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How IBM Interact Connects Live Chats with Retargeting Strategies

How IBM Interact Connects Live Chats
with Retargeting Strategies

Out with old, in with the new – strategy that is. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is facing a new frontier with the exposure of assisted channels and marketing technologies. However, these new strategies do not only focus on technology. Instead, they revolve around the way companies perceive their CRM potential and the steps they can take to improve their inbound marketing processes. The question we want to ask is: can marketers leverage a real-time application like IBM Interact to feed assisted channels, like Live Chats, with marketing messages?

Of course, they can!

Companies are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to make the best use of their CRMs. Using IBM Interact to connect CRMs with assisted channels is a unique way for a customer service representative (CSR) to identify prospects and use programmatic marketing to push related goods and services.

Opening Online Channels

Customer service, like most business functions, is beginning to see the need for online accessibility. Most companies still rely on call center operatives for their customer service; however, this method is slowly becoming less efficient, as other functions begin to migrate online.

Think of it this way – if a user is already banking online, why should they change medium just to get more information?

Because of this growing trend, big businesses will start to feel the pressure to reassess their current CRM strategies.

Live Chats

One of the more established assisted channels that have been growing in recent years is live chats. When it comes to millennials and Gen-Zs, live chats may be one of the best ways to reach them. It is a quick, practical medium to communicate directly with a CSR without using a phone.

Typically, this technology is integrated directly into a company landing page or internally within an application. Companies then hire CSRs to monitor their live chats and engage with customers to assist with general information. Requesting the user’s information or presenting predefined topics before starting the chat are great ways to categorize leads and understand the audience.

In some cases, businesses upload scripts to help automate the chat by redirecting customers to use emails or set appointments. Additionally, some of these live chat applications also incorporate audio and video-based communication to engage better with mobile users. Remember, different communication options increase the likeliness that customers commit to the tool.

Two prime examples of this software include LivePerson, a leader in the space for over 15 years, and Intercom, an upcoming competitor who first introduced In-App messaging. They have based their business model on efficiency through intelligent real-time responses and cost-effective relationship-building opportunities.

Using IBM Interact and Live Chats

For direct marketers, a key value in these chatting platforms is their ability to interface with real-time decision-making tools such as IBM Interact. These tools enable marketers to leverage Interacts cross-channel and targeting capabilities to feed the right message at the right time into the live chat.

Here are the four steps that can be used to map a potential IBM Interact use case for live chats.

1. The Customer: First and foremost, employers need to determine which criteria they will take to identify users on their website. For example, most sites encourage profiles for returning customers and hence use login information as their key variable. If this is the case, identifying login information will trigger IBM Interact to populate a website or live chat with the necessary information to engage a user.

However, if it is a new prospect, it may not be as easy to get the right information. Fortunately, live chats usually automate call-to-actions to engage with new users. The application will run scripts prompting the user to participate in the chat if they have questions or trouble navigating the site. If users do engage with the live chat, it opens the opportunity to gather the information needed for IBM Interact to initiate a programmatic campaign.

2. The Client or Prospect: If a client or prospect is identified, the CSR is responsible for making the next move. If it is a client, IBM interact will push user information to the CRM and original campaign messages and offerings to the CSR. On the other hand, if it is a prospect, agents can promote a product or service using the information they gained while observing the customer’s actions.

3. The Conversion: If the client does convert in the chat, excellent. However, the odds are that most customers will just use it as a probing tool to ask for information. If that is the case, the sales agent needs to determine whether it is worth pursuing the prospect or not.

4. The Green Light: If the CSR agent does give the green light, the lead can either be sent to the CRM for a sales follow-up or passed back into Interact. When sent back into Interact, the lead gets targeted for future cross-channel retargeting activities for both outbound and inbound engagements.

New Strategy

Live chat applications have been around for years.  Some of the most important aspects of live chatting make a compelling addition to today’s business world.  This includes:

  • The ability for chats to interact through APIs in real-time to other intelligence applications, such as IBM Interact, as inbound prospects and customers, initiate chats. For marketers, this means they can influence discussions by providing CSRs with targeted messages and content.
  • Chat messages are measured the same way that web analytics are, using clicks and conversion KPIs. Moreover, marketers can improve the conversation over time by targeting customers with more relevant, timely messages.
  • Finally, chat services are no longer just about chatting. Most chat services have evolved into messaging platforms enabling CSRs to share content, send emails, and book appointments. Each platform packages more functionalities that differentiate each software from the next.

The new and ‘scary’ part for companies is the perceived return-on-investment (ROI). However, the underlying business value is not only about the technology – but rather an entire strategy.

The brick-and-mortar model is losing ground as more industries, such as banks and retail, begin moving online. Complementary disciplines like CRM need to break the fold to keep parallel with all other business operations and support the overall business strategy.

Assisted channels represent a new and innovative way of incorporating IBM Interact into an overall marketing strategy. This open channel will be more accessible and engaging when extending inbound marketing interactions with outbound communications.

