Why does your business need Viber Messaging?

With messaging apps becoming the channel of choice for most consumers to interact with a business, being available on an app most of them already use can give a business an important competitive advantage. Viber business messages is a powerful solution that can help businesses across industries deliver engaging and rich experiences to customers.

These are just some of the reasons marketers across industries have capitalized on Viber to keep their audience informed and updated.

• 1+ billion users
• 70+ million interactions every minute
• 35+ minutes spent on Viber per day
• Used in 193 countries
• 97% delivery rate

To better understand how Viber can work in practice, here are just some examples of how it is being used across industries.

Use of Viber Messaging across industries

Travel

Our smartphones go where we go and they have become an essential item before, during and after our travels. They create an easier, more convenient and personalized travel experience. From research to planning right through to when they arrive at their destinations.

After all, they contain everything we need and all come with us as we travel around the world. Our plans, our boarding passes, maps. That is why travel businesses use messaging services to interact with the audience and customers. Viber being amongst the most used in the industry. Here are some of the ways Viber Messaging has been used to help business:

• Booking – With Viber messaging a travel company can target travellers by promoting special offers such as hotel discounts, travel packages and so on, while it can launch a campaign when people are looking into booking a holiday.
• Real-time updates – Viber messages are delivered at an instant, even when customers are out of the country, which makes them the best way to send time sensitive information. Things like delayed flights, bad weather, or a strike can be delivered to the customer straight away, giving them time to avoid a problem. Updating customers about events that might affect their travel plans is a key way to keep them happy.
• After sales service and customer satisfaction – It’s important to engage with customers even after they return home. Campaigns with the purpose of thanking them for booking with you, asking for reviews and feedback on all aspects of their trip are essential to maintain customer satisfaction.

Banking

Viber messaging is becoming one of the most popular methods of communication with customers in the banking sector. Due to its rapid and direct nature, it is the perfect channel for an industry that handles confidential and time-sensitive customer information.

Here are some examples of how they can be used:

• Fraud management – The use of Viber messaging has been a key factor in managing the increased risk of fraud in banking. With customers almost constantly having mobile phone access, unusual activity or change in an account can be checked with them almost immediately by sending authentication PINs to users to safely complete the process.
• Customer loyalty – Customers like being able to contact an organization in a convenient way. Wirth Viber Business Messaging they can contact their bank cheaply and easily. On the other hand, by notifying customers of changes, any by sending reminders, updates and statements, a bank adds value to the customer and produces a sense of loyalty significantly improving customer relationships.
  In addition, by keeping in touch with customers through bulk Viberl messages, banks win big on time and save phone call or email costs.

Delivery services

Customer expectations are high when it comes to logistics companies providing a timely and efficient delivery service, yet the system is not perfect and people still miss deliveries.

Efficient communication with clients in an easy and timely manner is key in order to solve this ongoing issue and provide a much more effective solution. Viber messaging can really help to this end.

Here are some ways delivery services have been using the platform:

• Real-time delivery updates – Providing real-time updates on delivery status to the customers who are waiting for deliveries can be done instantly through Viber. The messages go directly to customers and help prevent the frustration of missing an important delivery.
• Order tracking – By sending a shortened link through a Viber message, give customers access to a tracking page on their website. The tracking page provides information on every stage of the delivery so that the customer is aware and in the loop as to the estimated delivery time.

Healthcare

The healthcare sector is increasingly using instant messaging to send out patient info and to provide the best care available, focusing their efforts on missed appointments, as well as bulk campaigns for important health issues.
Here is how they are working to fix these issues through Viber Messaging:

• Reduction of missed appointments – Τhe healthcare sector has been struggling with missed appointments. They are said to cost thousands of euros annually and have an impact on resources and waiting list times. As most people have their phones nearby at all times and read their texts within 4 minutes, a simple Viber reminder for patients to respond to is an easy and accessible way to solve this issue.
• Health Campaigns – The use of Viber bulk messaging for mass communication is cheaper than other channels of communication and way more effective given its broad reach. Therefore, it is a channel that should be used as a key part of a public health campaign, raising awareness about health conditions, updating on health warnings and other useful information.

