Omnichannel Messaging Platform (Part 1) – A Necessity for Today’s Businesses

Today, businesses are operating in a new norm and the old ways of reaching customers aren’t as effective as they once were. If a business doesn’t adopt an omnichannel messaging platform to communicate with its customers, can it survive?

The use of online services in 2021 boomed to over 2.14 billion people worldwide, up from 1.66 billion global online buyers in 2016. That’s a 29% increase in 5 years. In other words, customers are shopping online more and more. An omnichannel messaging platform is essential for communicating with your customers in this environment. 

Personalized Omnichannel Messaging Platform – A necessity for business-to-customer communication

Interestingly, as customer shopping habits have changed, so have our means of communicating. We have push notifications, pin2speech, email, OTT apps like Viber, and more. Not only are these methods of communication the ones that our customers are already using, but they have also enabled unprecedented opportunities for businesses to connect with customers in more meaningful ways to drive better results.

• A flight’s delayed? Send a push notification to your customer to let them know. 
• A package has been delivered? Notify your customer immediately. 
• Need to authenticate users and ensure your service is secure and reliable? Send one-time passwords via Pin2Speech. 
• Message customers about sales and promotions, even wish them happy birthday wherever they are, straight to their smartphone.

To do this effectively and effortlessly, you need a bespoke, hyper-personalized omnichannel messaging platform catered specifically to your business needs.

With such a messaging platform, you can communicate with customers along the entire customer journey and reduce costs and churn while improving customer retention and conversion rates. 

An omnichannel messaging platform is a crucial part of customer relations in the 21st century. And the good news is that it’s more affordable, effective and convenient to integrate and launch than any of the traditional communication channels.

There’s almost no reason for a business to not adopt this kind of customer messaging platform. And if they don’t, they will only be delaying the inevitable.  

To understand how to use an omnichannel messaging platform, we first need to understand exactly what messaging problems it solves for businesses. Here are the challenges businesses face in their business-to-customer messaging. After this, we’ll take a deep dive into the platform, itself, and show you how it works. 

What Challenges do Businesses Face Today?

Businesses have long been faced with the challenge of setting the right prices while upholding quality standards. Today, there are also technological challenges as many business operations have moved online. And as we move online, we also face new security challenges. 

If a business can acquire customers and serve them in a secure and comprehensive way along the entire customer journey, it can transform many factors such as customer retention, conversion rates and much more.  

In short, here are four key challenges businesses face today:

• Price
• Quality
• Technology
• Customer churn & Low conversions

Let’s discuss each of them in detail.

Price Challenges

As some cost areas rise, it’s essential to keep costs low elsewhere. Yet, finding ways to minimize costs while upholding quality is a challenge.

For example, mobile carrier prices aren’t falling – they are rising. The average price of an SMS around the world1 rose from $0.038 in 2020 to $0.045 in 2021. That’s a 20% cost increase in a very common customer messaging channel. 

If a business today is using SMS to communicate with their customers, they may benefit from a more affordable communication channel – all of which are available via an omnichannel messaging platform.

Challenges in Quality

As we mentioned above, quality is as important as price. As prices inflate, efforts to keep prices down can result in poor quality. Many businesses struggle to keep costs low and consistent without compromising on quality. 

The same applies to business-to-customer communication. An omnichannel messaging platform not only helps you connect with your customers more effectively, but it’s also more cost-effective than traditional communication channels. 

Challenges in Technology

Technology and its role in business is evolving and becoming not only a benefit but, in some cases, a necessity for many companies. 

For example, many cars today must be equipped with sufficient eSIM technology. This allows remote upgrades on navigation and other systems. 

In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, after lockdown, businesses that couldn’t effectively use online services struggled to survive.

Technology has become an essential part of doing business in the 21st century. And as technology evolves, new security risks also emerge. 

Security in Technology

There are two sides to the security issue. Businesses need to protect both: 

1. Themselves: from fraud to ensure their system and resources are safe.
2. Their customers: customers should feel safe, using verified communication channels, free of spam. 

Businesses need to protect their data as well as their customers’ data. 

