{"id":14053,"date":"2020-05-02T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinngle.me\/blog\/?p=14053"},"modified":"2020-04-30T17:18:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T13:18:31","slug":"8-ways-to-engage-consumers-with-messaging-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinngle.me\/blog\/8-ways-to-engage-consumers-with-messaging-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Ways to Engage Consumers with Messaging Apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
If you have a smartphone, chances are you are using Facebook messenger. It\u2019s a great way to send and receive messages among friends, family, and, yes, even businesses. If you have automatic bill payments, for example, your payee probably sends you reminder messages and then tells you when the payment has been deducted from your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your business is not using in-app messaging, it\u2019s time to get on board. Why? Because, more and more, this is how consumers want to communicate with you, especially on their mobile devices. They like the fact that they can receive information about new products, pose their queries and get answers, be notified of sales and discounts, and, best of all, not have to sit and wait for an answer like they do with email or live chat. They can go about their business and be notified when there is a message from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once your customers (and even potential customers) have clicked that approval to receive messages from you, there is just a wealth of ways you can keep your brand in front of them and provide real value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nothing captures attention more than a great, entertaining, and informative explainer or \u201chow-to\u201d video. These should be short (no more than 90 seconds) but can show the value of your product or service, and the solution it provides to a pain point. These have been in use for years on websites, social media, and emails. Now they can be \u201cpushed\u201d out via messaging. Research already shows that the brain processes and retains visual information about 60K faster and better than just text. You can even use customer videos<\/u><\/a> that show their satisfaction with your products, as long as they are short and relevant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You cannot count on consumers to access your website, your social media channels, or open your emails. But if they get a \u201cping\u201d that you have sent a message, they don\u2019t have to do any work other than open the message. This streamlines their experience with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just as you are probably already doing with your email campaigns, you can segment your audiences based on where they are in your sales funnel and craft messages that will most resonate with each of these segments. Again, they don\u2019t have to do anything other than \u201canswer\u201d the ping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can use your in-app platform to ask customers about their experiences with your products or services. This will give you valuable information as you make decisions regarding how and what you provide to improve customer satisfaction. Short surveys (with emphasis on short) allow customers to give you quick, honest feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than using email notifications that customers must take time to access, you can send notifications that confirm orders and provide shipment details. They don\u2019t have to do anything \u2013 just open that pinged message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can be one of the most useful aspects of a messaging app. As Kristen Savage, Marketing Consultant for two writing services, Studyker<\/u><\/a> and WriteScout<\/u><\/a> states, \u201cCustomers often don\u2019t think proactively. It is the job of the business to do that for them. When we offer a pricing special or a discount on writing products, it will cause them to think about how they could use those for assignments that are coming up. And they are more likely to place orders to get that better pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phone, email, social media, and live chat all have their place in providing customer service and support when there are questions or issues. Phone is obviously the least preferred method because of long wait times and terrible inconvenience. Email requires an inquiry and then continual checking back to see if an answer has been provided. Social media requires checking for a response and then following other instructions to contact the company. Live chat can prove to be faster than the others, but the customer must stay connected while waiting for an answer. And, since many of these platforms use bots, answers are dependent upon the AI and NLP that may or may not be fully \u201cbaked\u201d for the question or issue at hand. The customer is then transferred to a live person and, again, there can be a wait time. In-app messaging allows a customer to pose a question or issue, leave the app, and move onto other businesses and be notified when an answer or solution is ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Understand this, however: You need to have the staff and the wherewithal to respond within an hour<\/u><\/a> of the contact by a customer, ideally within 15 minutes. You will lose engagement if it is longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the beauties of in-app messaging is that you can keep your brand in front of consumers\u2019 eyes by pushing out notifications at periodic intervals. There are some key elements to doing this well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While these eight tips for using in-app messaging are solid and pretty critical, they are not the end-all of what you should and can do with this platform. But know this: consumers are busy, impatient, and do not want to take the time to search you out. You have to take a proactive role to engage them with as little work on their part as possible. Using an in-app messaging system will accomplish this for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a business owner, you’re already aware your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Here are 8 ways you can engage and provide real value to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":14057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[470],"tags":[3,2602,2603,2605,2604,2489,471,2606,2262],"yoast_head":"\nPush New and\/or Improved Products or Services<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Segment Your Audiences<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get Feedback<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keep Customers Apprised of Order Fulfillment and Shipping<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Promote Specials and Discounts<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Handle Customer Service<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keep Brand in Front and Consistent<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
These Eight\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n