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Plus Company Privacy Policy

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(Canada) EN

Updated as of September 11th. 2023

“PLUS COMPANY” AND “COMPANY” MEAN PLUS COMPANY CANADA INC. AND ITS AFFILIATES AND BUSINESS UNITS IN CANADA.

Plus Company respects the privacy of its customers.

This Policy concerns you. It describes how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information, including when you visit our website or any website we own, operate or control (collectively, the “Site”), when you contact us by phone or email or when you communicate with us via social media.

We may update this Policy (see “Changes to the Policy” below).

You should read this entire Policy before submitting information to us or using our Site. If you submit personal information to us, we assume that you authorize us to use and disclose it as described in this Policy.

What is personal information?

Personal information is information that identifies you directly or indirectly, on its own or with other information, such as your name, contact details or IP address.

We may make full use of all information that is de-identified, aggregated or otherwise not in personally identifiable form.

Information collection and use

We collect personal information …

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  • Using automated technology when you visit our Site or communicate with us through email
  • When third parties, such as service providers, collect such personal information on our behalf

When do we collect your personal information?

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  • When you communicate with us via social media

What type of personal information do we collect?

  • Usage information – IP address, information on the device, domain name, browser used to visit our site, pages displayed, time spent on a page, link clicks
  • With your consent, we may have access to your geolocation and
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  • Information you provide to us, such as personally identifiable information or contact information, as well as your comments or questions.

Why do we need it?

  • To better understand how you use our Site.
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With whom do we share this personal information?

As part of our business operations, we may disclose personal information to the following categories of third parties:

  • Consultants, service providers and contractors we use to support our business and operations (e.g., hosting or operating our Site and services, data collection, reporting, Site metrics and analytics, data analysis, fraud detection services) who have agreed to keep the information confidential and use it only to provide the applicable services.
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Where is your personal information stored?

We currently retain personal information in North America.

We may disclose personal information in locations other than your country, province or state of residence, where privacy laws may differ.

If your personal information is used outside your country, province or state of residence, it is subject to the laws of the place where it is located and may be disclosed to governments, courts, law enforcement agencies or regulatory bodies of that place, or disclosed in accordance with the laws of that place. However, our practices regarding your personal information will remain governed by this Policy and by applicable privacy laws.

Retention of personal information

We will retain your personal information (collected through online and offline methods) for as long as it is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. We will also retain and use your personal information to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

Intended audience of Site

Our Site, social media accounts and online activities are intended for persons aged 17 and over. Therefore, we do not request personal information from minors aged 16 years or younger, nor do we knowingly collect such information from minors aged 16 or younger. If you are not 17 or older, you should not visit or use our Site.

How do we protect your personal information?

We take reasonable, appropriate steps to protect personal data from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction, whether in transmission or storage. Remember, however, that no security system is infallible and that transmission over the Internet is not perfectly secure or error-free.

We use a secure server. Only authorized persons have the right to access this information, which they are required to keep strictly confidential.

Your rights with regard to your personal information

Right to access and correct

You may request access to and obtain a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

If any personal information about you is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous, or if the collection, disclosure or retention of such personal information is not permitted by law, you may require that it be rectified.

You can also ask us for information about the source of your personal information (if it was not obtained from you), as well as the names of persons who have access to your information and details about how long it is kept.

Right to withdraw your consent

You may request to withdraw your consent to our use or disclosure of your personal information.

In most cases, withdrawing your consent means that we will no longer be able to offer you certain services. Otherwise, we will inform you of the consequences of refusal in our request for consent.

To exercise your rights, please send a request in writing, along with proof of identity, to our Privacy Officer at the contact information provided under How to contact us.

Once your request has been received, we will respond in writing within 30 days.

Cookies and other automated technology

A “cookie” is a small text file that is placed onto an Internet user’s web browser or device and is used to remember and/or obtain information about the user. A “web beacon” is a small object or image that is embedded into a web page, application or email and is used to track activity. Web beacons are also sometimes referred to as pixels and tags. We and/or third parties, including our service providers on our behalf, may use cookies, web beacons and other similar technology to collect information for the purposes described in this Policy, including analytics and monitoring performance and improvement of our Site (traffic, errors, page load time, popular pages, etc.). Before using these technologies to geolocate you or evaluate certain characteristics about you, such as your personal preferences, interests or online behaviour, we will ask for your permission by informing you how to enable such features. We use Google Analytics to understand how our Site, services and products perform and how you use them. To learn more about how Google processes your data, visit https://policies.google.com/privacy. To change your settings relating to cookies and other automated technology, visit our Cookie Manager.
For information and questions about the use of your personal information or this Policy, you may contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@pluscompany.com.
This Policy may be revised from time to time for any reason. In such a case, we will notify you of such changes by indicating the date of the last update. Review the Policy before submitting personal information or using our Site, services or social media pages.
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