Ready to launch your Viber campaign?

A lot of businesses across industries have recognized the potential of Viber to create a permanent connection with their customer, considering instant messaging is a part of the daily life for many people. Like all mobile messaging apps, Viber messaging is always evolving, bringing new, exciting ways for businesses across industries to reach their customers directly.

It is a great tool for customer support because it is simple and has great reach while it can be used to market products and services and build connections with customers. By teaming up with an established provider, like Routee, businesses have way more to gain and they can ensure that their investment in Viber Business Messages delivers on its full potential.

What is Multi-Factor Authentication?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security technology that requires multiple authentication methods to verify a user’s identity for a login or other transaction. Multi-factor authentication combines two or more independent authentication factors: what the user knows, what the user has, and what the user is.

The goal of MFA is to add more protection layers to make it more difficult for an unauthorized person to access a target, such as a physical location, computing device, network or database. More specifically, that means that if one factor is compromised or broken, the attacker still has at least one or more barriers to overcome to successfully attack their target.

In the past, security systems relied on two-factor authentication (2FA). Yet, as cyber-attacks increase, so does the use of MFA authentication schemes and organizations are focusing more than ever on creating a smooth user experience.

Types of Authentication Factors:

The three most common categories, or authentication factors, are often described as something you know (knowledge factor), something you have (possession factor), and something you are (inherence factor). For MFA tο work it has to combine two or more factors from these categories.

Knowledge factor asks the user to answer a personal security question. Knowledge factor technologies generally include passwords, PINs, and one-time passwords (OTPs).

Possession factor requires the user to have something specific in their possession in order to log in, such as a badge or phone subscriber identity module (SIM) card.

Inherence factor refers to any biological traits the user has that are confirmed for login. Inherence factor technologies include biometric verification methods.

The Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication

Adds more layers of security than two-factor authentication (2FA)

As the word implies multi-factor authentication provides more layers of security when compared to 2FA. With risk reduction becoming increasingly critical for organizations, multi-factor authentication is growing exponentially. In a world where credential theft is constantly a threat and over 80% of hacking-related breaches are caused by stolen or weak passwords, MFA is becoming essential.

By adding another layer of protection with MFA, you can ensure that the customers looking for access are who they claim to be, thereby reducing the risks of compromised passwords and damaging attacks that cost organizations millions. So, even if hackers steal one credential, they will be forced to verify identities in another manner. For companies that store consumers’ confidential details, it is almost necessary to opt for more than two authentications, to build and maintain consumer trust.

Meets regulatory compliances

For many businesses, this is a key benefit of MFA. Since the implementation of multi-factor authentication can be a key requirement when it comes to complying with certain industry regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA.

Depending on the country you operate in, it is common for health, finance, and government organizations to demand that businesses follow strict guidelines that protect consumers’ rights. It is therefore vital that you consider your business’s unique needs when determining your security requirements. You can mitigate audit findings and avoid potential fines by achieving the necessary compliance requirements specific to your industry.

Safeguards against password fatigue without compromising user experience

Passwords are a headache to remember, we can all agree on that. Yet, the average computer user has between 70 to 80 passwords to remember. That means that many consumers either resort to using the same password on different accounts or just go on creating simple, easy-to-steal passwords. Both methods are wrong and lead to easy password theft.

Adding multi-factor authentication protects against password fatigue, adding an extra security layer, ensuring that cybercriminals cannot steal simple or repeated passwords. It secures the environment, the people in it, and the devices they use without requiring complicated resets or complex policies.

In addition, MFA does not interfere with the CX experience and lets you customize the consumer experience. Therefore organizations can make it easier for users to authenticate their identity by providing them with a variety of factors to choose from like security questions, authenticator apps, email, automated phone calls, and many others.

