For retail organizations, Google’s Business Messages feature presents a powerful new opportunity for various teams to forge 1:1 connections with consumers, at scale, through the world’s largest search engine.
But which teams stand to gain the most, in both the short and long term, from this new messaging channel?
To answer this question, the Quiq team recently sat down with Katie Osberg at Google for a webinar discussion on what are some of the successful strategies and how different retail teams should use Google’s Business Messages.
Top Google’s Business Messages (GBM) Strategies for Customer Service, Marketing, & Omnichannel
Here are a few examples she cited of how customer care, marketing, and omnichannel teams can be successful with Google’s Business Messages:
Care & Service Teams: Instantly Answer Questions That Customers Are Searching For
In the short term, customer care teams will be the immediate beneficiaries of this technology. This is largely because Business Messages has the capability to resolve customer questions through Google Search, decrease inbound call volume, free up care agents for more sophisticated troubleshooting, and delight customers with fast and reliable answers/solutions.
One way customer service teams can leverage Business Messages is to provide answers to frequently asked questions, which could include questions related to store hours, COVID policies, and more.
By responding to customers’ most common inquiries through Google, care and service teams can route a significant amount of potential volume to a channel that is entirely self-service.
Care teams at retail and eCommerce organizations can also use Google’s Business Messages for handling customers’ order management inquiries.
Through this channel, customers can get immediate updates on the status of their previously placed orders and even have the capability to set up order returns or exchanges.
Marketing Teams: Re-Engage Shoppers through an Innovative New Channel
It is projected that marketers will also become one of the largest beneficiaries of Google’s Business Messages. Since the channel is asynchronous and users can return to brand conversations and pick up right where they left off, marketers can use Business Messages as a new channel for re-engaging shoppers.
After a shopper has started a dialogue with a brand through Business Messages, Marketers can leverage the channel to reconnect.
By reconnecting with customers in this way, marketing teams are empowered to strengthen their brand’s identity and create meaningful relationships with their customers through an interactive channel.
Additionally, marketing teams can also leverage Business Messages to target past customers with highly-personalized product suggestions.
By re-engaging shoppers in this fashion, marketers can support their customers’ journey and reinforce brand loyalty in a way that is both innovative and assistive.
See which strategies could work best for your business. Learn More
Support Omnichannel Customer Experiences with Messaging on Google Search
Retail operations, both in-store and online, have been anything but normal in 2020 and the demand for seamless omnichannel customer experiences has increased drastically. Shoppers’ points of friction have included standing in line outside of a store, the inability to find in-stock products, and more.
To support shoppers searching on Google for information related to an in-store visit, CX and omnichannel teams can leverage Business Messages to enhance the experience and seamlessly blend both online and offline touchpoints.
For example, CX teams can leverage Business Messages to digitally facilitate in-person appointments — from the initial booking to check-in, and more.
By extending this automated, self-serve functionality to Google Search, CX teams can ensure a much wider adoption of an omnichannel experience that better suits the needs of today’s modern shopper.
With Google Business Messages retailers brands can also provide shoppers with real-time updates on product availability.
By extending product availability information to Business Messages, CX and omnichannel teams can improve customer satisfaction by properly setting shoppers’ expectations for their upcoming in-store experiences.
Getting Started with Google’s Business Messages
Ultimately, Google’s Business Messages offers massive potential across multiple teams within the retail enterprise. To learn more about this exciting new messaging channel, check out our on-demand recording of a recent webinar discussion we had with Google on key tactics and best practices for getting started with Business Messages.
Of course, you can also contact us for a free consultation and a personalized demonstration of how your team can incorporate Google’s Business Messages.
Getting Started with Google’s Business Messages
Ultimately, Google’s Business Messages offers massive potential across multiple teams within the retail enterprise. To learn more about this exciting new messaging channel, check out “What You Need to Know About Business Messaging.”
Of course, you can also contact us for a free consultation and a personalized demonstration of how your team can incorporate Google’s Business Messages.
