Leverage Messaging Channels to Sell
Technology is powerful and has been steadily empowering us by making available new tools of communication. Embracing and adopting these can enable us to live more productive lives and enhance the efficiency of many of our everyday activities including ecommerce.
Reaching out to customers to whom you are promoting or selling your product is no longer restricted to those with an online presence through a website or a marketplace. Today, you will find many sellers offering their products/ services over popular social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and now even on messaging apps like Telegram, WeChat and Line.
Ecommerce platforms like Shopmatic also help leverage such social media and messaging apps. Check out:
https://support.goshopmatic.com/shopmatic-support/social-checkout-link/
https://support.goshopmatic.com/shopmatic-support/whatsapp-buyer-inquiry-with-seller/
Why do you need so many channels to sell?
As a business, your goal is to grow revenues. The wider that you can reach out – whether nationally or internationally, the better the chances of you getting more customers and increasing sales and profits. In fact, adopting the right strategies can help you build a brand and product that is recognized across geographical borders.
Another reason is the preference and convenience of the buyer, who now has the choice to transact on whichever platform he is comfortable with. While some would only like to buy through the website or marketplace hosting the enterprise, there are many others, (especially the millennials) who would rather purchase over social media or a messaging app.
The alternative channels to sell also gives you, the merchant a marketing opportunity – another platform to expose your product/services and brand identity to possible customers. Business owners need to get as creative as they can as it is best to engage their audience on the platforms they visit most.
Communicating through Messaging Apps
Communication can add value to all interactions.
It helps resolve many issues. The widespread use of messaging apps provides businesses to reach out to the seller directly (and hopefully get a quick response).
Such close communication and engagement also helps in developing a deeper relationship between the customer and the brand and in staying ahead of competition.
Benefits of using such apps
- Most of these messaging apps are free and can be used worldwide which makes it easier and convenient for everyone to communicate, without bothering about the costs involved.
- They are easy to use with no tedious registration process and documentation. Apart from text communication, it also allows the transmission of images, videos and even brochures and catalogues.
- The privacy of communication is a major plus. The use of these apps will allow the customer to reach out to you with their query or complain without other customers getting to know about that. While ensuring the customer’s privacy you are also ensuring that potentially damaging complaints do not become public.
- Most of the messaging apps allow digital payments which makes it especially convenient and effective for online businesses.
- The efficient use of chatbots in most Messaging app platforms allows businesses to automate certain areas of customer support and drive better engagement with the customers.
- The apps allow marketing and promotion facilities that can be used to deliver targeted content to the users via messenger ads through video, audio or a product link with text message.
- The apps can be used for sending out alerts and updates or reminders regarding your products/ payment or delivery.
- You can be as inclusive or exclusive as you wish to be. The messenger apps allow quick and personalized interactions with your customers. Otherwise, group chats can be used effectively to share relevant information easily and effectively amongst the participants. Such engagement also works in building customer loyalty and trust in your brand.
Popular Messaging Apps
Latest figures show that WhatsApp with about 2bn users is the most widely used messaging app worldwide and this is followed by Facebook Messenger with 1.3bn users. Apart from these, there are other messaging channels like Telegram, Line and WeChat which also have a huge user base among both businesses and millennial shoppers alike.
The Telegram app is especially popular in Singapore and Malaysia. The Chinese diaspora all over the world use WeChat for most communications while Line has a large following in Japan. WhatsApp still rules the roost in India for both business and private communications.
Telegram
This is the app of choice for most millennials. It is a free messaging app that is cloud based, and has a no-ad policy (that is prefered by many users). The app has many channels and mainly relies on bots to undertake many functions quickly and efficiently in order to make its users’ life easier.
The Telegram messenger app allows the user to easily market his product/services by sharing content including images and videos with the target audience. One of the features of this channel allows a user to broadcast content to an unlimited number of subscribers- making it very useful for ecommerce vendors.
Small businesses find this an effective tool for reaching out and communicating with prospective clients – addressing their queries and concerns immediately. Such interactions can be extended to accepting orders and receiving payments ie. they can complete an entire transaction through Telegram!
This is the most popular messaging app across the world and is especially popular in India. Apart from being free and very easy to use, the many features discussed above (like ability to share videos and images and chat in private/ groups) makes it the chosen messaging channel by most both for personal and business communications.
Line
This is Japan’s largest social network channel and is quite popular in some other Asian countries like HongKong and Singapore too. This is also free and the use of animation and cute stickers make the Line messenger stand out from the competition.
Like other messengers, Line allows the user to text and chat with one or multiple people over audio and video channels. This allows for easy interaction and communication with customers. LINE Pay allows you to pay for easy and secure payments.
So what are you waiting for?
- This is the time to cast the net wider and leverage the use of the many efficient messenger apps to reach your target audience!
- Technology and smartphones have made the average consumer better informed who prefer to interact and communicate with the seller before completing any transaction.
- Chat apps allow you fast and instant communication with your prospective customers and can give a boost to your marketing and customer support.
- Messenger apps you choose can be a great complement to your existing selling strategies through your website or an ecommerce platform.
Like they say – “You’ll never know if you don’t reach for it!
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