Get Closer with your Customers Through Omnichannel Communication

Razan Saleh

Content Manager – MENA

The rise of digitalization is accompanied by an increase in communication technology and channels. To plan accordingly, it’s necessary for brands to consider future communication trends that will influence their consumer experience. Omnichannel is more than a trend; it’s one of today’s newest and most promising strategies, focusing on addressing customers’ demands through an integrated, simple, friendly, and efficient experience.

So what does omnichannel even mean? Omnichannel strategies connect a company’s communication channels with its consumers, including traditional ones like the call center or mail, as well as newer digital ones like website chat and social media. So, regardless of the channel your customer is contacting you through, he/she will always receive an immediate response without having to repeat his/her question.

A recent survey by PWC found that 73% of consumers consider their CX to be more significant than a product’s price or quality when making a purchase. Getting close to customers through omnichannel communication means being available on popular channels and offering what they need, even before they demand it. So, how do you begin planning your omnichannel communication strategy? Let’s explore a few important factors to get you started.

The acceleration of digital transformation has resulted in a huge operational gap. We adopted communication technology and digital channels without a clear digital strategy and tailored solutions to fulfill the needs of our customers.

Digital transformation is not only about employing digital technology or integrating digital capabilities throughout the company; it is about choosing the right portfolio of communication channels and being available where your customers are. Understanding technology, managing integration, leading cultural change, adding new channels and fueling business results are all part of this effort. Meaning businesses must adjust their operations to feed into newly acquired digital channels and deliver an outstanding customer experience.

Changing the way your company manages internal and external communications is the first step toward a truly holistic approach to customer communication. Therefore, it’s critical to look for a solution provider who focuses on delivering a holistic strategy together with professional services. Infobip’s communication solutions can provide strategical support to help you deliver an omnichannel experience and digitalize your workforce and processes.  

Impersonal messages irritate 54% of individuals, are disregarded by 47%, and are the reason why more than one in five customers have switched brands during the COVID-19 lockdown, according to our 2020 customer engagement report. With an omnichannel communication strategy, businesses can personalize their customer engagement by communicating over multiple chat apps and modern channels such as WhatsApp, email, voice, and even their mobile apps, while guaranteeing to keep customers engaged at different touchpoints. It is all about switching communication channels or optimizing conversations while using multiple channels.

Let’s dive in a bit and pretend you’re inquiring about a new car. You begin your journey by contacting the dealership via phone, and once you’re connected to an agent for more details, the information is sent to you by email, followed by an automated sequence of notifications delivered to your favorite conversational chat app. Another example is you contacting a contact center, but the wait time is too long, and so with omnichannel communication, you’ll be automatically transferred to a chat app for a faster response.

Customer expectations for meaningful, contextual, and convenient experiences have reached new levels in the digital age. Simply put, customers have grown accustomed to getting what they want when they want it and are increasingly drawn to brands that treat them as individuals throughout their journey.

Achieving an exceptional digital customer experience means being present on channels customers prefer while establishing an emotional bond with a human touch. However, to empower those preferred channels, you need additional tools to help you integrate them into an existing IT system. Such tools can include a unified and scalable communication platform that orchestrates all customer engagement along with a chatbot-building platform for always-on customer service.

Here’s an interesting story of a client who added an AI-based chatbot service over a verified WhatsApp for Business channel to improve customer engagement and provide 24/7 customer support. As a result, they enhanced customer engagement, recorded an average 4.4-star rating on the overall experience, and most importantly, increased their lead generation by 138%.

Allowing businesses to engage and interact with customers quickly through multiple digital messaging channels has a significant impact on customer satisfaction and their purchasing behavior. On the other hand, customers can start having conversations with businesses like they do with their friends and family–leading them to a successful purchasing journey.  

Infobip provides a single platform to handle interactions and channels while allowing clients to mix and match solutions based on their communication needs and most importantly within their current infrastructure. Let our Professional Services team be your expert guide in getting you closer to your customers and delivering an exceptional digital experience through our omnichannel communication platform.