Do you remember the first time you’ve held a text conversation with someone online? I certainly do! Even then, I knew that what I was experiencing would change how we communicate forever. But, even in my wildest dreams, I could not imagine how it would affect business. And it does, in a ton of ways!
What is instant messaging?
Instant messaging (IM) is a real-time communication method that enables you to interact with one or multiple individuals online. These tools span from the most simple solutions, i.e., such that are 100% text-based, to apps that offer voice and video on top of written communication.
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If you’re the 1980s or 1990s kid like me, then high chances are the ‘IM’ abbreviation seems oddly familiar and brings up images of old-school communicators. You’re not in the wrong to think so! In fact, instant messaging has been mainstream since the mid-1990s, with America Online’s AIM and MSN Messenger being two major players. While these instant messaging apps circled entertainment and peer-to-peer communication, it was only a matter of time before companies spotted the business opportunity and jumped aboard.
Fast forward to the 2020s, instant messaging is present in virtually any online platform – from social media to company websites and video conferencing solutions. And no wonder, as Meta reports 65% of its users are more likely to convert into customers if they chat to a business!
The benefits of using instant messaging apps for business
Better customer support
This is a two-in-one advantage, affecting clients and support team members. How so?
For clients, talking to a business via text is way more convenient than phone. After all, they can carry on with their daily tasks as they wait for the reply instead of waiting on hold and listening to Vivaldi on repeat.
And, when it comes to support teams, instant messaging apps are a blessing as they let them offer help in a more organized, consistent fashion. When a client asks a question, the representative can dig into their knowledge base to offer the most exhaustive reply. A support agent can also redirect the client to a step-by-step walkthrough (super handy when a client needs to go through a longer process like tool setup). Ultimately, the client gets a thorough answer, while the support team can close the ticket faster and deem the interaction a success. A win-win!
Receiving instant replies
Urgent situations often require an instant reaction to prevent an escalation, which applies to employees and customers. For example, if a user is struggling with your product as they cannot send an outbound sales campaign, which they scheduled for today it can completely mess up their plans. They will have to modify the whole campaign calendar. If they can contact the customer support team via instant messaging apps, and immediately get answers that will help them resolve their issues, they’ll be able to send that campaign as planned. This will significantly reduce their frustration, which, if unaddressed, could lead to churn. The same goes for your employees; sometimes getting a quick response to a question will prevent them from getting stuck and postponing things for later.
Improving collaboration
The pandemic has introduced new working methods, with many businesses trading their offices for a remote setting. Can you imagine collaborating without having access to messengers? What if you had to call someone or email them whenever you had a question – that would be a nightmare. Luckily, instant messengers like Slack (combined with other collaboration tools) make cooperation smooth irrespective of where we work. All we need is a good internet connection.
Boosting engagement
Good communication is a great way to build long-lasting relationships with customers. When I worked at Philips, I noticed many customers extended their contracts because they liked the Account Manager they interacted with, even though other brands offered cheaper deals. Talking to your customers regularly via instant messaging platforms just to check if they’re doing OK, or to throw a joke or two will not only positively impact customer engagement. It will also make them more forgiving if a problem occurs.
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What can instant messaging platforms do?
You probably already understand the potential IMs bring to businesses. Apart from the customer mentioned above support, these solutions can also help with several other client-to-business use cases, such as:
Helping book appointments – it’s much more convenient to book an appointment using an instant messaging app than to call or email the business. Customers can either talk to a company representative directly or use a chatbot to select the most suitable date and schedule the appointment. You can integrate your instant messenger with apps like Calendly or Booksy to make this process smoother.
Get feedback – there are many ways this can be approached – clients can give feedback themselves, or companies can reach out and proactively seek it via IM software. For example, a pop-up message can be triggered if the messenger detects the client is on your site. Or, you can ask the client for feedback after customer support helped resolve their query. There are tens of potential use cases here.
Sell–sales are one of instant messaging platforms' newest (and most exciting) use cases. It was just a matter of time until businesses noticed how they could turn it from customer advice to a customer sales channel. Instant messaging lets you boost conversion by personalizing your interactions with support agents or a company chatbot. The latter, for example, can draw up recommendations based on the client’s past purchases or queries. For instance, if a client showed interest in a temporarily unavailable product, you could reach out via IM, saying, “the item you asked us about last week has just been restocked”. Or, you could go a little deeper and emulate the brick-and-mortar store shopping experience.