Adapts to the Changing Workplace

COVID-19 and technology advancements have brought changes to the workplace, with more employees working outside the office. MFA can provide your remote workers with an extra layer of security.

Without the proper precautions in place, remote workers are more susceptible to attacks as they are not safeguarded by the firewalls attached to a company’s network infrastructure. Using their personal Wi-Fi connections and devices while they perform mission-critical tasks, can pose a much higher cybersecurity risk.

From basic attacks like email phishing to more complex attacks, MFA can protect your remote team against threats. Finally, multi-factor authentication plays a vital role in improving your organization’s overall security posture, by adding protection to business applications that are poorly secured and are targets for remote attacks.

To sum up

As an increasing number of companies move towards digital transformation, the need for cybersecurity is of foremost importance. Implementing a multi-factor authentication system is therefore critical and can yield important benefits to your business.

As for all of the above suggestions, MFA is an incredibly beneficial security tool that provides your organization with an added level of security, yet like everything, it should be implemented in the right way to not lead to frustration for your end-user. If you are ready to add that extra layer of protection to your systems, make sure you work with a company that’s familiar with multi-factor authentication best practices and you will for sure be safe.

Why does your business need Telegram?

From 2013 when it came into life, Telegram has become one of the most popular messaging platforms in the world.

According to 2021 data, Telegram has exceeded 500 million active users worldwide and is expected to reach 1 billion users by 2022. Its worth is estimated at $30 billion. Its success is in large part due to its convenience, reliability, and safety.

At first glance, all messaging apps are similar. Yet, like all other messaging apps, Telegram too has benefits that businesses across industries can take advantage of:

• 8.7% of the population is an active Telegram user
• 55.2 million daily active users
• 15 billion daily messages sent
• Easy entry point for brands via the Discover area
• Messages are heavily encrypted and can self-destruct
• Fast delivery of messages. Faster than any other application
• Unlimited size of media and chats
• Κeeps messages safe from hacker attacks
• Groups can hold up to 200,000 members

Businesses and brands are still quite unsure of what and how to communicate on Telegram despite the above benefits. To better understand how Telegram can work in practice, here are just some examples of how it is being used across industries.

Use of Telegram across industries

Travel & Hospitality

The travel and hospitality industry have started to invest in Telegram bots. As travelers use mobile phones and messaging more than ever, chatbots can create unique and wholesome experiences, ranging from engaging with current customers to generating, nurturing, and converting leads. Here are some ways it has been used by the industry:

• Price tracking – Price tracking is an important step in the travel process. That’s why there is a variety of such chatbots for travel and hospitality. Bots that can find the cheapest flights and track their prices or bots that can track the prices of a hotel a traveller wants to stay at and inform them of price changes with alerts.
• Flight and booking assistance – Facilitating a simple user experience and assisting them to make a booking and make changes to a reservation without filling out forms or browsing aggregators, is a convenient way to interact with travellers on Telegram.
• Travel tips – Telegram chatbots can also be used to inform and educate customers on a variety of issues regarding their trip. From tips on getting ready before to destination overviews, places of interest and city highlights.

E-commerce sites

Telegram offers e-commerce sites security, data protection, while it also enhances their independence so they can be trustworthy and provides simplicity so they can be widespread. These are some ways it has been used by the industry:

• Sales and Offers – Using Telegram, e-commerce businesses can promote products and offers that can lead to a purchase, by forward coupons and flash sales, and communicate promotions and new items leading to purchases prospects. By creating affiliations with various networks a business can increase the dissemination of their offer and achieve greater reach.
• Direct Payments – By using Payments 2.0, merchants can accept payments directly in chats, channels and groups, enabling sales directly during communication with followers. This is especially handy for small e-commerce businesses that can even create a simple store in Telegram, showcasing products and letting customers purchase them directly within the app, both on mobile and desktop.
• Customer service – When customers have a complex query, they want to be assisted instantly. Messaging apps like Telegram allow businesses to have real-time conversations and are excellent for customer service. Also, since Telegram offers unlimited media, you can send a video to answer queries that can be easily resolved with visual aids, such as furniture assembly questions.

