Conversational messaging (chatbots) is an excellent way to interact with your audience – allowing you to create a human connection and break the barriers of traditional communication. At a time when consumers are demanding more personal experiences, conversational messaging is a way to deliver that experience and connect with customers. Learn how conversational messaging can help improve your business.
Conversational messaging, also known as chatbots, are automated programs that simulate human conversations with users. They are programmed to interact with users and respond to their questions and requests instantly, in a human-like way. This technology is changing the way businesses interact with customers and is a tool for improving the customer experience.
Popular applications to initiate customer conversations are WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple Messenger. Unlike other customer service platforms, these apps save previous conversations, and customers can get their issues resolved immediately. Not only are these apps used to resolve customer issues, but they also keep customers updated with novel offers, products, and trends. The ease of accessibility of conversational messaging is compelling businesses to adopt the technology. According to eMarketer, a record high of 2.5 million messages were sent from mobile phones to businesses in 2020. The numbers are presumed to grow in 2022.
Chatbots can be used to engage with customers, strengthen relationships, and increase conversion rates. They can also be used to improve customer support and upsell products or services. A common use for chatbots is creating an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) bot. This type of bot is designed to answer customers’ frequently asked questions, which can cut support costs by 90%.
ServiceNow Rome launched a ServiceNow® Messaging Service as an update to their Now platform to enable businesses to use every opportunity to engage their audience. Their widely adopted system enhances the customer experience and analyzes user context to offer better results. When the engagement messenger is embedded in a website or a page, they can link to an article, filtered search, products, and more.
Sometimes, human agents must perform tedious tasks, such as scheduling appointments or calls for customers. Instead of tying them down with these monotonous tasks, ServiceNow deploys Conversation Autopilot, which allows a customer agent to transfer a chat to a chatbot or virtual agent to perform mundane and repetitive tasks.
Providing customers with graphical elements, like buttons and images, within a chatbot can provide a more engaging experience. For example, allowing customers to select their method of delivery, payment, or scheduling with the use of interactive buttons in a chat allows for ease of use and an overall improved experience. This feature also allows customers to make decisions quickly. Creating such engaging experiences also increases retention rate.
Companies like Uber, Amazon, and Facebook are already using conversational messaging to help improve their business processes. This is just the tip of the iceberg; conversational messaging has the potential to change the way people communicate with each other and the way businesses communicate with their customers. As businesses progress, we’ll see more companies embrace conversational messaging and more businesses create engaging experiences.
A business with a solid consumer experience strategy has the potential to radically increase its customer loyalty, its average transaction size, and most importantly, its profit. A good consumer experience strategy makes it easy for consumers to find what they’re looking for and enhances their perception of a brand. Conversational messaging is an important, useful, and effective tool.