences has long been a one-way street – brands, using catchy billboards, quirky TV commercials, or even the antiquated newspaper ads, talked at us, not to us. Tech advancements have made it possible for these relationships to become more interactive, thanks to the rise of social media, new consumer devices, and, of course, continued AI development. This paved the way for omnichannel strategies, which provide companies with a holistic approach to customer engagement by helping them maintain existing customer relationships and reach new audiences on the platforms they prefer.
But bombarding customers with visually appealing content on every existing communication platform is not an end-all-be-all solution to fostering loyalty and demonstrating a deep understanding of what audiences want. Executing campaigns that resonate with digitally native consumers require personalization – and that’s where conversational customer experiences come in.
Conversational Customer Experiences: Elevating Every Touchpoint of the Customer Journey
Every time you’ve used an in-app chatbot to reach customer service or talked to a brand on WhatsApp, you’ve had a conversational experience.
Conversational customer experiences is an umbrella term that covers every interaction between customers and businesses, from marketing campaigns to customer service inquiries and product recommendations. Typically taking place over digital channels, they can either be completely automated or involve some level of human interaction.
The beauty of conversational customer experiences is that whether or not they’re completely automated, the human element remains. That’s because AI sits at its core, using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to decipher intent, context, and subtle emotions behind human language in every one-on-one customer interaction. As a result, every customer receives the personalization they need in a dynamic conversation, making them feel their needs were heard and understood.
However, conversational AI only addresses one part of the personalization equation. Where these AI-powered interactions take place is just as important. While there are a vast number of channels used to reach current and prospective customers – including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, email, and even your phone’s default messaging app via text messaging (SMS) or Rich Communication Services (RCS) – it’s important to consider which channel might be most effective for the goal your marketing team wants to achieve.
For instance, posting visually engaging content on Instagram is an effective way to tease audiences about a product your brand is launching. In-app messaging uses context on the customer action and behavior needed to send notifications about their shopping carts. RCS messaging can be more adaptable based on its many interactive features, suited for high resolution marketing images and video, real-time customer service, and seamless purchases and payments.
Whatever the channel, conversational experiences are a vital part of creating meaningful and effective engagement, upleveling personalization for each individual customer and strengthening trust in your brand.
Strengthening Brand Engagement Across Every Audience
The global conversational AI market reportedly expected to grow to $61.69 billion by 2032.
Fortune Business Insights
Marketing has a more impactful function than simply initial brand visibility – it’s a conduit for ongoing customer loyalty, further underscoring the value of two-way communication. That’s why every industry is turning to conversational customer experiences as a customer relationship lifeline.
When we think of the companies that have adopted conversational customer experiences, it’s likely that industries like retail and travel are top of mind. Conversational commerce usurped recent headlines with the announcement of eBay’s new AI agent, Buzzfeed’s partnership with Shopsense AI, and even ChatGPT’s product-browsing feature. Meanwhile, travel companies like Priceline and Delta have adopted conversational experiences to ease the stress that comes with itinerary planning.
Source: OpenAI
More and more, we’re seeing other industries adopt conversational technologies, innovating their strategies to reach different subsets of audiences. For example, educators are embracing AI agents to create more hands-on learning experiences for their students, while sports teams are connecting with fans as they watch their favorite players from the bleachers or their living room sofas.
The continued emergence of conversational customer experiences across new industries demonstrates deeper potential to revolutionize engagement at every stage of the brand-customer relationship. As companies continue to discover how best to grow their engagement strategies to keep up with consumer expectations, they rely on omnichannel communications platforms to execute innovation at speed and scale.
At Infobip, the role of innovation executor is one we play frequently, helping businesses across every industry enhance their engagement strategies, wherever they are in their conversational adoption journey. This is essential for industries still in the early stages of advancing their engagement strategies in tandem with AI innovation.
As an example, elevating the fan experience with conversational technology is something that the sports industry is still in the early stages of exploring. We’re starting to see more of this with teams and organizations partnering with technology leaders to make sure they’re delivering personalization on par with the quality that fans expect in the digital age.
In fact, we announced a partnership with the MoneyGram Haas F1 Team just ahead of the latest auto-race to deliver real-time interactive fan journeys using conversational AI. The result: a fan experience that brought racecar enthusiasts right onto the track, empowering them with the ability to learn more about their favorite drivers, make purchases, and more via RCS messaging, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging. This is the latest in the burgeoning prevalence of conversational customer experiences creating meaningful fan experiences, following a collaboration between the NFL and Adobe, and the announcement of NB-AI.
The Key Role of Conversational Customer Experiences for Future-Proofing Your Brand
We’re just scratching the surface when it comes to the potential of conversational customer experiences, and the results already speak for themselves.
Consumer relationships are built on how much they trust your brand to understand their needs, as well as a brand’s ability to keep pace with rapid, ongoing tech innovation to deliver quality experiences for digitally native audiences. The value of conversational customer experiences in addressing both sides of the coin is becoming increasingly apparent as companies continue to integrate them into their omnichannel strategies.
Two-way communication in any relationship, including brand-customer relationships, is essential for a clear understanding of needs. By enabling two-way communication on digital communications platforms, brands can connect with their audiences on an individual level and be better able to not only deliver bespoke experiences, but foster long-term brand loyalty.
©2025 DK New Media, LLC, All rights reserved | DisclosureOriginally Published on Martech Zone: Engagement is a Two-Way Street: Using Conversational Customer Experiences to Build Customer-Brand Relationships