Media Οutlets

Α number of media outlets are looking for ways to draw subscribers and build an audience. Due to its secure nature, many Telegram users have an increased sense of trust in media channels that use the platform. Media outlets can gain important benefits from using it as Telegram channels are an effective tool for monitoring the news.

• Content distribution – With such wide reach, it is obvious why Telegram has such an important role in content distribution for news media. Companies use it to broadcast their content via channels and chat bots, with the hope to generate traffic to their sites. Channel subscribers see everything a media site posts in chronological order, so reach and user engagement depend on story quality and ability to build an audience and not on some algorithm for exposure.
• Τarget wider audience – Telegram attracts a somewhat different demographic from other messaging apps and it is very popular among young consumers. It offers a direct way to reach young consumers, who are also willing and able to pay for media content.

Education

Educators are continuously looking for innovative ways to aid the learning process and enhance student interaction. Nowadays, the use of mobile phones has an essential part in students’ lives worldwide. Here are some examples of how it has been applied:

• Dissemination of information – The creation of Telegram groups for classroom discussions can maximize the learning process. With an interesting and appropriate context for students, it is possible to make them curious and spark excitement to increase involvement in classroom discussions. For example, Telegram groups can positively impact reading, solving students’ laziness. In addition, by encouraging students to share books they enjoyed with their classmates they can maximize the value of the group.
• Improving pronunciation – Telegram’s voice feature can greatly help students improve their speaking and pronunciation skills by recording their answers in chats.

  As it is considered to be very user-friendly, Telegram is a great tool for online accent-training programmes. Students can easily record their assignments with the click of a mic button and speak into the microphone on their phone.

Ready to launch your presence on Telegram?

Telegram can be a valuable marketing ally for businesses across industries. A lot of businesses across industries have recognized its potential to create a secure and safe environment for them to interact with their customers. Like with all such apps, it cannot be the one and only messaging app in your marketing strategy, but it can work in synergy with other tools to support you in achieving your goals.

By teaming up with an established provider, like Routee, businesses can garner several benefits and they can be sure that their investment will achieve their goals.

Why does your business need web push notifications?

Web push notifications are a great way to re-engage with visitors, and convert them even after they have left the website. And also a very convenient way to reach them, since the user doesn’t need to install a mobile application or sign up for newsletters in order to receive opt-in notifications.

In comparison to email newsletters, web push notifications have:

• At least twice as many subscribers
• At least twice higher CTR
• Instant open rate, in comparison to the time it takes a user to see an email (6.4 hours)
• A 45 to 90% open/view rate, compared to 15 to 30% for a newsletter
• An ROI of 3500%, compared to 122% for newsletters.

These are just some of the reasons marketers across industries have capitalized on this tool to keep their audience informed and updated.

So, let’s take a closer look at how they are being used across industries.

Use of web push notifications across industries

Gaming

Online gaming is a serious business, generating billions of dollars every year. That doesn’t come much of a surprise considering that a huge proportion of the world’s population uses their computers, mobile phones, and tablets to play games. Gamers are also a very dedicated crowd, rarely ever stop playing, yet always looking for new games and consoles.

In the past the industry relied on email to increase traffic on its websites, that is not the case anymore. Push Notifications have come to replace email in order to keep readers and customers engaged, and make them return to your website. Some of the ways they have been used are:

• • Onboarding – Maybe the most important push notification for gaming websites. When new users subscribe to your website, they might not be fully aware of the game, brand, and other such information. With a web push notification, gaming websites can communicate with their newly acquired gamer and engage them, in order to start to build trust through a series of push notifications.
  • Game abandonment – There are always players that might go away, leaving the game unfinished. Gaming sites can bring them back using trigger push notifications.
  • Cross promotion of games – Most of the online gaming websites have game categories with multiple games on the list. With the use of trigger push notifications, gaming sites can send web notifications showing relevant games to each user. This cross-promotion of similar games is an effective way to attract more gamers to your games.

