7 Ways IVR Boosts Your Marketing & Sales

The success of your marketing efforts depends on how effectively you can communicate with your potential customers at every point of your sales funnel. You should provide the best experience possible, both online and offline. For instance, your potential customers can call you, and you should make sure that this way, the communication is as effective as when engaging with them online or in person. As per a Microsoft survey, as much as 60% of customers don’t complete their purchases because of poor customer experience. 

If you want to drive more conversions, you need to optimize your online as well as offline customer experience. One of the effective ways to improve the customer experience is to use IVR (which stands for Interactive Voice Response) and help customers connect with your business as and when they need. In this article, we will explain what IVR is and how you can use it to deliver a better customer experience and make your marketing efforts more effective.

What Is IVR and How Does It Work?

IVR systems are a type of software created for calls. It relies on voice recognition or keypads. IVR systems don’t need anyone to direct calls, and they save callers a lot of time. Big call centers need IVR systems to be able to control their call volumes. Thanks to such systems, callers can quickly reach a particular department within a company and talk to the right person. IVR systems may work differently, depending on a company’s call network and its menu system.

Although there are many different IVR systems, most of them are based on the same sequence. First, callers dial in and listen to a pre-recorded greeting. After this, many IVR systems ask a caller to choose the preferred language. Then the caller listens to different menu options. For instance, the system may offer them to press “1” for support service and to press “2” to talk to the sales department. The caller responds, and the call gets redirected to the necessary department or service.

IVR Boosts Marketing Success

Enhancing marketing and sales with IVR systems

Let’s dive a little deeper: 

• IVR for all businesses: IVR systems are not just for large enterprises. They are equally valuable for small and large companies to run effective marketing campaigns and support lead generation.
• Enhanced call routing: IVR improves call routing, a feature customers highly appreciate. Quick routing boosts customer satisfaction and helps you manage campaigns effectively.
• Reliability and responsiveness: IVR solutions empower you to enhance reliability by responding to customer queries promptly, which is vital for building trust.
• Efficiency and cost savings: Speech recognition and touch-tone IVR systems streamline inbound calls, improving staff efficiency and leading to significant cost savings.
• Elevated customer experience: By handling a higher volume of calls efficiently, IVR systems help you deliver an enhanced customer experience.

Also, the benefits of IVR are not limited to efficient call routing. Several key features of IVR can help you with your marketing and deliver a seamless customer experience:

Benefits of IVR: Marketing & Sales Perspective

7 Ways IVR Systems Help Your Marketing Campaigns and Sales Process

1. Use on-hold messages to promote offers

This is probably the most obvious area of application, but it’s important to mention on-hold messages because you should take them into account while implementing an IVR system for your business. Some people think that they need to choose either IVR or on-hold messages. The truth is that, even though IVR can reduce on-hold time, it doesn’t eliminate it. The remaining on-hold time shouldn’t be filled with silence. 

If you include an on-hold message, consumers will spend more time staying on the line. Such messages enable you to engage with your audience, telling them about your latest offers and promos. With IVR on-hold messages, you can:

• Demonstrate that you care about customers’ time
• Engage callers with information on your products, services, and offers
• Reduce call drop rate

2. Generate leads for marketing campaigns

Many marketers use IVR as a call to action. Besides sending emails and using ads, you can also encourage your potential customers to call your IVR number and talk to you through IVR. For example, you can ask people to take a quick survey or to find out whether they’re using the most effective solution or need to switch to your solution. 

Once users call your IVR number and interact with the menu, it can seamlessly connect them with your sales representatives. This system allows you to intelligently route callers to specific agents based on the IVR campaign they originated from, optimizing the lead generation and sales process. Regardless of whether callers make a purchase, you can capture their contact details and responses to your inquiries. 

3. Score leads from calls before passing them to sales representatives

Thanks to IVRs, you can evaluate and score your phone leads to focus on the most promising ones. Your IVR can ask various questions and qualify your leads for a particular campaign. You can determine the quality of your leads, knowing whether or not they’re ready to buy. We recommend that you talk to your sales manager to know what questions they consider especially important when it comes to qualifying leads. 

• Effective lead routing: IVR efficiently directs qualified leads to your sales team based on their scoring, optimizing the conversion process.
• Customized marketing messages: For leads that do not meet the criteria, IVR allows you to deliver tailored marketing messages to nurture and engage them.
• Multi-level IVR: Use multiple IVR systems to route leads to a second IVR aligned with specific campaigns, enhancing targeting precision.
• Enhanced qualification: While web forms use qualifying questions, IVR offers a more effective approach by enabling an immediate connection between leads and sales representatives.

