Multichannel Messaging

There has been a lot of buzz lately about multichannel or omnichannel messaging and marketing. Essentially, it's messaging to your contacts on different channels like texting, email, live chat, and social. It's an approach where you give your customers a way to use their preferred channel to communicate with you.

Why is it important?

Consumers today are all using different channels to communicate. Some prefer email, while others may be busy and want to communicate on the go via text message. Or, they may be on your site and want to live chat here and now. As a business, you should give your customers these options and make a severe shift in your communications strategy to accommodate. Not answering a conversation or not responding fast enough can cost you revenue which over time adds up. 

Set the expectation

Start small and grow. You may want to consider just communicating via email with your customers to start. After all, if it's just you running the business, you may not be able to cover all channels. But, monitor how customers react and track if it helps to increase your sales or customer satisfaction. You're often up against long read times and low read rates with email. So, if it's not cutting it, start branching out. But, as long as you set an expectation upfront, your customers will know what to expect of you. 

Cover your bases

Make sure you're covering all of your bases sooner rather than later. Using a product like the Mozeo Messenger, we bring together email, texting, and live chat all in one place. This will give your audience three convenient ways to get in touch with you - either right away, on the go, or whenever they feel like it. Based on these channels, you should determine the response times, too. Consumers know if they email you, they'll get an answer later. But if they live chat with you, they expect an immediate, live response.

A multichannel story

Texting
Let's say a busy parent is on your website and wants to buy your product. They have a few quick questions, but they need to run to a child's soccer game. They're not going to wait to email you, nor do they have time for live chat. Instead, they'll choose to text you. This will take the conversation from your website to their phone, and you can answer their questions via text while they're on the run. You gave them the option, they chose to text, and you closed a sale.

Live Chat
Now, let's say the same person receives your product and is stuck on something. They want to resolve it right away because they need to use it today. Enter live chat. Your team can answer their questions right away and make sure they know how to thoroughly use the product. This leads to a delighted customer, who becomes a raving fan who tells friends and family about your product.

Email
Lastly, it's been a couple of weeks, and you send a follow-up email. No rush. You want to make sure everything is going well and possibly get a review or rating on your product. Email is perfect for this. It delivers quietly, with no intended timeframe, and the customer doesn't feel pressured to respond right away.

That's the power of multichannel messaging.