41 million messages are sent out each minute. There’s certainly no denying the widespread popularity of messaging apps. That’s not something that impacts person to person messages only. Businesses are also using these tools as well as enterprise messaging apps like Slack.
As messaging continues to emerge as a preferred method of communication, it only makes sense for businesses to adopt messaging as a business strategy. In fact, businesses that use messaging apps effectively can enjoy considerable benefits. Here are eight of them.
Create a Private Channel for Communication
It’s becoming more common for customers to use social media and other channels for customer support purposes. At times, this can be challenging for brands. For example, when a customer brings a complaint into the comments of a public, social media post.
In these situations, messaging can be helpful. Customers can use a messaging app to engage directly with a support agent. They’ll receive one on one engagement regarding their problem, and will be able to share specifics. In the meantime, brands benefit when they can move potentially prickly conversations onto private channels.
Stay in Contact with Remote Teams
More companies are allowing employees to work remotely. Some are choosing to hire remote teams almost exclusively to take advantage of a global workforce. Well, the benefits and necessity of a distributed Workforce are clear, there are also challenges.
In order to be more effective, remote teams can use messenger apps to communicate with one another. Because messaging apps are non-intrusive, familiar, and convenient they create a means to communicate that is always accessible.
Higher Open and CTR Rates
When it comes to reaching customers with your messaging, relevance is very important. However, you should never discount the role that trust plays in all of this. In fact, trust may be one of the reasons why messages sent through apps have higher open and click-through rates than those sent via SMS or email. You can even track the results of this by using one of several tools for digital marketers.
There’s a reason for this. When you send promotional messages via a messaging app, you are only communicating with audience members who have agreed to receive your messages. Recipients are able to opt-in and opt-out at will. The designers of messenger apps tend to create them with user experience in mind, so spammers tend to be excluded quickly and easily. The end result is that when a customer receives your message notification, they are more likely to assume its something they want to see.
It’s Preferred by Younger Customers
Right now, Millennials have more spending power than any other generational demographic. Younger Zoomers are emerging right behind them. It only makes sense to communicate with these consumers using tools that are friendly and familiar to them.
Estelle Leotard is a marketing consultant for BestEssay.Education and WowGrade. She points out that it’s important to understand how these groups use technology daily. She says, “In addition to their growing financial power, both of these groups are high adapters of messaging technology. Brands can reach them more effectively if they use messaging apps to communicate with them in ways that they prefer.”
Send Content That’s Useful Right Now
Conversational marketing is engaging customers in two-way conversations rather than using traditional methods. Because the process involves listening to customer requests and queries in real-time, brands are better able to discern exactly what customers want. In turn, they can provide direct answers to questions, share product recommendations, even send links to useful content.
Buzzfeed subscribers can even receive personalized content based on the selections they make. Users simply type in keywords such as ‘cute’ or ‘fail’. The company then sends them content that matches their request.
Do a Better Job at Curating Content
Many of the best messaging apps allow users to create groups. Marketers can use this feature to segment, and target customers for relevant and personalized messages. For example, a group can be created with subscribers who have recently made their first purchase. They can then be sent special offers and links to content that are most likely to match their interests.
Neightan White, a content strategist at Supreme Dissertations says, “Relevance is key to content engagement. Once you prove to your recipients that you’re sending them something that resonates to them, you’ll be more likely to earn click-throughs in the future.
Use Bots for One on One Customer Service
Customers can use messaging apps to reach out to your brand and receive 24/7 assistance from chatbots. They can ask and receive answers to basic questions, take advantage of self-service features, and get the information they need on demand.
As part of this process, you’ll need to write effective chatbot scripts. These will ensure that customers have the branded experience you want them to. This can be a challenging task, as you have to write a dialogue that flows properly and take into consideration all possible responses. Fortunately, there are some helpful tools and resources that you can use including, Hemingway, Trust My Paper, Grammarly, Grab My Essay, Whitesmoke, and Studicus.
At the same time, your live customer support agents can spend more time focusing on customer support tickets that are more complex. This leads to improved workflows and a higher rate of first contact resolution.
Create Better Multichannel Experiences
If you have a brick and mortar location, you can use a messaging app to improve your customer’s in-store experience. Customers can reach out to you through messenger to ask questions, gather information about weekly sales, even get advice on what they should buy.
Once you know that a customer is planning a visit to your store, you can also reach out to them with special offers and other promotional content, that is specifically tailored to them.
Final Thoughts
If you are seeking a tool that allows you to improve communication with your own team, create memorable user experiences, and engage with relevant content, you should seriously consider implementing a messaging app. These apps already enjoy high rates of use among the most desirable customer groups. It only makes sense to take advantage of the potential for increasing your reach.