This approach is trendy in China, with beauty brand Lin Qingxuan being one of the pioneers. In 2020, during the first COVID outbreak, the company reassigned 100 beauty assistants from real-life stores to instant messaging, where they continued offering the same personalized shopping experience. The best part? Some solutions let you finalize the payment in the same instant messaging app through a payment feature, leading to the next point.
Accept (and send) payment – Most instant messaging platforms offer a secure payment module, simplifying how you do business. By doing so, you strike the iron while it’s hot – i.e., send a personalized payment request link once they’ve expressed their readiness to buy. This lets you simplify the shopping process and minimize cart abandonment.
Types of Instant Messaging Platforms
Social media messengers – include platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Brands often use them to respond to queries from customers or prospects. Facebook Messenger offers many features, such as live messaging, bots, and voice and video calls, which help brands create customized experiences and cater to the needs of various customers. Clients often select this option when they need an urgent reply. While these solutions work great, if there are large volumes of queries (which some brands like KLM experienced during the pandemic), there might be significant delays in responding. This leads to frustration; no one likes to wait for a reply – and these messengers are called instant for a reason.
Live chat (on-site) apps – this software lets customers talk directly to a company representative in customer service, tech support, or any other department. It is much more effective than waiting for someone to pick up the phone. Customers can simply leave the chat open and wait for an agent to respond. You can also put a live chat on your website to ask if visitors have any questions or if they found what they were looking for. This can boost your chances of turning a visitor into a prospect.
Email messengers – on top of instant messaging, email messengers also offer features like custom-status messages, address book integrations, and access to chat rooms. Both Android and iOS users can turn to video and audio calls. The functionality of email messengers goes beyond instant communication – it offers file sharing, voicemail, radio services, and plug-in creation. No wonder they’re still considered the most trusted instant messengers in the world.
Instant video apps might seem like something other than an IM solution, but most instant video apps come with a real-time messaging feature. This option comes in handy in some scenarios. For instance, when you’re in a team meeting and want to share the link to a resource you’re discussing. Or during lectures or Q&A sessions, where you wish to answer questions from your audience. So, while video might be a preferred communication method for specific use cases, instant messaging goes hand in hand to complement it.
How to make the most of your instant messaging solution?
One of the factors that will influence how powerful your IM solution turns out, in the long run, is whether you can integrate it with your other tools. This relates to both B2C messaging channels and B2B solutions in your tool stack.
In the first case, the ability to read, reply to, and manage all your instant messaging communication from a single platform lets you guarantee the best customer support standards. You’re able to stay on top of each client’s conversation history, regardless of where the communication took place.
A solution like LiveChat offers numerous integrations that will let you reach your customers easily and vice-versa. Among others, LiveChat integrates with:
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Facebook Messenger allows your customers to message you anytime they feel like it and lets you answer whenever you’re available. You can handle all responses within LiveChat, saving your agents the hassle of switching between platforms while giving your users another medium to contact you.
Source: LiveChat
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Apple Messages for Business – there are over 1.65 billion Apple users, so why not connect with them directly to be where they are? You can integrate Apple Messages for Business with our ChatBot to handle more conversations at a time and route customers to the suitable agents. Your users can communicate with you asynchronously whenever they feel like it.
Source: LiveChat
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WhatsApp Business – did you know that WhatsApp has over 2 billion users worldwide? If people like it so much, it would be a shame not to use it as a business communication tool. Integrating WhatsApp with LiveChat will let your customers speak with you like they speak with friends. You can easily manage large conversation volumes as well as single chats.
Source: LiveChat
Keeping all your communication at hand also creates great customer and product analytics opportunities, which leads to the second case.
IM tools are where you exchange information and gather data that can be crucial to a number of departments in the business. For instance, think of bugs and feature requests – these insights will be of interest to your software development team. Customers will also share feedback and insights around their pain points, goals, and challenges, which are essential for building marketing personas.
LiveChat also integrates with a number of analytics tools, CRM connectors, and other popular B2B tools.
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Summary
Instant messaging platforms dominate virtually all areas of our lives – from how we interact with friends and family to how we shop and conduct daily work. We can already achieve many things through IM – getting help from customer support, scheduling appointments, or even placing one-click orders. We can only imagine how powerful these solutions will be in the coming years!
To make the most of instant messaging, I recommend using a tool like LiveChat, which brings all of your communication into a single view. This way, you’ll be able to make the most of IM communication potential and offer the best customer experience standards.
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