Connect with your customers – turning users into people

James McBriar, from Worlds Connect, reveals essential ways to connect with your customers

Worlds Connect

Worlds Connect is an OTT (over-the-top) messaging network for apps. It offers two-way content delivery between the client, the application and the user. Using Worlds Connect, you can have fast, secure and reliable two-way feature rich customer engagement using HTML 5. 

An OTT network also allows your users to share content with each other while integrating other channels such as social media, using push content. Our tools suite provides you with the power to communicate with your app users by a variety of means. This incredibly powerful acquisition and retention tool from Worlds Connect allows you to engage with your customers like never before.

We know that many consumers are addicted to their smartphones, probably more than watching soaps or even eating! As brands adapt to the consumer appetite for mobile data, websites have been re-optimised for hand-held devices and messages are being written to be read, specifically via mobiles. It’s no secret that both the business and the consumer are becoming mobile-focussed.

‘Messaging’ used to be limited to just sending a letter in the post, but now there are so many options: SMS text messaged, email, in-app messaging (push, rich and chat) and web (also push, rich and chat).

Some people even use a phone to make a call – yes that does still happen! With the tools now available for communicating with customers, a new challenge is presented; determining which of these forms is best suited to your customer or type of communications.

Getting this right can not only enhance your communications, leading to increased engagement and therefore a higher chance of sales, but also improve your ROI and brand equity.

Create a connected world

You now need a tool that can help you connect, identify and interact with your customers via apps, online channels and any other web-enabled device. This will connect all your touch points across web, app and any other format, regardless of the user’s IP, ensuring you can identify your connected customer, turning them from users into people. 

The advantages

Personalised communications

The ability to identify your customers not only humanises your thought process when planning marketing communications, but enables you to deliver targeted messages. The option to personalise, starts from adding simple merge fields such as first name – to increase the chance your message will be well received – through to content specific to each individuals preferences, optimised effectively to the device the message is being viewed from.

With your options increasing the temptation to bombard or over-test various messages types could become detrimental, having a negative impact on your brand. So consider, what do your customers not want?

What do your customers really want?

The simple burden of carrying a mobile device is receiving multiple messages within a small period of time. Bombarding your contacts becomes an intrusive process. If the message does not add value then don’t bother – it's that simple.

Your messaging can now be delivered in a range of ways, triggered by your location, automated by your current progress through your customer lifecycle and even synchronised across all your channels, delivering a consistent joined up experience for your user.

Creating your social element

The influence of peers should also be considered with the addition of integrated communications across an established website. By allowing your customers the ability to forward and share your news, you can create a social network for your brand. This lets your customers communicate with each another through the network and share information on social media and other channels, such as email – increasing your brand reach.

How is the smartphone changing things?

Anyone involved in digital marketing knows that smartphones are a key channel that now facilitates a significant number of communications. In the last 12 months, we’ve seen vast developments that will lead to new opportunities for B2C brands, to engage their audience and for their consumers to benefit from an advanced, more specific offering that meets their requirements.

For more information and to learn how to communicate better with your customers, contact Worldsconnect today, sales@worldsconnect.com or call 0333 3003491.