Data protection is highly regulated in many countries these days. Any business that receives, sends or stores client information has to be sure personal data is properly stored, protected and never transferred improperly. Companies must comply with GDPR and many other regulations, which can be another challenge. 

As a result of this technological evolution, emerging regulations and new market dynamics, it’s increasingly important for businesses to partner with a telco. In this case, a telco can ensure security in a business’ messaging platform. 

Ultimately, after new tools and strategies are implemented for security, quality-maintenance, cost-reduction and streamlining operations, businesses aim to reduce customer churn and improve conversion rates. This can also be done with an omnichannel messaging platform.

Customer Churn and Low Conversion

Reducing customer churn and increasing conversion rates can be an ongoing challenge for any business, especially as the landscape changes. 

So, how does an omnichannel messaging platform improve business-to-customer messaging and solve these problems? 

Omnichannel Messaging Platform – The solution

Sometimes you need to send a push notification to inform a customer that a flight is delayed or a package has been delivered. Or you need to be available, in real-time, to answer customer FAQs. 

Or you may be running a promotion and want to notify your customers of a time-sensitive promo code they can use for a 15% bonus on their next purchase. 

You need to reach customers who have internet, don’t have internet, have smartphones, don’t have smartphones. 

And you want to use the best channel that can maximize conversions and customer reach. Remember, today there are many more channels than SMS (WhatsApp, Viber, Push notifications, Voice, Email, etc.).

These days, to connect with your customers, you have to be where they already are. And the customers are in many places. Therefore, we need to be omnichannel – we need to utilize the individual channel that will most effectively help us realize each separate goal.

What is Omnichannel Messaging? 

An omnichannel messaging platform creates a messaging ecosystem for delivering information to customers in the most cost-efficient, reliable and secure way. It utilizes any of the messaging channels available today, including SMS, push notifications, OTT apps, email, voice and more.

Here’s how it works.

How Does Omnichannel Work? An Ecosystem of Business Messaging Tools

A hyper-personalized omnichannel messaging platform automatically optimizes your communication with customers and creates a messaging ecosystem.

For example, if you need to notify a customer of a bank transaction, but most of them don’t have smartphones or internet access, an OTT app like Whatsapp won’t be the best channel. You’ll need to use SMS instead. 

However, if you’re running a promotion and you want to reduce messaging costs to your entire customer base, SMS won’t be cost-effective. Emails or push notifications will be the preferred channels.  

The more channels you use, the better the customer experience.

The channel you use for any given communication depends on the function of the message.

4 Main Functions of Messages in Business

Do you need to verify a user? Promote a product or service? Offer customer support? This will help inform which customer messaging channel to use in any given situation.

Here are the four key functions of business messaging platforms:

• Promote
• Verify
• Inform
• Support

Each of these is a crucial aspect of the entire customer journey. Let’s look at each one, individually.

Promote

Messaging channels are now a very effective way to market and promote your product or service. When done correctly, the results can be incredible.

Use the right channel to grab a customer’s attention, show them the quality of your product, that the price is fair and that they’ll benefit from it. And because you’re using the channel of their preference, you’ll inherently build a stronger connection and deeper trust with that customer than with any other channel.

However, in many countries, customer consent is required for promotion via many channels (i.e. SMS). This means you’ll need to support customers through registration, verification and authentication processes. This is another task an omnichannel messaging platform can help you with.

Authentication and Verification 

To collect consent, a customer may need to first register on your website or download your app. So you’ll need a reliable and secure authentication and verification channel.

Authenticating and verifying your customers is essential for security purposes. This can be done with 2-Factor Authentication (2FA) using One-Time Passwords (OTP) or Voice messages.

The user can then opt-in for promotional messages (SMS, in-app messaging, or another channel). An added bonus: by partnering with a telco for an omnichannel messaging platform, the telco can also connect you with the right leads and provide proper support through the registration process.

Once a customer has verified their identity and registered on your site or app, you need to follow up and keep them informed – before and after their purchase.

Inform

Once you’ve onboarded a customer, staying connected with them, providing necessary information and supporting them throughout the entire customer journey is key. 

