Improved CX: From Advertising to Conversational Ads

Online shopping is no longer a novelty. Nevertheless, the customer experience is usually rather cumbersome. Almost everyone is familiar with the situation: when searching for a specific product, you have to click your way from one page to the next. You only find answers to your own questions, if at all, after a lengthy search through the FAQs. This inconvenience is reflected in the business transactions: less than 5 percent of visitors to an online store ultimately complete a purchase. Around 70 percent of phone calls between customers and customer service originate from frustrated users who cannot find their way around the company's website. It is high time for brands and retailers to rethink. They should enable customer dialog on other channels to finally improve the customer experience.

Customers should be able to communicate via their usual channels

In everyday life, customers usually prefer channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage to communicate. When companies use these familiar channels to interact with their customers, they are able to establish a more direct connection with them. Asynchronous - i.e. time-independent - communication channels such as messaging services make it possible to clarify questions in dialog regardless of time and place. Customers are no longer tied to business hours or forced to spend what feels like an eternity on hold on service hotlines until they receive an answer. Communication is now based on the customer's needs and availability.

In contrast to calls, conversations are no longer session-based, but can be continued at any time on different devices and messaging platforms. The conversation history is saved. Customers can seamlessly contact customer service again at any time, even if the conversation is interrupted. In the meantime, they can better adapt to the customer.

Pioneers show the way: Customer service via messaging works 

A pioneer in the use of messaging solutions is Buddybank, a UniCredit Group start-up. This bank uses a concierge service that is available 24/7 - a combination of human intelligence and technology. The bot offers customers a completely new banking experience. Unlike a banking app, everything here is done via messaging: from checking the account balance and making transfers to taking out additional services. Customers can use the bot not only to carry out their banking transactions, but also to ask for help finding the perfect last-minute gift or a cab.

Another example of new conversational services is the food service provider Aramark. The company enables stadium visitors in the USA to order their snacks and drinks in the stadium via messaging directly from their own seat and have them delivered there. This means that it is no longer necessary to queue for food with everyone else during breaks in play. Instead, spectators simply scan the QR code on the back of the seat in front of them, then place their order via messaging and can continue to enjoy the game in peace while their order is brought to them. Suggestions, offers and answers to any questions the customer may have are made directly within the chat process.

Conversational Services are easy for companies to use: They can be easily integrated into both apps and the web by inserting a line of code into the source code. As a rule, the provider makes these available and links them to the corresponding account in the backend. Installation by the company or the operator of the website, the app or even the customer is not necessary. Thanks to application programming interfaces (APIs) or an existing integration, the connection to third-party programs also works without any problems.

Click on the banner to start the conversation 

In-banner chats are one way of incorporating the benefits of two-way communication into a traditional web presence and increasing both the quality and quantity of leads. When the customer clicks on the advertising banner, they are taken directly to a chat instead of being left to their own devices in a sea of information on a subsequent landing page. This makes it easier for the customer to enter their data and enables them to receive the desired information more quickly. If the customer is not happy, the opt-out function can be easily and conveniently used via SMS or WhatsApp message.

In addition, the retailer immediately receives relevant data such as the IP address, name and interests of the customer in the chat. This generates higher quality leads. In the chat, customers communicate their purchase intentions, wishes and intentions directly and clearly - so this information no longer has to be derived indirectly from click rates and page views. Companies can use the information gained in this way to offer potential customers even better offers and services tailored to them and their needs. Due to its more informative and flexible way of user interaction, the in-banner chat also generates more leads compared to the landing page.

Conversational advertising not only offers customers a pleasant customer experience. It also helps companies to better understand their customers and increase their conversion rates.