How To Use Messengers for Business: Top Marketing Use Cases

Messenger marketing is a relatively new area of Internet marketing. This article will tell you why it is unique, how it works, and why you should implement it right now.

What is messenger marketing and why is it good?

Messenger marketing is communication with users through messengers, instant messaging systems. At first glance, it is similar to email marketing, but there is a big difference between them. People use messengers for personal communication, so they trust senders more and respond faster. In addition, some messengers and special chat apps can be used without an Internet connection, for example, using Bluetooth. Read more about such applications on apppearl. That’s why promotion through messengers is no longer a fad, but a necessity for business.

More and more people tend to send short messages instead of email, social media, and other means of communication. According to Google, 65% of consumers prefer to text a company rather than call or meet with a manager in person.

Cases to use messenger marketing

Consult

An email consultation could last for weeks. In messengers, everything is simpler: the client writes a message to the manager, the manager reads it and responds immediately, and if necessary, records video or audio.

Some companies automate consultations in messengers with the help of chatbots. Artificial intelligence can answer common questions about a product, inform about the status of a purchase, sign up for a service, and even take an order. Chatbots work as tech support around the clock, help sell, save managers time, and eliminate call-center costs.

Notify

Mailing to messengers can inform customers about something important. This could be new stock or discounts, changes in delivery conditions, payment, checkout. Users will read the message and be able to take advantage of a discount, a bonus, a nice gift, or react to changes in time. Instant notifications increase brand loyalty, stimulate extra sales, create a trusting relationship between the seller and the customer.

Gather Subscribers

You can gather all your customers in one place. Today, messengers are more convenient for communicating with groups of customers at once.  It is enough to send a message once, and most of the subscribers will immediately see it. Email can be ignored, and on social networks, your post gets lost in the news feed.

In such group chats, you can notify about promotions and discounts, publish expert content, tell about your company life, interact with users. For example, conduct polls, ask to rate content with likes or dislikes, choose the date and time for making an appointment for service.

Sell

Consulting, instant alerts, and gathering subscribers indirectly help to sell. And messengers are also useful for direct sales. For example, Telegram – there you can create chatbots that will offer users products and accept payment.

Monetize

You can monetize your business in the messengers themselves. For example, create a channel or group, gather a large number of subscribers, and sell advertising spots. Or you can create a cool channel with useful information and charge users for subscriptions – in other words, you can start sending messages for a fee.

How to set up good communication

Forms of interaction with customers vary depending on the niche. Restaurants, food delivery services, online stores launch chatbots advising users and taking orders. Online education companies create group chats to demonstrate expertise through useful content. IT services launch automated newsletters and so on.

To make communication successful:

1. Send only the right information. If you don’t know what’s important to customers, take a survey first.
2. Don’t send too many messages. 2-3 messages per week or month will be enough, don’t abuse the client’s personal space.
3. Keep your messages short. Messengers communicate mostly in short messages, long-form messages are rarely read.
4. Make it possible to unsubscribe from your mailing list. Tell the clients how to do it, otherwise, they might get complaints.
5. Organize feedback. Ask customers to evaluate what messages are not necessary, what is missing. Constant interaction will increase the effectiveness of marketing

You can test messenger marketing on a small sample of users and evaluate the results before implementing it for your entire customer base. This will help to identify and immediately correct mistakes and find the best touchpoints.

Briefly about the important things

1. Messenger marketing is still unpopular with companies. There are 20% of businesses in messengers and virtually no online stores in Telegram. At the same time, there are more and more messenger users every year.
2. In messengers, you can advise, notify, collect subscribers, sell, and also create newsletters and make money from advertising spots.
3. There are many messengers, but for a large coverage, choose the most popular – WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram.
4. In order not to lose customers, do not spam, report only the important things, write concisely, and allow unsubscribing.