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OPINION
CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE 101 Conversational commerce, which takes place via mobile messaging, has been steadily growing over the last decade. Now, 25 billion mobile messages are sent every day, and over three billion people use texting and mobile messaging apps every day – this massive phenomenon is what conversational commerce taps into, and is why every business needs to get to grips with conversational commerce, explains Dario Betti, CEO of Mobile Ecosystem Forum …
IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE WILL BECOME THE NEW PARADIGM IN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
By DARIO BETTI www.mobileecosystemforum.com
Conversational commerce is about ongoing engagement and deep interactivity with brands. It allows customers to speak to brands as if they are real people, building individual relationships that stick. From the simple text message, to WhatsApp, to a variety of in-app one-toone messaging opportunities, we use our mobiles for conversations in a wide range of ways. We tend to use these platforms for personal conversations with friends, and, until now, they haven’t been fully leveraged by marketeers and brands. This is about to change. So far, brands have been sending single messages – the ‘I am here’ message – but with true conversational commerce, brands ask you what you want, not tell you what they want. Conversational commerce is an evolution of the app economy, representing the third wave of marketing strategy. The first wave was broadcast. Advertisers broadcast a single message to all potential customers via selected magazines, radio shows, billboards and TV placements. The internet changed things by allowing for more personalised broadcast messaging via email and targeted ads. This was the second wave, which also started some interactivity through inbound marketing – customers could visit your website, browse your product selection and sign up for emails and offers. Unfortunately, interactivity via simple websites has been limited, and both email and digital advertising are oversaturated. The third wave is conversational commerce, which elevates the interactivity offered by websites, apps and email to a new level, building lasting relationships through two-way individualised messaging via a unique mix of channels – the channels we use every day in our personal lives. In doing so, conversational commerce brings customer service full circle back to the
level of individual customer service and engagement offered by traditional, family-run shops. As yet, not all companies have managed to understand the full potential of conversational commerce – but at MEF (the Mobile Ecosystem Forum) we anticipate the market will grow rapidly over the few years as more businesses register the benefits. And this is the tip of the iceberg. Conversational commerce will fundamentally change the way we buy, sell, and serve our customers. To help you get ahead of the game, here are five things you need to know about conversational commerce if your business is to grow over the next five years: 1. B2C broadcast messaging is out Broadcast messaging is about sending the same message to everyone. It works extremely well to build and establish a consistent brand, but is terrible when it comes to interaction. People now expect to have a meaningful conversation about products and services. They want to know what the experience of the brand is like, to really feel it. That’s why influencer marketing is so popular – there is an opportunity to engage with a real person and understand the brand experience. A number of challenges are also leading to the rapid decline of B2C broadcast messaging – people skip ads by watching more streaming services, podcasts are on the rise, and email is so full of spam that it’s almost impossible to get noticed. 2. Understand the new messaging channels Conversational commerce will be delivered over a variety of messaging solutions, and the landscape continues to change – it is important for you to be familiar with the tools of this new trade. Some of the messaging solutions are