Such messaging may involve:

• Providing order numbers 
• Sharing transaction details
• Helping track the product
• Notifying of a flight delay
• Enterprise live chat for support

And much more. An omnichannel messaging platform will utilize the most cost-efficient and effective channel for delivering these messages to your customer.

And of course, if any problem arises you’ll need to promptly provide support.

Support

A well-designed communication system helps facilitate customer loyalty and helps the customer feel confident in your business. A key aspect of this is answering customer questions and accompanying your customer along the entire selling journey.

You may need to send the customer the location of your store, resolve a technical error, answer FAQs, process a reservation change or anything else. You can use enterprise live chat or insert a chat bot into a customer messaging channel to promptly answer questions. 

Altogether, these messaging tools fulfill many functions.

Omnichannel Messaging Platform – The more channels, the better the customer experience

In short, Omnichannel messaging tools allow you to connect with your customer in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible to enhance customer retention, brand loyalty and conversions. 

But, how do you know which channel to use and when? Is the decision-making process automated? What’s the cost of integration? 

This is where telco can help.

Partnering with the Right Telco – Omnichannel messaging API

To establish an effective multi-channel messaging ecosystem, it is essential that a business partner with the right telco. An experienced, reliable telco with a cutting-edge omnichannel messaging platform can ensure that you are using the most efficient business messaging tools available and seeing results.

Here are the key features you’ll want to ensure your telecommunications partner includes with their omnichannel messaging platform:

• GLOBAL COVERAGE

Ability to deliver messages worldwide.

• FLEXIBLE PRICING

Multiple pricing & payment options tailored to meet your exact needs. Pay-as-you-go, volume discounts, committed use, transparent billing. No hidden fees.

• 2-WAY MESSAGING

Let your customers start conversations and respond to your messages. Solve clients’ problems, ask questions and get immediate user feedback.

• SINGLE PLATFORM

An all-in-one partner for a unified communication solution. This allows you to avoid separate programs. One web-based platform to send messages via multiple channels.

• PHONE NUMBER LOOKUP

To check customer phone numbers and clean up your number base for optimizing SMS delivery and campaign ROI.

• CONTINUOUS MESSAGING FLOW

To build your own personalized delivery sequence for maximum cost-efficiency. SMS, email and other fallback channels are crucial.

• QUALITY OF SERVICE

Connections to MNOs for SMS, voice verification and voice messaging to guarantee the best quality connections. 

• EASY & FAST INTEGRATION

A ready-to-use platform with simple omnichannel messaging APIs and SDKs, making it easy to quick-start.

• SECURITY

A telco with experience in fraud prevention can guarantee you and your customers are protected when using the service.

LANCK Telecom’s Omnichannel Messaging Platform – Technology you can count on

LANCK Telecom is a global wholesaler of voice and SMS traffic with 20+ years of experience in all aspects of the telecommunications industry, including fraud prevention. 

Over twenty years of experience means we have hundreds of direct-to-carrier connections and multiple partners all over the globe, including MNOs, MVNOs and more. LANCK Telecom also has decades of experience in fighting telecom fraud, led by our own fraud management system that eliminates all fraud attacks or cuts losses by 97-99%.

We can guarantee a cutting-edge personalized omnichannel messaging platform with the support you need each step of the way. 

By partnering with LANCK Telecom for omnichannel business messaging, you can be sure that you’ll get a platform equipped with all of the above features and more. 

Get an Omnichannel Messaging Platform Today

Customer habits have evolved and many businesses struggle to connect with their customers and maintain the same customer retention that the traditional methods offered years ago. This shift in the market has given way to new business messaging tools. By not adopting a personalized omnichannel messaging platform, businesses are only delaying the inevitable.

The size of the omnichannel messaging market continues to grow. By connecting with your customers via the branded and verified channels they’re already using, you can connect in a meaningful way with your customers, reduce churn, and boost conversion rates.

If you’re ready to try an omnichannel messaging platform, or if you have any questions about this messaging tool, feel free to contact us here. One of our global messaging specialists will be in touch, today.