There has been a permanent shift in how organizations connect and communicate with customers across channels and devices. Customers today expect more personalized digital experiences as the number of opportunities to interact with them grows.
They want hyper-personalized, relevant, and timely communication at every touchpoint, from ordering food and buying products to making appointments and contacting customer support.
According to the 2023 Zendesk CX Trends report, nearly 40% of customers consider the opportunity to engage with a brand via their preferred platform to be the most crucial part of a positive customer experience.
With almost 7.5 billion mobile users expected by 2025, it’s apparent that modern consumers prefer mobile.
Mobile engagement through in-app messaging and external messaging platforms is essential to provide the flexibility and convenience that customers want.
Companies can also integrate self-service solutions, such as chatbots and support centers, directly into their mobile apps and messaging channels. This way, customers may get the help they need — no matter when or where they contact the business.
However, keep in mind that mobile presence alone is not enough to increase customer engagement. You must also give your audience a reason to keep returning to your business and digital channels.
In this post, we’ll explore how innovative messaging apps can improve customer engagement and take your business to the next level.
1. Make mobile your primary channel
With more people using mobile devices than ever before, businesses must focus on mobile customer engagement.
In a 2022 survey by OneSignal, most respondents said mobile push notifications are the most effective re-engagement channel for their business and will remain the most important one in the next couple of years.
While push notifications aren’t as common as email, they are highly visible to consumers and may be used for transactional and promotional marketing.
Typically, users can still receive these notifications even after they have logged out of the app or website — making them a fantastic tool for re-engaging customers and enticing them back.
2. Personalize the customer experience
As more businesses use mobile technology and more customers receive notifications on their devices, personalization can help you stand out.
Based on research, more than 70% of consumers demand personalization and will spend more with businesses that provide fluid, seamless, and personalized customer experiences.
Customers expect businesses to use the information they collected about them to enhance their experience, such as providing recommendations based on their past purchases.
With customer data and analytics, you can customize the user experience based on previous shopping habits, location, and other factors.
3. Segment your audience
For customers to pay attention to the content you present them, it must matter to them personally and be relevant at that time.
To increase engagement rates, send messages to specific customer groups instead of sending generic messages to every user. The more granular your targeting, the more opportunities for personalization.
And don’t just group your customers based on age and location. Consider past purchases, lifestyle, unique interests, and other defining factors, too.
You can also use questionnaires, surveys, and reviews to discover more about each of your segments.
4. Use targeted messaging
Targeted messaging gives businesses the power to deliver personalized and relevant content that speaks directly to individual customers or specific segments.
By taking into account factors like customer preferences, behavior, and demographics, businesses can create messages that truly resonate with their audience.
This means you can send personalized product recommendations, tailored offers, or updates specifically crafted to meet the unique interests and needs of each customer.
The beauty of targeted messaging lies in its ability to grab your customers’ attention and make them feel seen and understood.
When people receive content that speaks directly to them, they’re more likely to engage with it and take the desired action.
This personalized approach builds a stronger connection between your business and your customers, fostering loyalty and trust.
By leveraging data and insights about your customer’s behavior and preferences, you can optimize your messaging strategy and deliver content that strikes a chord with your target audience.
5. Encourage user-generated content sharing
Encouraging user-generated content (UGC) sharing is all about getting your customers involved in creating and sharing their own content related to your brand or products.
It’s like tapping into the power of social proof and turning your customers into brand advocates. When customers share their experiences, reviews, photos, or videos, it creates a genuine and relatable connection with other customers.
It’s like hearing a recommendation from a friend or seeing real people using and enjoying your products.
UGC not only boosts brand awareness but also builds trust and engagement. As customers engage with and promote your brand through their own networks, it creates a ripple effect, reaching a wider audience and gaining the trust of potential customers.
By providing incentives or running UGC campaigns, you can encourage customers to actively participate, share their content, and contribute to a lively and engaged community around your brand.
It’s a win-win situation where your customers feel valued and heard, and your brand benefits from the authentic advocacy of your customers.
