The expectation for always-on access to customer support is nothing new. But several factors have created significant changes, including Google, the internet as a whole, and even the fact that we no longer live in a nine-to-five world. The scary part, however, is that this means so much more than just real-time communications. Customers' 24/7 access to the mobile internet has made that part relatively easy. Now more than ever, security, consistency, and privacy are just as important—and therein lies the difficulty. In fact, it’s been said that 82% of customers will abandon a brand due to poor customer service. So, what can you do to avoid this?

Our stance is that customers will remain loyal to any business if they are met where they already are—which is on chat apps.

Instant messaging is on the rise

It’s not an exaggeration to say that instant messaging is now one of the most effective marketing channels of 2021. This is driven, in part, by years of lacklustre open rates and conversion rates for email marketing which clock an average open rate of 16-29% across all industries. Instant messaging, on the other hand, has proven to deliver 95% open rates, making it a literal goldmine for marketing professionals everywhere.

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A US study conducted by SMS Comparison also revealed that customers respond to instant messages within an astonishing average timeframe of three minutes. This makes instant messaging a great tool, not just for raising brand awareness, but also for reaching consumers further down the marketing funnel and encouraging them to directly interact with your business.

The true power of instant messaging lies in its, well, instantaneous nature. This allows marketers to lower attrition rates from awareness to conversion and leapfrog several stages of adoption. Now, you may be thinking: “But what if my audience is scattered across several messaging platforms?” We hear you—chat apps are skyrocketing.

What are chat apps and how are they different from SMS?

As opposed to sending a message via SMS, a chat app allows businesses to engage in a back and forth conversation with customers in real time.

In Asia, chat apps are becoming deeply ingrained in the social landscape, and they’re used for so much more than just chatting. Chat apps have become part of our everyday life because they:

  • Are easy to send media, including photos, videos, and voice recordings
  • Offer a convenient way to message groups of multiple people at once
  • Ensure security and privacy by allowing personal phone numbers to stay hidden
  • Keep communications costs low compared to other channels

To find out more, download the infographic on the rise of chat apps in Asia.

How many customers use chat apps?

The short answer is: A LOT!

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger alone account for 3,300 million active users per month. And this number is almost guaranteed to grow as experts predict that 8.2 billion people worldwide will own mobile phones by 2023—more than double the current 3.8 billion that we see today.

However, what’s important for enterprises to understand is that beyond just utilising chat apps for personal communications, more and more people are growing accustomed to the idea of requesting services and ordering goods via chat apps.

A Userlike survey revealed that 61% of respondents are open to using a chatbot to contact a human agent.

It is therefore not surprising that marketing campaigns and customer support conversations that are delivered via chat apps have seen such a high success rate. Consumers today are not only spending more time on chat apps, but they are getting used to chatting with artificial intelligence as an intermediary while they wait for a human assistant.

So, do we still need human agents and voice calls?

It’s important to note that although 77% of respondents in the Userlike survey said they are open to using chatbots, they also cited that having the option to escalate to a human agent is a necessity.

This was supported by an 8x8 investigation into digital customer service trends, which revealed that today’s customers want everything they’ve always wanted (phone calls, emails, and online help) plus all the newer things that technology offers, including instant messaging and chatbots, along with the option to get help from real human agents if needed.

To learn more, download the infographic on digital customer service trends.

But, wait—not all chat apps are created equal

While WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are by far the most popular chat apps globally, businesses should by no means neglect other platforms that may be used by swathes of their consumer demographic.

In parts of Asia, LINE, WeChat, and WhatsApp are more prominent, and each chat app enables brand communications and value-added services in different ways.

For more details, download this infographic on the most popular chat apps in different parts of Southeast Asia.

High reach, natural and fast—a win-win-win

At 8x8, we believe that businesses should not have to choose one audience over the other, which is why we introduced 8x8 Converse, a no-code solution to managing multiple chat apps.

When you equip your business with 8x8 Converse, you will be able to cover massive ground with the aforementioned heavy lifters WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, while simultaneously gaining access to other countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam via new and growing chat platforms.

8x8 Converse gives you access to all seven chat apps (more than any other platform provider):

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This allows you to manage customer conversations through a unified platform with a single source of truth, hyper-targeted experiences, and a cohesive voice. The end game? Better and longer-term customer relationships—kaching!

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Together with app-to-app calling and voice messaging features, businesses will also be able to communicate more clearly and precisely. Aside from this being important for inclusivity and security, voice messaging delivers higher delivery rates and greater reach, proving that it’s time to rethink the role of voice in a digital world.

Reach, usability, and speed aside, businesses can also benefit from actionable insight from the 8x8 Converse dashboard that serves as guidelines for businesses to refine their communication strategies. It showcases the types of messages and media that your consumers resonate with the most, so that you can remove the guesswork and create winning communications strategies.

If you have your own Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, such as Zendesk, Freshdesk, or Salesforce, you can integrate any chat app platform into your CRM. Our 8x8 team of experts will be able to guide you on how to do so using our Chat Apps API.

To find out more, reach out to us at hello-cpaas@8x8.com.