Messaging has changed the way we interact in our personal lives, and now it’s changing how we do business, writes Harry Lowes, Director of GBG Scaled, Meta ANZ. To keep up with customer preference, it’s time to get conversational online.

We have recently seen a shift in the ways people prefer to interact with each other, moving from a phone call to simple messaging via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. With the rapid shifts in consumer communication behaviour, what do businesses need to do to connect with customers through messaging?

We’ve been talking about conversational commerce for years. People want to connect with a business the same way they chat with their friends and family. They don’t want to call and wait on hold, or email and not know whether it’s been read – they want to send a message and get a quick, personalised response.

Messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatApp are ingrained in our everyday lives – 140 billion messages are sent every day. Consumers are demanding the businesses they engage with reach them wherever they are.

Businesses are aware of this, with BCG research revealing 70 percent of businesses cite business messaging as very or extremely important to their business. In Australia, many businesses have adapted to business messaging tools and are finding value in being conversational online.

Personalised conversations with customers

Take the story of Bubble Tea Club as an example, an Australian online retailer started by Jenny Le and Pam Yip in 2019. The duo founded their business after losing their jobs during COVID. Bubble Tea Club sells a range of DIY Bubble tea kits, teas, toppings, flavourings and recyclable cups.

Bubble Tea Club has grown a cult following across social media, and the business credits its social media presence for growth. They wanted to make it possible for customers to chat, ask questions about products, and provide an automated experience to facilitate purchase. To do this, they leverage tools including Messenger across Facebook and Instagram to build out personalised conversations with their customers.

The Bubble Tea Club also runs a Facebook Group of nearly 7,000 members who they engage with on products, trends and general feedback. Building on their momentum on the platform, the company has also run campaigns on Messenger for Lunar New Year to endorse sales, and attract new customers.

By managing their own Facebook Group, running Messenger campaigns and using other direct tools to connect with customers, Bubble Tea Club have effectively incorporated business messaging as a core part of their customer’s experience. As a result, they’ve achieved over $2 million in sales, hired over 30 staff members and the team now has more than 30,000 customers across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. This is just one of many small business success stories in Australia.

Legacy channels are time-intensive and ineffective

Over 40 percent of people surveyed by Meta and BCG said that they were messaging with businesses more frequently now, compared to the pre-pandemic period. In fact, one in three consumers chats with a business at least once a week.

Yet, many businesses continue to rely on legacy channels that are time-intensive, ineffective, expensive and not preferred by their customers. Brands who win the customer experience battle always outpace those that underperform. The research found that Meta’s technologies, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, have the highest retention rate from discovery to inquiry, as found by 72 percent of respondents. Meta’s technologies have a high retention as they’re the same platforms used by customers regularly – 47 percent of respondents use the apps for their daily communication.

The time has come for every business to think about its customer experience. As people come to expect a more hybrid shopping experience, business messaging will only grow. Australia has one of the highest Messenger adoption rates of markets globally. Businesses that are taking advantage of this and building an experience for today’s customers are those that are flourishing.

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