AgVoice | Conversation Advertising ' The "conversation" begins

Traditional advertising through the media of radio or television either do not encourage or are limited in their scope of encouraging an interaction between the consumer and the brand as it is one way communication. But with the advent of mobile phones and newer technology, the likelihood of receiving a response from the consumer has dramatically increased. Mobile phones present some unique characteristics; most importantly it is a personal device specific to single subscriber and it provides access to real time context with multiple communication facilities ' voice, SMS, email, browsing. One of the most attractive characteristics of mobile for advertisers is the opportunity for more accurate targeted advertisement.

With advent of 3G, significant changes can be expected in the mobile advertisement as the brands can market with high "reach and rich' content. The mobile advertisement will grow through WAP, applications, display, videos, TV, though SMS still could lead the way because of its "reach' to billions in shortest possible time. Mobile advertising, thus, is gaining popularity due to its reach and cost effectiveness. However, it is becoming extremely critical to engage with the target audience and deliver the message effectively.

Conversational Advertising is the agreed messaging-based communication between the consumer and a brand to deliver consumer benefits to the consumer i.e. when a consumer knowingly provides his mobile number specifically for a continued interaction. Conversational Advertising capitalizes on the opted-in database which increases the possibility of interaction between the consumer and the brand. Furthermore, in Conversational Advertising the brand messaging need not be delivered in one communication. In this regard, not only does messaging have extraordinary reach, it has unassailable effectiveness.

So what significance does this hold for India? Experts say that the mobile subscriptions in the country will cross the 1 billion mark in 2013. India is a market driven by cost, where 70% of the population is rural, and with limited income to spend the mobile device may be the only screen they have access to. This makes mobile a very compelling medium to brands and business. With such phenomenal current growth as well as forecasted growth of mobile users, India becomes an essential market for conversational advertising. Conversational Advertising is predicted to grow exponentially in India from the current 0.5% of total mobile marketing messaging revenues to almost 40% by 2015.

Conversational Advertising ensures "proximity to the advertisement through SMS which is read in less than 3 minuutes" , encouraging the brand to regularly communicate with the consumer. More importantly, each consumer's response during the conversation also helps provide the latest and up-to-date consumer information. Hence conversational advertising when applied with power messaging becomes an ideal channel for brands and businesses. | By Raghu Kumar, Managing Director, Singlepoint