As the world becomes more digital, the gap between businesses and their customers grows smaller and smaller. Consumers in 2022 expect you to be available on a multitude of channels, including social media and business messaging apps.

That’s why you need to establish effective means of business messaging that offer a cohesive experience for your customers across channels. (And it doesn’t hurt that messaging reduces communication costs by 60%.) You need a robust system, compatible with a mobile device, for handling customers and coworkers, but also one that scales with your business. 

This article will explore business messaging and how you can streamline your communication efforts, including:

business messaging business messaging

What is business messaging?

Business messaging is how you interact with your customers through messages via instant messaging apps and communication tools. These days, companies are seeking more direct ways of communicating with their customers to provide the best customer service experience possible. So it’s not uncommon to chat with your barber on Whatsapp, organize your next tennis match through Facebook Messenger, or arrange an Apple Store appointment through Apple Business Chat.

The ultimate goal of business messaging is to humanize your brand and iron out any issues that could prevent a customer from taking an action, such as making a purchase. Mastering the art of the business message often boils down to choosing the right channels to maintain open lines of communication and respond to customer questions and queries quickly.
 

What are the channels of business messaging?

Your business messaging channels can make a big difference, shaping how you communicate with your customers. These asynchronous messaging channels let you chat with potential prospects or existing customers using chatbots that always know the right words to say.

Here’s a brief overview of how you can use each channel effectively:

  • WhatsApp - Quick customer service and answers to general questions
  • Google Business messages - Let customers have asynchronous messaging experiences with businesses via Google Maps or Search. 
  • SMS - Personalized messaging to qualify leads or confirm appointments
  • Facebook Messenger - Set up responses to FAQs and answer more complicated queries
  • Apple Business Chat - Send product photos, offer information on services, and manage appointments
Freshchat messaging channels Freshchat messaging channels

Why upgrade your business messaging strategy?

The COVID-19 pandemic made us realize the importance of communicating with family and friends at a distance. We’ve also seen a similar phenomenon in the world of business, with customers seeking around-the-clock engagement with the brands they trust. Many companies are currently delivering a lackluster communication experience to their customers for a variety of reasons:

If any of this describes your business, it’s time to change your business messaging strategy. 
 

The benefits of business messaging

There are several reasons why refining your business messaging strategy is a solid choice for scaling your business. By seeking a tool for businesses such as live chat, chatbots with advanced features, or systems with a built-in chat feature, you can achieve the following results:

What are the use cases for business messaging?

Here’s a wide range of examples of what business messaging looks like in action and how implementing a chatbot can enhance the user experience for your customers:

1. Customer support

Business messaging plays a crucial role in customer support, as it lets customers feel as if they can reach out at any moment with a doubt, query, or issue they have. The right channel can provide instant, contextual help depending on the customer’s predicament.

 

business messaging customer support business messaging customer support

 

Not everyone is able or willing to hop on a phone call with a company every time they have an issue, so enabling a form of messaging can facilitate quick and simple interactions at all hours of the day. When you introduce a chatbot into the equation, you can deal with many common customer concerns or complaints with pre-programmed answers or smart responses based on what has been said. Since chatbots are AI, you can also rely on them 24/7, so even when your customer support agents are tied up, customers can still interact with the company.

Plus, even when agents are available to talk, chatbots can act as an intermediary directing the customer to the right person based on the information they give. Then when an agent gets involved, they can consult the incoming message history to diagnose the problem based on the customer’s details and deliver a suitable solution.

2. Marketing 

What if we told you it was possible to hone in on your target audience and qualify potential leads without human intervention? Chatbot marketing is very real, and it could automate some of your prospect interactions to drive customers towards your sales funnel and boost opt-ins.

 

Freshchat appointments screenshot Freshchat appointments screenshot

3. Sales team outreach

When it comes to converting leads and making sales, it’s important to reach out and stay at the top of the customer’s mind. A timely message can make all the difference and convince someone on the fence to make the purchase and commit to your business over the competition.

There are several ways you can optimize your business messaging for sales conversions, such as setting up live chat on your website so they can settle any last-minute pre-purchase concerns they may have, offering CTAs through your WhatsApp business account, or using a smart chatbot to automate campaign messaging and inspire sales purchases.

With the right approach to business messaging, you can reach customers where they’re at — communicating with them on their preferred channels. From there, you can nudge them towards the action you want them to take and build towards your sales goals.
 

What is the future of business messaging?

The future of internal business messaging will largely focus on asynchronous communication and dedicated business messaging apps.

Asynchronous communication doesn’t require a real-time response from the recipient, so they can take their time to form an answer. Comments, labels, and direct messages are a great way to keep a task moving along the pipeline without interrupting a colleague’s workflow. That’s what makes it the preferred method of contact for many remote teams.