6. Provide exclusive content or promotions
Exclusivity is a powerful tool for businesses looking to establish a strong bond with their customers. By offering exclusive content or promotions, you create a sense of privilege that makes customers feel special and valued.
It’s like being part of an exclusive club where they get access to unique content, early peeks at new features, or special discounts others don’t have.
This sense of exclusivity encourages customers to actively engage with your messaging app, knowing that they’re getting something extra for their loyalty.
The beauty of exclusive content and promotions is that they go beyond just short-term engagement. When customers feel valued and rewarded, they are more likely to stay committed and actively participate in activities that benefit your business.
They may make more purchases, refer their friends to your brand, or share their feedback and experiences. By offering exclusive benefits, you not only strengthen the bond between your brand and your customers but also create a positive cycle of engagement and advocacy that fuels the growth of your business.
7. Display empathy in your messages
After more than a year of social distancing and lockdown measures, people have grown to value human interaction. This includes a stronger need for connection and empathetic communication.
Satisfy this need by using sales process and client journey maps. These tools can help you identify where you can be intentional about incorporating empathy into your messaging as part of the entire customer experience.
Adjust your messaging and tone of voice to reflect human-to-human interactions throughout the customer journey. By leveraging messaging apps and empathetic client journey mapping, you can enhance customer engagement and create a more personalized experience.
8. Provide customer support through messaging platforms
Consumers want to interact with businesses in the same way they do with their friends and family. This includes connecting through their favorite mobile customer engagement platforms.
Specifically, customers want to interact with businesses using messaging apps readily available on their mobile devices.
You can stand out from the competition by giving customers what they want on mobile, such as self-service, live chat, or bots.
Invest in tools and rich features that let customers do essential tasks — like ordering groceries for delivery or scheduling an appointment — from your in-app messaging or their favorite messaging platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Viber.
Your support team can use your app’s help center and mobile chatbots to handle message requests and provide customer service 24/7.
If the bot cannot resolve a customer’s concern, you can configure it to transfer the customer, and the conversation history, to a human agent.
9. Introduce gamified elements into your messaging app interactions
Gamification is a powerful messaging app strategy that infuses interactive and game-like elements to enhance customer engagement.
By incorporating quizzes, contests, or challenges within the messaging app, brands can create an entertaining and rewarding experience for customers.
The element of fun and the possibility of earning rewards are excellent motivators, encouraging customers to actively participate and interact with the brand.
This strategy does not only capture customer attention but also promotes brand loyalty and long-term engagement.
Gamification transforms the messaging app into an exciting platform that fosters a deeper connection between the brand and its customers, ultimately driving positive business outcomes.
10. Implement a multichannel approach
While businesses place a premium on mobile communication, the growing popularity of new messaging channels does not imply that more traditional ones are becoming obsolete.
Consumer preferences have evolved from a single platform to multiple platforms, and it’s no longer enough to only send mobile push notifications or email ads.
To increase engagement, you need to provide customers with more options. Using multiple channels to interact with customers allows businesses to reach a bigger audience, align with audience preferences, enhance the customer experience, and build brand loyalty.
Emails, for instance, have a longer lifespan in a user’s inbox than push notifications. They also offer more flexibility in terms of message length and design.
While push notifications and SMS are perfect for time-sensitive material and alerts, emails are ideal for more comprehensive communications like newsletters, new product announcements, onboarding workflows, and special offers.
Improve Customer Engagement with a Seamless, Multichannel Experience
Businesses need to put their customers at the center of everything they do. This means showing up where your customers want to connect with you and buy your products.
With Sendchamp, you can deliver a great mobile experience that lets you interact and engage with customers on their preferred channel, device, or format.
Sendchamp is a unified and personalized customer support and multichannel marketing platform designed to help African businesses engage with and retain customers.
With Sendchamp, you can connect with your customers at every step of their journey, from onboarding and support to engagement and retention.
About the Author!
Pauline Cruz is a civil engineer and writer who expertly blends her technical expertise with a profound passion for storytelling. This unique combination allows her to craft captivating content that not only educates but also inspires readers. Through her writing, Pauline lets her empathy shine, connecting with audiences on a deep level and leaving a lasting impact.