Education

There are a lot of powerful options that education and training sites can engage their audience- from prospective students to current students, teachers, administrators, alumni, parents, and more. Education and training websites can use push notifications to connect with them online, send updates to existing students in real-time, or you can nudge potential users to learn and engage.

Here are some examples of how they can be used:

• Class-specific alerts Class specific alerts are a great way to keep students and teachers organized, informed and engaged, both for offline but also online classes, where effectively engaging students can be a challenge. From more general class announcements (class time/location changes, new assignments) to more specific or triggered notifications based on activity, like posting a new discussion on the class message board.
• Retarget prospective students –Like in any industry funnel abandonment is a major challenge in education. With the use of web push notifications educational institutions can retarget visitors and get them back on their site, to request more information or ask for a campus tour!
• Share announcements – Sharing time-sensitive relevant announcements about sports events happening around school, school closures due to weather, or course enrollment deadlines, and more is always a great idea in order to reach a more targeted group of subscribers. It keeps students and teachers informed on campus-wide information.

Job sites

The growing number of job opportunities and alarming unemployment rates, brought a boom in job portals. However, as the market grew and multiplied, retaining users has become a very challenging task. A powerful push notification strategy has come in to help bring traffic to your website, retaining users. Here are some ways job sites have been using push notifications:

• Update profile – Once a user signs up to a job site, they start to create their profile. However, most of the time users will not fill in all their details. As a job website, your job is to advise them to go back and complete their profile in order to increase their chances of finding a job. By using web push notifications you can increase the profile completion rate, while by automating the process you can add a series of notifications showing the benefits of having a completed profile.
• Action-based – Job seekers usually take multiple actions on your website. They search for a job, they check your paid offerings like resume writing, manage job applications and more. Based on these actions, a job site can trigger a series of push notifications. They can re-engage users based on previous searches, using push campaigns to bring the user back to their website.
• Personalized push notification – Every jobseeker profile is different. That is why segmentation and personalization are important in serving users with relevant push notifications.

The most prominent personalized campaign ideas for job sites are based on location, industry and experience. Job sites can utilize this information to push notifications to jobseekers for any new job posting based on users location preference, industry preference or related to their expertise.

Health and fitness

The global fitness and health club industry is worth more than 96 billion U.S. dollars. From adopting healthy lifestyles, which include eating healthy to working out, people want to spend their money to look after themselves. Websites related to health and fitness are facing rising competition, trying to attract and engage with their subscriber base. Web push notifications can come to the rescue.

So, if you are aiming to boost engagement and to convert casual website visitors into devoted customers, here are a few ways you can do that:

• Training sessions – Fitness Centers and gyms can use web push messages to effectively communicate different classes that are being regularly conducted.
  Such messages can be really helpful for users trying to adopt healthy habits or planning to workout but lack motivation. Ιn addition, businesses can also send push notifications directing to workout routine short videos to spark interest.
• Diet plans and suggestions – Advise them and show off your expertise. Use push notifications to send diet reminders, diet tips, and different recipe ideas to gym members, building trust and stronger bonds with your subscribers.
• Keep members connected – People appreciate brands that stay connected, and push notifications are the easiest way to do that. Βy consistently pushing messages about things like discounts on different packages, group offers and more, members are more likely to want to continue engaging with your brand and will be more comfortable recommending your club to others.

Ready to launch your web push campaign?

