Volt Africa

As more people spend their time online, studies have shown that the amount of screen time spent on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, exceeds the amount of time spent on social media platforms.

Growing in popularity, with no end in sight and over 2 billion people using these apps, including them in your marketing strategy can be a great way to grow your business’ reach and awareness. Allowing you to communicate in real-time with consumers, messaging apps allow you to build and maintain relationships with your customers.

The question is: Should your business incorporate messaging apps in your marketing strategy? The answer is: Yes!

Chatbots

Powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), a chatbot is a program that mimics real-time conversations through a user chat interface. Based on machine learning, chatbots gather conversational data which then allows them to imitate human conversations to deliver a service or request. Since they’re powered by AI, the more conversations these chatbots have, the more intelligent they become. Acting as a virtual assistant, chatbots can engage with customers 24/7, improving customer experience.

Customer experience

When using messaging apps or features such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, your business instantly creates an effortless way for customers to communicate and engage with your business. One way that this can be done is by creating personalised messages that can influence the consumer’s buying journey and lead to higher conversion rates.

Using messaging apps allows you to not only respond promptly but also allows you to respond to any urgent queries or requests that a customer may have.

E-commerce

Thanks to the data collected through consumer browsing habits on devices, messaging apps can go above and beyond its original purpose. With messaging becoming increasingly personalised, brands are now engaging in conversational commerce instead of hard selling.

Accessing mobile messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, businesses are finally realising just how much consumers enjoy shopping from their phones and that a large amount of e-commerce traffic comes through online referrals.

The Challenges

Along with its endless opportunities, in-app messaging also comes with a few challenges. This includes Facebook’s invasion of privacy as well as security concerns with personal information. So despite it being free, consumers are still wary of fully committing to and making transactions on these apps.

Final Thoughts

Though it will take some time before consumers fully trust social media messaging apps, these apps can improve our everyday lives with improved customer service experiences leading to increased conversion rates.

The age of convenience is upon us, so why not make the most of it for your business. Contact us to strengthen your digital marketing strategy and improve your brand’s potential to generate more leads today.