77% of users stop using mobile apps within three days of installation. Such a high churn rate is indicative of the need for constant and impactful customer service.
Enter in-app messaging. Sending messages to users while they use your app is an excellent way to engage them and get the desired action out of them.
There are many ways to send in-app messages that can be as generic or as personalized as you want, making it a favored option for businesses today.
Let’s take a look at the many benefits of in-app messaging and how you can make the most of it with your software applications.
5 benefits of in App messaging for your eCommerce app
Also known as in-product messaging, in-app messages are various ways a service provider communicates with its user while they use its product. It might range from a simple welcome message to a reminder to pay the bills while the user navigates through the service.
In-app messaging has emerged as a boost in customer service, allowing brands and businesses to communicate with users authentically while guiding them through their service. It helps you retain customers and helps customers receive a positive user experience from you.
We’re taking a look at all the ways in-app messaging helps in maintaining customer engagement and how to get the most out of it. Read on to know more.
- In-app messaging enhances the user experience
One of the biggest, most prominent benefits of in-app messaging is the enhanced user experience a customer receives from you. This has the dual effect of the customer receiving a good service from their provider i.e., you and you receiving more engagement from your customer.
It directly helps you push a customer further into the marketing funnel by providing them with a proactive experience. As noted by the in-app messaging with Appcues guide, you connote leaving customers discovering the usefulness of your applications on them.
In-app messaging allows you to tell the users how to make the best out of your service. For example, you might tell them where to begin or where the settings/account tab is so that they view essential information.
- Keep customers engaged
Push notifications are a popular messaging option to remind users of an app. However, they need to be opted by the user for them to see them at all. They only reach about 45% of your audience.
But in-app messaging doesn’t need to get permission to opt-in. It is only used when the user is actively using the app, making it far more effective and directly engaging. It is also read more than push notifications.
In-app messages are more personalized to the journey the user is taking on the app. They might be timed to the action and response a user gives. More importantly, they’re a way for you to communicate to users why and how you benefit them.
- Capitalize on time-sensitive events
Another way in-app messages boost your customer engagement is by capitalizing on time-sensitive events. In-app messages help you highlight occasions that exist for a limited time, reminding the user to make their move.
Such messages make the user stay with you otherwise they miss out on an important event. Here are some ways you might use in-app message reminders for time-sensitive events:
- Birthday messages that might include special offers.
- Seasonal offers such as bonuses, discounts and sales. Eg, Black Friday, Christmas.
- Reminder for payment
- Reminder to collect or implement rewards
- Reward on completion of an event or continued engagement
Take a look at the example above from the popular mobile game ‘Flower Games — Bubble Pop’. The game congratulates the user on completing 200 days in the game and offers them rewards for it. It is an excellent way to reward the user for continued engagement.
First, it is clear positive reinforcement that motivates the user to spend more time in the game by rewarding previous behavior. Second, it provides them with tools that’ll help them spend more time in the game.
- In-app messaging increases product adoption
We’ve earlier talked about churn and product adoption. In-app messages help you retain customers by helping them navigate the service as it is supposed to be used. You shall guide them through the experience to help them get the most value out of it.
You might deploy a tour of the app that highlights all the features. A tour lets the user know all the important bits and gets them started with the app right away. The key to this tactic is to keep the tour short and precise, or the user may lose interest.
You might also take the help of chatbots to create a more immersive experience. Chatbots help quell the queries of the users. They also help make the experience smooth for the user and give them a sense of security that the service provider is available to them at all times.
- Feature adoption
The process of adoption does not have to be app-wide. You might deploy retention and adoption techniques to a specific feature as well. In-app messages might be used for both features that aren’t getting the attention you’d want as well as newly launched ones.
Simply drop a message to your customers to let them know that you have made a few changes or are introducing new features. The user will not adopt all the features presented to them.
Make sure they understand the value of the said feature to make them give it a try. You might also entice them with an offer to try it. In-app messages boost feature adoption because the user doesn’t have to take extra steps to try it. It’s right there.
- In-app messaging guides users to the desired action
In-app messaging helps you craft a customer journey that you want. You can essentially guide users to perform the desired action by interacting with them in real-time. Use it to offer them valuable tips or remind them of a task they need to perform.
You’ll be able to track which users take the desired action and which ones don’t. This helps you tweak the path you have set up for them. You might also deploy different messages for them, based on the path they take.
The goal is to push the customer down the sales funnel and make them continuously engage with you. Craft messages that guide the user, not force them to take an action. In-app messages, in general, must make the customer choose what they want to do next on their own.
This is true even when you want them to perform the desired action. Tell them why they need to do it, what they’ll gain out of it, and how they shall perform it with ease. Moreover, let them know that you’ll be by their side should they need help.
- In-app messaging thrives on personalized communication
In-app messages thrive on the personalization they offer. They’re highly targeted, meaning they reach the right person at the right time. In-app messages are there to help the users gain the most out of the app experience.
This way, they become a guide for the user. Subsequently, they become your tool to hold personalized conversations with your customers. Talk to them and let them know what they shall do next with your app. Personalized connections help establish a bond between you and them.
- Get feedback
Take advantage of the personal bond you form with your users to get honest feedback from them, as depicted in the example above. Popular streaming platform Sony Liv asks for feedback on its playback experience as you scroll through the series you wish to watch.
It directly impacts the way you use the platform, making it likely that you’d engage with it and help them improve their service. Users are more likely to engage with feedback requests when they form a personal connection with the app.
- Nurture a bond
Continued usage from a user will help you develop long-lasting bonds with them through in-app messaging. It boosts your brand loyalty as they continue their engagement with you. They might recommend your service to people they know.
Acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining one.
Forming a personal bond helps you pitch highly targeted offers to them, which they’ll be more likely to engage with. This is because they know you understand their likes and dislikes based on the long-standing communication you share with them.
Final thoughts
In-app messages are a boost to customer service in today’s day and age. As the attention span of the customers continues to decrease, in-app messages help you capture them by offering genuine interaction about the topics of their interest.
In-app messages thrive on the availability of the user as they appear only when the application is being actively used. They’re highly personalized as well. They’re a boon in increasing customer engagement with authentic interactions.
Let us know in the comments what other benefits in-app messages offer that will help boost customer engagement.