Web push notifications have caught the attention of marketers in recent years, with businesses across industries finding it easier to reach customers by using them. These short and contextual messages can get optimal results when designed and sent correctly. Of course, it all comes down to the tool you use. With Routee’s web push notification tool you can cut through the noise and place your message directly in front of your audience in a matter of minutes and in 5 easy steps. So, if you are ready to launch your web push campaign, we are here to make sure you succeed.

Welcome to the era of the Messaging Apps

Messaging apps have billions of users around the world and are becoming more popular every day. Because of this they can make a huge difference to a business's marketing strategy and growth.

Surveys show that smartphone owners are 3 to 4 times more likely to install one or more messaging apps. In today's age of hyper-communication, messaging apps have become a vital part of everyday life. They belong to the conventional ways of communication, both for individuals and businesses.

The Facebook messenger case

Facebook Messenger is quickly becoming a key marketing tactic for businesses across all industries. With over 1.3 billion users worldwide and expectations to grow to 2.4 billion users by the end of 2021, it's a valuable asset for businesses. You can find people sending or receiving money, playing games, connecting with other businesses – all of this happens without the customer having to leave Messenger.

There is zero interruption when you interact with your prospects or customers in Messenger. And not to mention that it is used by all ages of people. Your targeted audience is easily accessible through this platform. In addition to these, Messenger now has several functions that make it easier for e-commerce businesses to sell products.

Messaging is already the preferred way for communication with friends, family, and especially for businesses. Facebook Messenger for Business is one of the messaging apps that companies are using the most to communicate and connect with customers and prospects. It allows businesses to develop satisfying conversations with customers.

Instead of a one-to-many, impersonal and ineffective approach to marketing, Facebook Messenger enables a “one-to-one” marketing approach that allows companies to personalize every touchpoint with a customer, even before they land on your site. Customers are more and more choosing to send messages to businesses instead of calling or emailing them.

As a result, it’s safe to say that Facebook Messenger offers huge opportunities for businesses to attract customers, generate sales, and increase profitability.

What can Facebook Messenger do for your brand?

• Build trust in your brand. Your organization is easier to be believed if it is open to dialogue. The fact that a customer can message a business at any time makes them feel more confident in it.

• Generating quality leads. When a person contacts you on Facebook Messenger, an opportunity for follow-up is created, which can generate leads.
• Drive marketing performance and optimise the marketing funnel.
• Offer quality customer support.

Ways to boost your business’s sales using Facebook Messenger

You don’t know where to start? Need some inspiration? Take a look at some creative and easy ways to start your Facebook Messenger strategy.

Drive Engagement at Scale

With Facebook Messenger, you can communicate with customers and prospects at scale. You can easily guide customers, offer answers, personalize experiences, provide recommendations, and drive business results.

Be where your customers are

Facebook has 1.4 billion users who spend 58 minutes on the platform every day. Also, they check Facebook 14 times a day. Reach out to prospects and engage them where they spend a lot of their time.

Create unique customer experiences

Personalize customer experiences using reported data and increase your conversion. E-commerce chatbots recognize customer intentions and respond accordingly and help customers find products that are more likely to convert quickly.

Let the content do its job

For content marketing to be effective, customers and potential customers must have seamless access to content. Facebook Messenger for Business drives people to the most related content based on their likes and leads to higher value traffic.

Engage with users

Use Facebook Messenger to send important information and reminders about events people have signed up for and create a loyal and trustful relationship with your customers.

Use data to provide a better shopping experience

Use the social data collected in Messenger to enhance personalisation, improve retargeting efficiency and optimise marketing.

Stay on track after set up

Once you set up Facebook Messenger, you’ll start to see messages coming in. Keeping track of this additional communication and customer service channel can seem like a lot of extra work – but you can streamline and automate it with the right tools. Routee, as a leading cloud communications provider, can do the work for you but you will still get the benefits.

Combine more than one messaging apps to your marketing strategy for even more incredible results! Start learning more now with an introduction to Viber Messaging and its benefits.