4. Research your audience preferences, needs, and habits

All marketers need to research their target audience to determine their purchasing needs and habits. Surveys are an invaluable source of insights into your customers’ behavior and preferences. You can ask your audience about your products or services, as well as about the industry as a whole. You can understand what they consider important, interesting, or convenient. 

You can also find many growth opportunities. Researching your audience with IVR surveys offers a high response rate and great flexibility. You can get feedback from your customers through automated IVR calls made with outbound calling solutions. You can change any questions or adjust them as you need while being able to analyze responses immediately. If you use an IVR system, you will save a lot of costs compared to hiring a survey team, which can get expensive.

5. Expand mobile marketing

IVR systems are used in marketing in many ways, and one of the main areas of application of IVR is mobile marketing. Marketers always try to improve the online experience and keep optimizing their web content for mobile devices. However, people still use their smartphones to make calls. When they get a call from the brand they’re interested in, they are likely to engage and interact with it.

• Cold calls can be challenging, but IVR offers automation to target potential customers effectively.
• Establishing an in-house IVR system proves cost-effective compared to outsourcing marketing campaigns.
• Utilizing IVR is more economical than deploying in-house staff for similar tasks.
• IVR systems are integrated with analytics, enabling audience analysis and segmentation through daily call reports.
• Data-driven insights from IVR analytics enhance cold call effectiveness and enable tailored mobile campaigns based on audience needs and behavior.

6. Improve customer support

IVR numbers can be integrated with a toll-free service. A combination of a toll-free number and IVR works very well for customer support. On your toll-free IVR number, customers can connect with your business anytime and get real-time support through the IVR menu and your support staff. Once they’ve finished speaking to a support agent, your IVR can ask them to provide feedback. You can also schedule IVR outbound calls to call your customers later for feedback. One of the most important things about feedback is that it should be timely. 

Your customers’ feedback will be much more accurate if it follows a transaction because all the details are still fresh in their memories. Based on feedback received from your customers, you can see how satisfied your customers are with your customer service and how you can improve.

Suggestion: Embed a testimonial from a client who successfully used IVR to improve their customer support metrics.

7. Send notifications

The efficiency of IVR systems enables you to minimize the number of confirmation and follow-up calls that you would otherwise make. An IVR system enables you to inform your clients about any important events or the status of their order. You can also send reminders, confirm meetings, and notify your potential customers about your products’ new features.

 The Winning Formula: IVR’s Role in Marketing and Sales

It’s important to note that:

• Building enduring customer relationships is vital for success.
• Loyalty is a universal requirement for all businesses, yet not everyone achieves it due to the challenge of keeping the audience engaged.
• Modern consumers prioritize swift and efficient communication, desiring rapid service delivery.
• IVR allows you to convey your commitment to their time and enhances the efficiency of communication, customer service, and the sales process.

IVR vs. Manual Routing vs. Chat-Only for Campaigns

Getting Started with IVR for Marketing: A Checklist

Implementing an IVR system for your marketing campaigns is a straightforward process. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Define your goals: Determine what you want to achieve. Is it lead generation, customer surveys, or event notifications?
2. Design your call flow: Map out the caller's journey. Write a clear script with simple menu options (e.g., "Press 1 for Sales, Press 2 for Support").
3. Record professional greetings: Use a clear, professional voice for your pre-recorded messages and menu options.
4. Integrate with your tools: Connect your IVR to your CRM and other business software to track leads and analyze data effectively.
5. Test and launch: Before going live, test the IVR system thoroughly to ensure all paths work correctly and provide a smooth user experience.
6. Monitor and optimize: Use analytics to track performance. Review call data to refine your IVR menu and messages for better results.

Compliance Considerations for IVR Campaigns

When using IVR for outbound marketing, it is crucial to adhere to regulations to protect consumer privacy and avoid penalties. Key considerations include:

• Opt-in requirements: Ensure you have explicit consent from individuals before sending them automated marketing calls.
• Do Not Call (DNC) lists: Always check your contact lists against national and regional DNC registries.
• Regional regulations: Be aware of local laws, such as the TCPA in the United States, which govern automated calling and messaging.
• Clear identification: Your IVR message must clearly identify your business at the beginning of the call.

Final Thoughts on Using IVR for Marketing Campaigns & Sales

IVR systems can benefit your marketing campaigns in many ways. They offer a simple way to interact with your existing and potential customers while enabling you to automate many processes and save time. You can use IVR systems not only for notifications and customer support but also to get actionable insights into the preferences of your audience and to collect valuable and relevant feedback.  To summarize:

• IVRs are valuable tools for lead attraction and qualification.
• Explore various IVR applications to discover new opportunities.
• Experimentation is essential for refining marketing strategies and optimizing effectiveness.

‍