Top 5 tips for maximizing your messaging’s potential this Black Friday and Cyber Monday

No, not by acting like that person at a party who just… won’t… stop talking at you. We mean having live, meaningful conversations with your customers online when they choose to reach out to you. Mobile messaging allows you to have two-way chats with your customers, answering their questions and guiding their purchases right in the palm of their hand, all in real time.

By having these conversations, you’re not only more likely to land a sale but just as importantly, boost loyalty (see Tip 5). Best of all, customers want to talk to you via chat. 72% of customers are more likely to purchase if they can chat with you about your products via real-time chat messaging.

Partner up with the right messaging solution provider and you can integrate your messaging channels with your CRM. This lets you create personalized BFCM offers, tailor customer service, and enable two-way conversations based on the individual customer’s past purchases and interactions with you—not generalized scripts or hunches.

Crucially, any new information gleaned from a messaging-based conversation can be automatically fed back into your CRM to be used in future targeted campaigns. Bear in mind that personalized experiences are now a customer expectation, not a want. For instance, 80% of self-professed frequent shoppers will only shop with brands that offer personalized experiences, according to SmarterHQ.

To start conversations, you need to tap into the full potential of each of your messaging channels. Yes, SMS is great for delivering “bottom line” offers that have the potential to grab consumer attentions immediately. But social apps take things to the next level.

For instance, send an image-rich PDF showing off buying options via WhatsApp to trigger a potential conversation with an opted-in customer; create image carousels in Instagram to drum up interest in your unique BFCM offerings; or offer exclusive emoji sticker sets that customers can use in Viber, in turn potentially spreading your branded stickers to their contacts.

Creating experiences with customers via messaging sounds great. However, you’re probably picturing having to pay for a warehouse packed with sales agents to pull it off. That’s where the latest chatbot tech steps in to take away the strain.

With the right coding, bots can answer FAQs, check stock levels for customers, set up a return—even hand over to a sales agent if a human touch is required—all within your preferred messaging channels. That means you can provide a consistent conversation-driven experience, no matter the touchpoint. Best of all? You don’t need to hire expensive development geeks to create that bot. Instead, the right provider can quickly rollout a tailored bot using a quality off-the-shelf solution.

Remember, you want customers to stay with you beyond Black Friday, and while we’ve already highlighted how messaging drives up loyalty rates, you can go further still. Once BFCM is over, use your messaging channels to reward both new and long-term customers with bespoke special offers, one-off discounts, minimum spend rewards, and more.

For example, offer them a digital discount coupon at the end of, say, a WhatsApp-completed BFCM sale that’ll be right there on their phone the next time they are considering a purchase. Also consider offering an in-app link to a quick survey to source feedback. These customer insights not only help refine your services further—but also provide potential quotes to promote across all your channels.