The concept of “conversational marketing” is still so new that it demands clarification up front. In short, it’s about engaging with customers individually simply by asking them what they want or like. And then dynamically tailoring our responses accordingly to achieve conversion – in other words to convince them to book an appointment, make a purchase, watch a video, or whatever action we ideally want them to take.

Unlike conventional online advertising that relies on audience data and cookies, conversational marketing is direct and dynamic. It removes all the guesswork and provides real-time knowledge of who we’re talking to and what their preferences are. As providers, we no longer need to create several banner ads to target different audiences and then sit back and hope they work. Instead, we can now develop a few simple but well-thought-out conversation-based strategies and allow the targeting to take place in real time, during the interaction. Put simply: we finally have the tool to deliver true customisation of the ad experience. 

What’s more, the powerful AI technology behind this innovation provides unparalleled insight into what exactly drives our different customers to want (or not!) our product or service. Say, for example, your company is a fashion brand with a new clothing line. You can instantly find out which items your various customers prefer – right down to style, colour and size. And you can even use A/B testing to see which sequence of questions or even tone of voice delivers the best results for a specific demographic! 

So that’s the crux of conversational marketing and why it’s transforming online advertising. But the story doesn’t end there. Because SMOC is already taking this revolution to a whole new level – by adding rewards to the mix. As we all know, human nature dictates that people respond positively to relevant incentives. That’s why SMOC is further increasing the success of conversational marketing through its unique AI-based technology that also rewards users for their valuable attention. For more on this, visit https://www.smoc.ai/monetize and look out for our next blog on ‘rewards-based conversational marketing’.

See also:

Part 1 - This article
Part 2 - Boost already-high conversion rates of conversational marketing with rewards

Part 3 - Triple your sales with rewarded conversational marketing

Part 4 - Artificial Intelligence – the brainchild behind effective conversational marketing