No matter what products and services you sell, the consumer has at least ten other businesses to choose from today. With digitization, consumers now have access to products and services from brands across the globe, and while it means more choices being available to them, it translates into ‘high competition’ and ‘low customer loyalty’ for businesses. That’s where the importance of building a digital customer experience strategy comes into play.
What is digital customer experience and why is it important?
Digital customer experience refers to all the interactions you have with customers across your main digital touchpoints. This includes your website, social networks, email, live chat, and other channels that consumers may choose to engage with you through.
A digital customer experience strategy looks into streamlining the conversations across all these channels to make them more efficient and effective – an integral part of it being available for the consumer at all times.
With an increasing number of consumers wanting to interact and talk to brands before making a purchase decision, focusing on digital customer experience has become critical. That’s where businesses can be exploring WhatsApp for Business to meet consumers where they are the most comfortable (and active).
Here’s taking a look at some statistics that show the importance of digital customer experiences:
• 47% of consumers switch brands due to bad customer service
• 72% of consumers find explaining their problem multiple times cumbersome
• 39% of consumers avoid a business for two years after a bad experience
• 82% of consumers now seek human interaction with brands
The solution to a better digital customer experience is not setting up more channels through which a consumer can reach you. It’s about simplifying the communication on both fronts, and that is where the Business WhatsApp App is making waves.
How to create a digital customer experience strategy with WhatsApp?
With the WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business API available to all, it’s time for businesses to leverage the actively used messaging platform to create seamless digital customer experiences. Here’s how:
1. Simplify getting in touch with you
About three-quarters of consumers prefer texting as a means of communicating with businesses. While having an email address and live chat may serve the purpose, why not use ‘text’ as a means to establish communication?
With the help of a WhatsApp Business API solution provider, you can add a WhatsApp widget to not just your website, but also connect your business account to your Facebook page, social media, and search ads.
Give consumers a direct channel to speak with you, and bring the conversation to their comfort zone!
2. Notify customers of important updates
9 out of 10 customers want businesses to message them regarding important updates, announcements and offers that are relevant to them. With the help of WhatsApp Business API, you can send out broadcast messages to notify all your subscribers and customers on message.
With a 99% open rate on WhatsApp messages, you are sure to get your message across and not miss an important update, making the customer experience more positive.
3. Offer conversational support
No matter what your business is about, customer service and support are crucial to building positive digital experiences and customer loyalty. That’s where WhatsApp for Business comes in with its interactive messages and automation that you can set up using the WhatsApp Business API.
Leverage list messages and FAQs to make seeking and getting customer support conversational and more real-time. The automation also helps you optimize the time spent on customer service, stepping in only as and when required.
4. Make commerce simpler
More than 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase using their mobile devices in the last 6 months. This only goes to indicate how consumers are looking for simpler ways to make purchases instead of the traditional tactics that make them switch platforms.
With the WhatsApp Business API, you can leverage payment integrations to bring the entire purchase experience to one chat. The ability to make purchases in minutes with WhatsApp commerce is sure to give a boost to your digital customer experience.
5. Send proactive order updates
Most consumers face post-purchase anxiety when not able to keep a close watch on their order status. The WhatsApp Business API addresses this by enabling businesses to send automated order status and shipping notifications, always keeping the consumer up-to-date.
With lesser anxious minds, these consumers then also tend to respond better to your broadcast messages around other ongoing deals, discounts and offers.
6. Keep customers engaged
WhatsApp for Business also gives you the opportunity to keep consumers engaged at every stage of their lifecycle with your business. From day one, you can keep them engaged by running meaningful campaigns focused on tapping into their interests – be it running contests, inviting them to an event, sharing content around products they have shown interest in or purchased previously and so on.
In times when everyone is trying to make a sale, businesses that are focused on offering ‘value’ win more hearts.
Do you need WhatsApp for digital customer experiences?
In times when other channels like social media and email are getting noisier, it’s important for businesses to cut through the clutter and meet customers where they are.
WhatsApp is one of the most commonly and widely used messaging platforms across all demographics of consumers. When digital customer experiences are about consumers more than businesses, it’s only obvious that now brands need to include WhatsApp in their strategies.
Not sure how to build a digital customer experience strategy with WhatsApp? Book a demo of Interakt today.
