The Power of Conversational Commerce
Turning Engagement Into Revenue
Why Conversational SMS Matters
SMS is the only channel that puts your brand in the same inbox as your customers’ best friends, family group chats, and dinner plans. So why do so many brands treat it like a sales megaphone? When you invite your subscribers to engage and actually respond, you unlock:
Better Segmentation
Higher CTR and CVR
Zero-Party Data
Stronger Loyalty
~100% Open Rates
And yes...more revenue, of course. Take it from brands like Thrive Causemetics, Ridge, and MaryRuth’s, conversation-focused brands that are consistently outperforming those who stick to one-way messages.
Let’s walk through how to make conversation core to your SMS strategy without overwhelming your CX team or sounding like a robotic support agent:
Start With the Right Framing
The first step? Tell your subscribers they can talk to you. When a subscriber sees a message from a brand, they’re often unsure if it’s safe or expected to respond. You need to train your list to reply. That starts with clear instruction.
Providing structure reduces cognitive load and increases reply rates. It also makes response automation easier to set up.
Collect Zero-Party Data and Have Fun Doing It
Want to generate segments based on subscribers’ product preferences, gifting needs, or even a generational cohort? Ask. But make it fun. One brand looking to segment by age asked:
What boy band played at your middle school dances?
A) NKOTB B) Backstreet Boys C) One Direction D) BTS
The result? Tons of replies, lighthearted engagement, and instant, self-selected generational segments they could use for future sends. You can replicate this with product types, use cases, values, or even customer pain points. For example:
What’s your biggest skincare goal right now?
A) Clearer skin B) Hydration C) Anti-aging
Tag each response. Build a segment. Now you’re talking.
Automate Responsibly With Flow Builder
You don’t need a human behind every reply. Postscript’s Flow Builder makes it easy to:
Create branching logic based on subscriber response
Tag and segment subscribers automatically
Trigger follow-up messages based on what they say
You can even automatically trigger fallback replies when a subscriber says something unexpected—or branch the flow based on specific events, like a link click, purchase, or product view, so you’re not limited to just keyword responses. This keeps your campaigns completely scalable, even when they’re deeply personalized.
Engage Before You Sell
One of the biggest benefits of conversational SMS? It doesn’t have to be about selling right away. Try warming up your audience with:
Welcome quizzes
Product finders
Gifting suggestions
Value-based questions (e.g., "What matters most to you: ingredients, results, or price?")
These messages build trust and increase the odds that your next promotional message lands and converts.
Make Room for Real Conversations (with AI Support)
Postscript’s AI-powered agent, Shopper, lets you scale 1:1 responses without overwhelming your team.
Shopper acts as a real-time shopping assistant trained on your brand voice and FAQs. It can:
Respond to common product questions
Provide personalized recommendations
Nudge users toward conversion
Support pre-purchase needs
Brands using Shopper see 22% higher subscriber retention and up to 25x ROI from their conversational flows. Not to mention Shopper decreases the amount of tickets being routed to CX by 85% on average, while increasing interactions with customers by 68%.
How Dr. Squatch Built Loyalty With Conversation
Dr. Squatch uses conversational SMS to gather customer feedback, offer product suggestions, and drive loyalty with a 1:1 feel. They saw:
2x reply rate compared to standard campaigns
Higher CTR on follow-up messages to segmented audiences
Reduced churn from subscribers who felt “heard”
Whether it’s asking fun icebreaker questions or fielding product concerns, the results speak for themselves: when customers feel like they’re part of the conversation, they stick around.
Conversational Commerce? Check. Here’s what’s next:
SMS Audit
We’re all-in on SMS—and we’ve built the solutions designed to make SMS your #1 revenue channel.
